Jobseekers - Advice please?

unholyangel

Last week i went to a funeral with a friend to offer moral support and to drive him. We live in Scotland and the funeral was in York.

We left 7pm thursday night and were home by 9pm friday night.

He's just came back from signing on and they've told him his money will be cut as he was away and wasnt available to work. He's already depressed over his friend dying and the women who dealt with him gave him a lecture on how he should have told them, he needs to provide names of where he was staying etc etc

I know benefits are only supposed to be a stepping stone until you get a job - as does he - and i understand some people take the mickey. Most employers i know would grant compassionate leave or at least allow a shift swap/annual leave. Why isnt this the same?

Just because you're not at home doesnt mean you dont still need to eat or have living costs.

Its only 2 days he's losing but to someone who's living on benefits, thats practically a fortune =/ Can anyone advise on if there are any circumstances to account for this? ie if they do deduct the money, can he appeal it, how long would an appeal take approx?

He says the funny thing was that if he kept his mouth shut or lied like some people do, they'd never be any the wiser and that they say they want people to be honest but what kind of encouragement is this? And i have to say, in circumstances of death of a loved one, you'd think they'd show a little compassion as long as they werent blatantly taking advantage of it.

karenx

But those 2 days he wasnt jobseeking which is the whole point of getting jobseekers so its right he should get those 2 days deducted. If he had been given an interview for one of those days would he of came straight home to go to interview?

unholyangel

karenx wrote: »

But those 2 days he wasnt jobseeking which is the whole point of getting jobseekers so its right he should get those 2 days deducted. If he had been given an interview for one of those days would he of came straight home to go to interview?

Technically 1 day he wasnt jobseeking as we didnt leave till 7pm on thursday. He could have been signed off by the doctor but chose not to because he was still looking for work.

According to what i know about JSA (which granted isnt much given that i've been fortunate enough not to have to claim it for more than a few short weeks over 11 years working), they are paid that money as it is what they deem the minimum required to live. Fair enough there was 1 day he wasnt actually looking for a job but if he had been on income support or something else, he likely wouldnt have lost the money.

I suppose i'd understand the logic behind it if he had taken a week off, but 1 day. And half of that was spent travelling. I guess i just find it a bit of wind up since he's shot himself in the foot by telling the truth and so many people lie and get away with it.

oldmotherreilly

The person your friend saw at JCP does not have the power to stop his money. S/he will refer the claim to a decision maker on the grounds that the customer was not available for work on those days. It will not be referred on the grounds of not actively seeking work as this is a weekly condition that needs to be satisfied and your friend had the rest of the week to look for work (make sure he fills in his job diary though, with the minimum steps agreed on his JSAg). However, the bad news is that his JSA will be suspended until the Decision Maker decides whether your friend was/was not available for work on those two days. Please check with him that the advisor put down that he was at home until 7pm, as this will probably make a difference to the decision made for that day. Please also ask him to make sure that they could not treat this as a 'domestic emergency' where he would have been excused being available for work on this day. For this, I would say that it would have had to be a really close friend who passed away. If these things were not considered, he may want to speak to the Line Manager of the person involved to see if this action could be reconsidered. If it has already been sent off to the DMs its unlikely they would retrieve it. Let us know how he gets on.

dookar

If it was a close friend they can be treated as available for work.

Bear in mind availability is a weekly condition, so any unfavourable decision will result in the loss of the week's money

Gripper_Rod

Why did your friend tell the JCP? Unless it affected his signing-on time they would never know.

The only contact I have with them is my fortnightly signing on. Apart from that they never phone or call round (don't they love me anymore?).
Honesty is a two-way street. The amount of mis-information i've received by them is astounding. I have received more accurate information by lurking on these boards.

unholyangel

Gripper_Rod wrote: »

Why did your friend tell the JCP? Unless it affected his signing-on time they would never know.

The only contact I have with them is my fortnightly signing on. Apart from that they never phone or call round (don't they love me anymore?).
Honesty is a two-way street. The amount of mis-information i've received by them is astounding. I have received more accurate information by lurking on these boards.

He was trying to be honest - which the Job Centre apparently encourages. Albeit it seems more like entrapment to me as the honest folks will get the short end and those who lie constantly wont be affected. IMO they're just encouraging people to lie to them.

unholyangel

Hi guys, just wanted to say thanks for all your help.

Just heard back from my friend (i was sleeping earlier as i'm working nights) and he got a call back from them after complaining and they've classed it as a domestic emergency so his money wont be affected. :j

john539

unholyangel wrote: »

Hi guys, just wanted to say thanks for all your help.

Just heard back from my friend (i was sleeping earlier as i'm working nights) and he got a call back from them after complaining and they've classed it as a domestic emergency so his money wont be affected. :j

Yep, but it's a shame they have to put you through the mill.
Just unnecessary.

cassieB57

john539 wrote: »

Yep, but it's a shame they have to put you through the mill.
Just unnecessary.

Unfortunately my experience of training in JCp is DIRE, unfortunately there is so much you need to know, and the worst type of person is the one who THINKS they know the right answer when they dont, and they dont ask anyone's advice because they 'already know'.
As the saying goes "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing"

I am very sorry for your friend but glad they got the right result in the end. (To be sure though, always let your JC know in advance if you are going away from home for any reason, to avoid this sort of occurrence)

BreamoreBoy

Gripper_Rod wrote: »

The only contact I have with them is my fortnightly signing on.

Good that somebody bothers. Overheard at the local JC last Friday "What a waste of an afternoon, 5 no shows already. They moan like hell when they don't get their money, but can't be bothered to attend once a fortnight".