Jobseekers allowance and temp agency.

smyffie

Hi All

Just wondering whether anyone on here can enlighten me.

Having recently been made redundent I am currently on gardening leave. I am finding it hard to find new full time employment but was wondering if I went to a temp agency how this would affect my jobseekers allowance, when I came to claim, for the weeks when the agency couldn't provide me with any work. Also would I be penalised if I was unable to accept a placement if prevented from doing so due to distance / short notice / lack of childcare.

Please forgive me if this is a basic query but at 40 years old its a long time since Ive been tryiing to find work and Im getting very despondant.


Smyffie

joolsybools

Put in your claim for JSA asap if you have not done so already. If you accept work then you will need to let the job centre know. It may mean your claim stops, depending on hours worked I think. This is one of the situations that the Govt is looking at sorting out as it's a shame to stop your claim then restart again. I'm sure others will be along soon with more detailed advice.

allen35

It may be a good idea to check the conditions in your garden leave contract as the Jobseekers agreement is being available for work immediately and the notice payments of gardening leave may be classed as income.

When you do apply for JSA it may also be a good idea to request a condition be put on your agreement with regards to distance due to having child care needs.

If temping your earnings tend to be averaged over a period of time, so for instance if earning £400 one week and then no work for 3 weeks they could possibly class this as earnings of £100 per week and therefore making you ineligible for JSA

smyffie

allen35 wrote: »

It may be a good idea to check the conditions in your garden leave contract as the Jobseekers agreement is being available for work immediately and the notice payments of gardening leave may be classed as income.

When you do apply for JSA it may also be a good idea to request a condition be put on your agreement with regards to distance due to having child care needs.

If temping your earnings tend to be averaged over a period of time, so for instance if earning £400 one week and then no work for 3 weeks they could possibly class this as earnings of £100 per week and therefore making you ineligible for JSA

I know I cannot claim JSA until the gardening leave is over and my previous employer doesnot object to former employees gaining employment while on gardening leave so I want to gain some/any employment before the GL ceases.....easier said than done it would appear!

Voyager2002

Being registered with a temp agency is simply a way of looking for work, and so would not affect JSA.

MX5huggy

smyffie wrote: »

I know I cannot claim JSA until the gardening leave is over and my previous employer doesnot object to former employees gaining employment while on gardening leave so I want to gain some/any employment before the GL ceases.....easier said than done it would appear!

Seems a strange GL arrangement, GL is supposed to stop you working for someone else, If you are available for and actively seeking work then claim JSA.

smyffie

MX5huggy wrote: »

Seems a strange GL arrangement, GL is supposed to stop you working for someone else, If you are available for and actively seeking work then claim JSA.

I agree its a strange arrangement. Think the company did it as they didn't have enough cash to pay severence pay and redundancy all in one hit. So they pay severence weekly as we were paid previously and we should get redundency cheque at the end of this period (if the company hasn't gone completely bust by then!!!!)