Holidays and JSA.

feelex

Hi everyone,
Sorry if you've seen this answered before; I've trawled the internet and found MANY conflicting/outdated responses, so I'm really hoping to find something conclusive this time.
Sorry, also, for the length of this post - we have a lot to sort out!

Here's our situation:
My partner and I are on a joint claim for JSA following redundancies in the first half of last year. We've never missed a signing on date - infact, we've never even been late for one.

My Mum is getting married almost 700 miles away (north of Scotland, while we're in the south of England) and has been kind enough to book and pay for us to travel up there. The problem is that we'd miss a signing on day in order to go to the wedding. Like I said, we've never even been late to a signing on day, so all I can hope is that they could be understanding enough to grant us one day off but I'm worried about it. Every time we've needed something from the council or Job Centre, it has been a long struggle; even opening our initial claim wasn't without days of hassle due to Job Centre error.

Are we entitled to take a holiday? Through reading various forums, I've seen that we're entitled to take two weeks holiday within the UK (we'd be in the UK and only missing one signing on day) but I've seen people saying that when they went on holiday based on this premise they ended up losing their benefit or having their claim cancelled completely. Obviously we can't afford to lose our benefits as we've got bills coming out of our bank account regardless of whether we're at home or not. We still absolutely intend to search for work when we're away (we're not 'lazy spongers' in the slightest, and both desperate to get back into work as soon as possible) by applying for jobs online as we're doing now.

We can provide a phone number and address for where we'll be visiting; if it helped us keep our benefit and prove we're still looking for work while we're away we'd even suggest to the Job Centre that we'll sign on at the local JC where we're staying in Scotland. We have absolutely no intention of skipping out on our 'duties' so to speak and just want this to be as easy as possible for them as well as us.
It has been suggested that we phone in the morning of signing on and just say we've both caught a virus and will be unable to come in, but if it could all be honest and above-board I'd much prefer that; I don't expect the job centre to lie to me, and I have no intention of lying to them. I just want to ensure that we get everything we're entitled to, and aren't short-changed by some miserable jobs-worth.
If someone had a specific holiday form or something to ask for, that'd be a big help; if a JC worker tries to end our claim/cancel our benefit for that fortnight, I'd like it if we knew exactly what the rules are so we can ensure we aren't wrongly guided.
The only snag I see us hitting is that we wouldn't be able to get back with 48 hours notice. Will that affect our chances?
Please, no ignorant responses. I've seen lots of "if you're going away you don't need JSA", "JOBSEEKERS, the clue is in the name" and "Just leave it, it's hardly any money" all over forums (this one included, in a thread from six years ago!) and there's absolutely no point in it. As stated, we have every intention of continuing our job search while we're away, the trip wasn't paid for by us and it is a lot of money to us; infact, it is all we have.
Cheers everyone. Sorry again for the long post.

popadom

You are allowed up to two weeks. I think you cant ask for the form for hoildays more than two weeks in advance,dont know why. Its called a hoilday form i think. Easy to fill in, asking about days your away, phone numbers ect. Do you think youll get asked back in 48 hours? If i do apply for a job and i happen to be going away i write a little cover note saying ill be away from-to and you can reach me on this number but if i am lucky enough to get a interview/job offer could it be arranged to start when im back. Most employers will understand if its a wedding.

Tick the box that you can come back within 48 hours-they may sign you off otherwise.Most interviews can be re arranged. But if its a job offer, well youll have to make the call as personally i would get back within 48 hours for a job.

If im wrong, some one will correct me.

dookar

You are not entitled to a holiday, you are entitled to be absent from your local area providing you are still available for employment. If you do not intend to seek employment whilst you are away from your home district you must inform an employment officer of this in order to be treated as such

ultimatedingbat

dookar wrote: »

You are not entitled to a holiday, you are entitled to be absent from your local area providing you are still available for employment. If you do not intend to seek employment whilst you are away from your home district you must inform an employment officer of this in order to be treated as such

I think this response is totally unfair. This is not a holiday as such if you read the OP's post. I would assume everyone is entitled to see a close relative in this case mother get married.

You ARE allowed to go away in the UK> You fill out a form at the job centre with the details of where you are staying, when you are oging and when you return. They require an address for where you are staying and a contact phone number. You are required to sign on the day after you return, stating you have returned and have done your usual three actions as per your job seeking agreement.

pug_in_a_bed

i think Dookar was explaining exactly how its viewed by the job centre, not making a mean comment

dookar

ultimatedingbat wrote: »

I think this response is totally unfair. This is not a holiday as such if you read the OP's post. I would assume everyone is entitled to see a close relative in this case mother get married.

You ARE allowed to go away in the UK> You fill out a form at the job centre with the details of where you are staying, when you are oging and when you return. They require an address for where you are staying and a contact phone number. You are required to sign on the day after you return, stating you have returned and have done your usual three actions as per your job seeking agreement.

pug_in_a_bed wrote: »

i think Dookar was explaining exactly how its viewed by the job centre, not making a mean comment

Yes, I was trying to draw a distinction between 'holiday' and 'absent from home' - a holiday may imply that a person is relieved of their responsibilities when they are not

CountryGuy

Would the op still need to be available for an interview at the drop of a hat?

Is that not why someone claiming JSA has to let the JC know the address and phone number?

Do they have different rules for holidays and absent from home?

dookar

CountryGuy wrote: »

Would the op still need to be available for an interview at the drop of a hat?

Is that not why someone claiming JSA has to let the JC know the address and phone number?

Do they have different rules for holidays and absent from home?

The would need to be as available as their circumstances allow

CountryGuy

dookar wrote: »

The would need to be as available as their circumstances allow

Sorry, more questions

What would be the case say if you were having to travel miles (within the UK) and the reason was to attend a funeral?

Does compassionate leave exist when claiming JSA?

dookar

Depending on your relationship with the deceased (family member, close friend etc) you can be treated as available

baza52

!!!!!!. you ARE allowed to take a holiday/break. Just let your Job Center know and it will be fine. Some people here like to list the worst case scenario regarding your claim.
As long as your honest you wont have a problem.