What is 'The Work Programme' ?

donnajunkie

saintjammyswine wrote: »

There was the Future Jobs Fund which did something along those lines, this was cut unfortunately before the end of the project. Created a lot of subsidised jobs in many areas.

yeah, that was only for under 25's as well wasnt it. i think the fact is if they are serious about solving the problem then they have to be willing to spend the money needed and not keep doing it on the cheap.

mattw7

My biggest concern with this WP is that many companies will exploit the opportunity to see this as a free labour.

A friend of mine was referred to this after signing on JSA for 6 months. He was then told to phone up a local employer as he had been arranged a work experience placement and started early in August. There was very little information given to him about his rights etc, how many hours he'd be doing, length of the work experience, seems like it was just a hurried way to get someone onto this placement, the only info given was if you fail to 'engage' you will be sanctioned!

The employer is a small privately owned business dealing with selling/distributing car parts. He had got rid of 2 members of paid staff prior to my friend starting and 2 other people were also starting this work experience placement. He has made life very tough for them, 1 already walked out after 2 weeks in which case he had another person sent from the jobcentre less than a 1 week later. He has said that there maybe a job at the end of it but changes his tune by the day. The reality is, having got rid of his paid staff prior to this programme being set up, doesn't that just say everything that is wrong with this exploitation of free slave labour which is really all this is? Believe me this is not just a one off experience, I should imagine many people will be going through exactly the same thing.

Not only that but if more and more companies sign up to this then it will have a knock on effect then on the actual job vacancies as who is going to advertise for a paid worker when you can get people sent for free?

Personally speaking I believe this is one successful court challenging appeal away from this programme being deemed illegal, I can't believe nobody has challenged this yet but its only a matter of time for me.

donnajunkie

saintjammyswine wrote: »

The providers should be using facilities dotted around each area they are in, offices, schools, local JCP offices are the usual ones.

they dont seem to be doing that here but i could be wrong.

saintjammyswine

donnajunkie wrote: »

yeah, that was only for under 25's as well wasnt it. i think the fact is if they are serious about solving the problem then they have to be willing to spend the money needed and not keep doing it on the cheap.

I couldnt agree more. There is so much more we could do with the right funding. There have been some positive steps though, I know people are knocking the Work Programme but it is better than these used to be. Also there is a lot of work going on that people dont see, it doesnt get headlines but things are moving in the right direction. It would just happen faster and for more people with more money (targeted in the right places though, not just thrown around).

saintjammyswine

mattw7 wrote: »

My biggest concern with this WP is that many companies will exploit the opportunity to see this as a free labour.

A friend of mine was referred to this after signing on JSA for 6 months. He was then told to phone up a local employer as he had been arranged a work experience placement and started early in August. There was very little information given to him about his rights etc, how many hours he'd be doing, length of the work experience, seems like it was just a hurried way to get someone onto this placement, the only info given was if you fail to 'engage' you will be sanctioned!

The employer is a small privately owned business dealing with selling/distributing car parts. He had got rid of 2 members of paid staff prior to my friend starting and 2 other people were also starting this work experience placement. He has made life very tough for them, 1 already walked out after 2 weeks in which case he had another person sent from the jobcentre less than a 1 week later. He has said that there maybe a job at the end of it but changes his tune by the day. The reality is, having got rid of his paid staff prior to this programme being set up, doesn't that just say everything that is wrong with this exploitation of free slave labour which is really all this is? Believe me this is not just a one off experience, I should imagine many people will be going through exactly the same thing.

Not only that but if more and more companies sign up to this then it will have a knock on effect then on the actual job vacancies as who is going to advertise for a paid worker when you can get people sent for free?

Personally speaking I believe this is one successful court challenging appeal away from this programme being deemed illegal, I can't believe nobody has challenged this yet but its only a matter of time for me.

Yes, some people will do this, unfortunately the nature of people is that some will try to screw people over. Many companies are not like this though and are providing work experience places at their own expense and for the right reasons. I wont work with people who do this sort of thing, having been involved in apprenticeships for the last few years, we see it all to often and we simply have to say no to employers. As much as we want 17yr old Timmy in a placement it is of no use to us nor him if the employer is a shyster.

mattw7

saintjammyswine wrote: »

Yes, some people will do this, unfortunately the nature of people is that some will try to screw people over. Many companies are not like this though and are providing work experience places at their own expense and for the right reasons. I wont work with people who do this sort of thing, having been involved in apprenticeships for the last few years, we see it all to often and we simply have to say no to employers. As much as we want 17yr old Timmy in a placement it is of no use to us nor him if the employer is a shyster.

But isn't this just open up to abuse anyway? I mean its all well and good for people like you who will do what they can but its a different matter for the person being referred to it!

And how do you know the employer you are dealing with is not going to be like this? They are not going to say I will exploit this to my benefit or I will make life tough for the people that are sent to me. People are too afraid to challenge it with the provider or JCP because the threat of sanctions which is basically empowering employers. My mate even asked if he had to accept the job if offered and the guy said to him he would have his benefits stopped and would probably never get benefits again! I mean that is bullying but its his word against my friends. I am absolutely livid about all this and yet I'm not even having to go through any of it!

donnajunkie

mattw7 wrote: »

But isn't this just open up to abuse anyway? I mean its all well and good for people like you who will do what they can but its a different matter for the person being referred to it!

And how do you know the employer you are dealing with is not going to be like this? They are not going to say I will exploit this to my benefit or I will make life tough for the people that are sent to me. People are too afraid to challenge it with the provider or JCP because the threat of sanctions which is basically empowering employers. My mate even asked if he had to accept the job if offered and the guy said to him he would have his benefits stopped and would probably never get benefits again! I mean that is bullying but its his word against my friends. I am absolutely livid about all this and yet I'm not even having to go through any of it!

another problem is providers are risking running out of placements to send people if they start refusing to send people to certain companies. it was obvious on the old new deal that this was a massive factor in why they continued to send people to dodgy companies. if i was ever sent anywhere particularly bad i would just fake being slow and incompetent.

dandelionclock30

Can you do voluntary work instead of their placement?
I cant see them getting all the unemployed in my city on this, there isnt capacity.
I remember when a couple of people I know were on this they had them doing all sorts of stupid stuff like making paper aeroplanes and flying them,handing out their c.vs throughout the city centre and looking for jobs a hundred miles away.
People were very scathing!
They didnt get jobs.

mattw7

donnajunkie wrote: »

another problem is providers are risking running out of placements to send people if they start refusing to send people to certain companies. it was obvious on the old new deal that this was a massive factor in why they continued to send people to dodgy companies. if i was ever sent anywhere particularly bad i would just fake being slow and incompetent.

In all seriousness you are not going to get a a good quality job or company in this programme and therefore the vast majority of companies are going to exploit this, especially given the economic situation this country is in. The timing of this programme is bad too, this should have been rolled out when the economy picks up and jobs are freely available, therefore it would help those who need placements like this and not demeaning those honest people who have found themselves out of a job simply because of the state we're in. I find it remarkable that so many companies have signed up to this yet there are so few jobs around, I think that speaks volumes itself.

As for being slow and incompetent isn't that just opening yourself up to a sanction too? The way DC is making this threat of stopped benefits every week I wouldn't put it past them.

dandelionclock30

I know a few people who have gone on the sick instead and have managed to stay there.