Job Centre JSA problems

Oldernotwiser

michaelvintner wrote: »

I used to work in retail and some of the long term staff actually started as Christmas Temps. One guy started as a christmas temp something like 20 years ago and he is still there.

A temporary christmas job at M&S may lead to a permanent contract.

I totally agree - I'm all for temp work as a way into permanent employment.

On the other hand, the OP's girlfriend seems to have been doing no job hunting from September to November, which doesn't make any sense when it's only a temp job she's waiting for.

daggy

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I totally agree - I'm all for temp work as a way into permanent employment.

On the other hand, the OP's girlfriend seems to have been doing no job hunting from September to November, which doesn't make any sense when it's only a temp job she's waiting for.

She has been looking, but she's a bit downhearted as she's been constantly applying for jobs since she heard she was losing her job, so fas she's only got the temp one.

She still aplies for suitable jobs, but the ones the JC are giving her are not suitable.... other temp jobs etc

nannymiaow

I was going to respond, but we'll never agree and it doesn't enhance the original question at all so I'll not bother. Life is far too short

daggy

nannymiaow wrote: »

I was going to respond, but we'll never agree and it doesn't enhance the original question at all so I'll not bother. Life is far too short

You just did respond, bit of a pointless post really.

Thanks for your earlier input though

dark_lady

Tell you what if she is being forced to apply for other TEMP jobs when she already has a TEMP job lined up, then she could go to an interview,if she gets offered one and starts it,she could then hand her notice in weeks or days later to go to the M+S one.
When the employer shes leaving gets shirty about it she could explain that the Job Centre left her no choice and refer the employer back to them.
I guarantee that employer wont advertise with the Job Centre anymore after being !!!!ed around like that and the JC will only have themselves to blame!

daggy

dark_lady wrote: »

Tell you what if she is being forced to apply for other TEMP jobs when she already has a TEMP job lined up, then she could go to an interview,if she gets offered one and starts it,she could then hand her notice in weeks or days later to go to the M+S one.
When the employer shes leaving gets shirty about it she could explain that the Job Centre left her no choice and refer the employer back to them.
I guarantee that employer wont advertise with the Job Centre anymore after being !!!!ed around like that and the JC will only have themselves to blame!

That's actually very good idea...

VitaK

To receive JSA until the day your new job starts you have to be looking for work up to that date.

dark_lady wrote: »

Tell you what if she is being forced to apply for other TEMP jobs when she already has a TEMP job lined up, then she could go to an interview,if she gets offered one and starts it,she could then hand her notice in weeks or days later to go to the M+S one.
When the employer shes leaving gets shirty about it she could explain that the Job Centre left her no choice and refer the employer back to them.
I guarantee that employer wont advertise with the Job Centre anymore after being !!!!ed around like that and the JC will only have themselves to blame!

This could also lead the Jobcentre to question whether or not she was available to work in the period she was claiming JSA.

daggy

VitaK wrote: »

To receive JSA until the day your new job starts you have to be looking for work up to that date.



This could also lead the Jobcentre to question whether or not she was available to work in the period she was claiming JSA.

How could it?

Surely if she took a job and then handed her notice in to coincide with the start date of the first job, that would in fact prove that she was available to work?

purple.sarah

I got a job through a job centre scheme but it involved doing a 2 month work skills course before starting. The employer didn't pay for this training. The job centre recognised that the course was unpaid and some people might not pass so kept us on JSA during the training. However this meant we had to still apply for other jobs in spite of having been offered one conditional on completing the training. Oh and the training was only for people on JSA so you couldn't work part time while doing it. I pointed out that we could be offered interviews or another job that could clash with the training for the job we had already been offered and the adviser acknowledged it was unfair but basically said we had to give the impression of being available for work, even though we weren't. I used this time to explore my options in case I found a better job and that is a possibility for your girlfriend too, so worth looking.

If she is commited to her new job she should probably take the initiative and try to find some temporary work while she's waiting to start her new job, or apply for lots of jobs that meet her criteria- temporary before her new job starts or starting after it finishes. If the job centre sees her applying for lots of jobs on her own they might not push her towards unsuitable ones.

And she can always apply for jobs but be honest with the employer that she has a job starting in a few weeks and is only looking for something temporary to fill the gap. Some employers might not want to take her on under those circumstances but she will have fulfilled her obligation by applying.

tom717

daggy wrote: »

She IS looking for a job, however, there is no point in her applying for a job that she cannot take.
That argument could be made in many situations, for example, why should somebody who has an MSc in engineering be allowed to only look for engineering jobs?

They are not. After a few weeks you are expected to apply to anything you would be capable of.