Is it really compulsory to go on the Work Programme

morganedge

falko89 wrote: »

So what do you do stand about all day?

Probably just tinker with a CV all day at a guess.

Lith

LadyMissA wrote: »

I am 100% ANTI WP actually!! I just play the game VERY well

Where have I EVER defended it??

Why don't you tell them what people do on it?

tell them? 0_o am i on it? I DIDN'T KNOW THAT!! :rotfl:

(Ride sally ride!!!)

morganedge wrote: »

Probably just tinker with a CV all day at a guess.

and sitting on your a s s in a room for a few hours doing F**k all


Would rarther be out in the town handing in cv's etc doing something... that WP just takes away your time.

LadyMissA

Lith wrote: »

tell them? 0_o am i on it? I DIDN'T KNOW THAT!! :rotfl:

(Ride sally ride!!!)

I am guessing you mean 'am I on it'? Well if you aren't then you too don't know what happens.

And where have I defended the WP? Oh yes that's it mega letter of complaint I sent the provider when I got 'lost' in their system must have been a letter of praise! And the follow up where I told them bad work men blame their tools that was actually a well done card and then the 3rd letter was a recomendation on just how s**t they are!!!

LSB1302

I am on the Work Program and have been since November. Will I was referred back in October but it took them 6 weeks to contact me.

Since I started I have seen them face to face 3 times. Each time I have seen them I have had to travel 30 minutes each way by public transport and have had to fight tooth and nail to get the costs repaid.

I have had 1 telephone meeting which was back in December. But the way I understand it is I should have had 3. I should see them face to face every 4 weeks and have a telephone meeting with them 2 weeks after my last face to face.

So far I have had the grand total of 80 minutes of contact with them since November. I was told they would help me with job search. Nothing. I was told they would help me with my C.V. Nothing.

When I have been there I have been spoken to as if I am a 5 year old that doesn't know what they are doing. To be honest they are a waste of space.

nocareer

LSB1302 wrote: »

I am on the Work Program and have been since November. Will I was referred back in October but it took them 6 weeks to contact me.

Can I ask who is your provider? (eg. A4E, Triage etc....)

GotToChange

In answer to the original question; "compulsory" in order to continue to receive JSA... but this has additional complications for the OP due to the fact that they are receiving contribution-based JSA which is finite and then the income-based JSA is affected by houshold income...
As far as having to attend (and also the JC) in order to receive NI "credits" (i.e. no hole in your NI record), I am not so sure - and it hardly seems fair if you do have to... (But then again, there may be some people out there who actually get something out of the programme...?) I think you need to check this with either the JCP or the WP provider.

I have VERY strong feelings about the Work Programme - and actually declined - as in, working for - a job with a provider of Flexible New Deal just over two years ago (so I guess it could be argued that my present circumstances serve me right...). Starting at the top, I loathe the Emma-woman who heads up A4e - and filtering down to the bottom, the providers are worse than useless - whilst I know that it would be impossible/possibly dangerous to centralise this "service" (any more than it already is), the range of people offering the WP in my area alone is bonkers. The provider with whom I have been placed (under A4e's umbrella) is a locally-known homelessness "charity" who have given this sideline yet another different name.

Their experience in the homelessness field means that those who arrived for the induction were spoken to as though they may in all possibility have drink problems, would need to be reminded to not bring their knives to the sessions and may also need to remember to have a wash before an interview. (!!!!!!)

Of the "inductees", of the 10 who had been instructed to attend, five showed up - me, two ladies suffering from fibromyalgia (one on crutches, the other looking so doped up on painkillers that the only time the lines of pain etched into her face smoothed out a little was when she closed her eyes and seemed to fall asleep). The other two were a HGV driver who couldn't get a job without a digital tachograph (and who seems to have taken on the househusband role) and a young fully-qualified chef who had been medically discharged from the army due to flat feet. In addition he has no car, lives out on the country and cannot travel very far.

I am not someone who they may be "used to" seeing (and my lack of a job is partly my own fault....but compounded by the local economy/immigarnt-population situation and of the course, the national state of affairs); when I walked into the (shared) building and asked where my WP-provider's office was, the receptionist seemed to think that I had come to deliver some kind of course (ha ha) - but as we are all well aware, appearances can be very deceptive. During the induction, the young lady presenting it asked if what we thought we would think best to wear for an interview for a job in a warehouse (pretty much the only kind of work around here...), I said suit (nobody else spoke, either then or at all in response to the dumb questions. I answered - and paid the price - because I felt sorry for her, being met with blank stares) and was told that no, mustn't do that in case the interviewer thought we were after his job!

At the end of the session, an appointment was made for an individual appointment with an "advisor"; we agreed on one a week hence - i.e., this Monday (to coincide with attending JCP) - but when I phoned on Monday to re-schedule, I was told that it was actually Tuesday. Ugh. I looked a bit of a fool, but it wasn't my mistake, sloppiness on their part. I was then told (by the new advisor, who sounded like a real pitbull) that "No-one can see you until the 20th", which suits me just fine - but I have yet to discover if there are any consequences (as there have been from the JC, who I also didn't see - due to the snow. That's aother story.).

Although these programmes are delivered by people, some of them seem so robotic and deliver a one-size-fits-all/box-ticking (literally) approach whilst at the same time, the low-hanging fruit (i.e. "job-ready") are likely to have more pressure applied as they are more likley to bring in an income for the provider - which, whilst it is a small sum when the person gets a job, increases significantly awhen the person has been in "sustainable" (is there such a thing?) for two years. Then they receive £14,000. Good luck to them with that. On the other hand, they will exert a different kind of pressure on those who have many "barriers" (there not being enough jobs not being one - much?) - and this is where Framework has the expertise - literacy and numeracy, interview practice, compiling/beautifying a CV - and in all likelihood, finding a "WORK PLACEMENT" - i.e. - working for "nothing*/very little.

And on that note, has anyone checked out the DWP/JCP website lately? There are now "jobs" on there that state the wage as "nil" or "Benefits" (which is in addition to the "Apprenticeships" - i.e. jobs that ARE actual jobs but now pay £2.60 an hour!!!!!!)

Back to the original point, I think that these providers can pick and choose how often you are required to attend - this may well be personlaised to the individual - and you are damned if you are looking a good prospect for work - and damned if you don't. Whilst a pleasant enough presentation at the induction, the threat of money being stopped was implicit throughout.

This is just my 10 cents. Not biased in any way at all.

red_devil

The work programme was on the news tonight. They were saying there arent enough jobs and the work programme cant really help people into work. There were 2 case studies on there. One girl couldnt get a job and was seen handing her cvs out round town and one man was on there cant remember what he said.

LadyMissA

red_devil wrote: »

The work programme was on the news tonight. They were saying there arent enough jobs and the work programme cant really help people into work. There were 2 case studies on there. One girl couldnt get a job and was seen handing her cvs out round town and one man was on there cant remember what he said.

they can't help the unemployed as there are no incentives for companies out there to employer people who are out of work and no provider on the WP can make people interview the unemployed. They have no power!

red_devil

They also said that if a company has to choose between someone in work and someone out of work for ages, then they are going to pick someone who is already in work. I think they are just telling us things we already know.

LadyMissA

red_devil wrote: »

They also said that if a company has to choose between someone in work and someone out of work for ages, then they are going to pick someone who is already in work. I think they are just telling us things we already know.

I have said this on here already and I was told be a few people who post on here that it's c**p like I was making it up!!

Even jobs for immediate starts are more likely to interview people already working.