JSA question

bloolagoon

Apologies as I have never claimed benefits before but find myself in a situation that I find unnaccpetable. I have applied for JSA based on working all my life and being made redundant. They have set my time to go to job centre at 3.30 on a Wednesday. I have no problems attending but this is when the children need collected from school. I got a friend to look after the children and attended the first session and asked to amend the time and they said it was not negotiable due to my name - Ie alphabetical order.

Can I request time when I am not picking up from school and if honest would rather not take my children after school but accept this may be necessary.

Also we have an overseas holiday booked soon that was booked 12 months ago before my redundancy and I haven't worked out if this is on a job centre day as only away for 1 week but if so what is the procedure as I can't be there?

Final question is that I did not have a pleasant experience today the young gentleman asked if I had applied for XX job - I replied no and they said I should. The cost of childcare for this job is approximately £12 a day above the wages, he said I have to apply - How can this be? Yes I am qualified and overqualified but after childcare it is not feasible at minimum wage.

Please be kind as my dignity regarding claiming is low but I need to provide proof to paymentshield to reclaim my mortgage costs otherwise I wouldn't return in a hurry.

jamespir

ok im sure you can ask them for a time before school picking up whether they give it you is another question

regards the holiday you would have to sign off before you go and do a rapid reclaim when you return

and you do have to apply for every job that they give your or they can sanction your benefit

bloolagoon

I did politely requsest and they said it was alphabetical and that the allocated timeslot was not negotiable. Can I appeal or write to someone in authority?

Many thanks regarding the holiday and once I know the regular date I will act accordingly.

How can they force someone to apply for a position that would make the work V childcare negative in value.

jamespir

bloolagoon wrote: »

I did politely requsest and they said it was alphabetical and that the allocated timeslot was not negotiable. Can I appeal or write to someone in authority?

Many thanks regarding the holiday and once I know the regular date I will act accordingly.

How can they force someone to apply for a position that would make the work V childcare negative in value.

you could appeal yes


its not them that forcing you it the rules brought in by the goverment and you could get sanctioned if they feel you havent applied for a job

bloolagoon

Many thanks I guess I will just have to ring paymentshield and explain as I really can't afford to work for free and pay £12 a day for the privillege.

This is degrading enough without someone telling you that your experiences are negative in value.

Kind Regards for your candid replies I do appreciate it.

mynameistallulah

bloolagoon wrote: »

Many thanks regarding the holiday and once I know the regular date I will act accordingly.

You have misunderstood - you have to advise the JCP of your holiday irrespective of when your "regular date" will be. You are not eligible to receive payment whilst you are outside the UK.

bloolagoon

I don't really care about the payment from them given it is less than my petrol costs and childcare costs to attend the appointment. I have paid £47 a month for insurance for 28 years beleiving my mortgage would be paid for if I was in the unfortunate position to find myself redundant and it is their request that I visit the job centre. It certainly is not something I would wish for.

Also what if my chemotherapy falls on such a day? I really have no fight left in myself at the moment so I will speak to paymentshield as and if they can't suggest an alternative then I will have to do without but I am not working negative figures as life is too short but again thank you for your candid replies even if not what I wish to hear.

missapril75

You've had a bit of advice on other issues hinted at on this thread - so I'll stick with these points.

It seems different job centres dish out their time slots in different ways. The one I used to work at...we just picked our days and times according to what slots were available. It was, for example, a bit silly to interview someone and then have them back for regular signing the very next day.

I find it hard to believe it really is according to names that rigidly. As people sign off to start work or whatever, their time slot becomes free. What is the JC going to do, not use it because the next newly unemployed person they see doesn't have a surname close to it? :rotfl:

People don't claim and stop claiming in neat little groupings of surnames.

The thing is if you make too much of an issue out of it, they could query whether you are actually free to take work.

Maybe you should find out what names sign at a more convenient time and tell them you'd like to be known as that name.;)

Perhaps it's best to wait for your holiday and make your rapid reclaim on return and see what slot you get then. You may find it suits you better.

S0litaire

In regards to the "job application" it's only an Application not a job OFFER.

So to keep the peace if they say you HAVE to apply, don't put 100% into the application form. (Think of it as a practice run for when you find a job you want to apply for.)

As long as you can stick to the job plan (i.e. contact so many businesses or apply for so many jobs every 2 weeks) They should start to give you a bit more leeway in regards to applying for jobs.

Elvisia

1) I would write to the manager of the Job Centre, and explain the problem, they tend to have more leeway than the pen pushers
2) I didn't actually tell the JCP when I was going away abroad, this was because I was taking a week out to go job hunting where I used to live in France, and when I explained this to them I was told I'd have to sign off as they saw it as a holiday, even though I had interviews lined up with emails to prove it. All I did when I was there was visit employers and have interviews, there was no holiday involved. So since it didn't clash with my signing on day I just didn't tell them. It's up to you if you want to do it this way if it doesn't actually clash with your signing on day. Yes it is technically fraudulent before someone points that out.
3) You can just apply for the job, and do a bad application or if you get an interview say "well the problem is I would need a much higher wage to cover my childcare" and watch them drop you like a hot stone. When I had jobs that I couldn't apply for - they had a habit of sending me for jobs in a business park that wasn't serviced by public transport - I told my advisor this and he had an option in his online form to say I didn't apply because of transport issues. To get there would have involved two long bus journeys and a walk along a dual carriageway.

I am very fortunate that I managed to sign off and am now self employed, because aside from not wanting the stigma of being on benefits I was also fed up with the fact there is no main rule book for the place, and it really varies as to who you get. In fact when I said to them I had some small bits of work lined up so I'd be signing off I was told by an advisor to not bother declaring the money as he worked in the evenings and never bothered to declare it.

Good luck with it all, chin up.

HappyMJ

bloolagoon wrote: »

Final question is that I did not have a pleasant experience today the young gentleman asked if I had applied for XX job - I replied no and they said I should. The cost of childcare for this job is approximately £12 a day above the wages, he said I have to apply - How can this be? Yes I am qualified and overqualified but after childcare it is not feasible at minimum wage..

Apply for whatever they give you. Don't worry that it costs more to do as most employers when you mention child care and having to pick up children at a fixed time and that you have zero flexibility will not want to employ you anyway.

You can also ask the jobcentre for a better off calculation to be made which will show you proof that it is not worth taking. However, that will probably show you that you can claim full working tax credits with the child care element which will mean that you are in profit for the job. At least for the first year.