JSA question

epitome

I'm a little confused by this child care for signing on thing..... Have you complained to the manager of the jobcentre about not being allowed to sign on at a time you can get to either before or after schools finishes ?

If it is after school finish time then child care is not needed as you can take your children with you - that's what a lot of parents do when they sign on.

The only problem I see is that they should give you a sign time that allows you to be at the school to pick the kids up. Assuming they are of an age where they cannot go home alone.

Have you also considered asking to sign on by post? If you are so far away that it costs a lot in petrol then you could say that you will from now on have to use public transport to get to the jobcentre. If "walking-bus-walking" from your home to the jobcentre is 1 hour or more in either direction or more than a 4 hour roundtrip, then you can request to sign on by post. You have to show this with bus timetables and journey planner websites.

P.S. if you have missed your signing your claim will be closed after 5 days of no contact.

bloolagoon

Many thanks to Epitome and others who took valuable time to reply. Yes indeed to the problem is that the time allocated was 3pm and the eldest children (under 8) require picked up at that specific time. I request before 2.30 or after 3.30 as it is this hour that makes it problematic with childcare. I received a change of time yesterday and have 1 interview soon and have applied for 2 more positions so fingers crossed it will not be for much longer.

Many thanks again to all that took the time to reply, hopefully the situation is now resolved.

Kind and heartfelt regards.

earthbound_misfit

With regards advice to the OP about signing off when going on holiday - I thought you were allowed a two-week break per year without losing any money? Can anyone clarify?
To the OP - you will be entitled to ESA, at least temporarily.

dookar

If you go abroad entitlement ceases.

If you remain available for work it can continue if you 'holiday' in this country

Okydoky25

I've been in exactly the same situation as you and tbh think you got an jobsworth. I have a baby and the were more thn happy to change my time when I requested and that was just so I would not miss going to a toddler group!

Re applying they can't force you to apply for unsuitable jobs make sure you really look for suitable ones tho and apply for them. When thy ask for 3 examples a week I know it's crap but all you have to say is things like 'I looked in local paper' 'I checked online' etc personally v patronising if like me you really was wanting to find work but rules are rules I guess. Re holiday I believe all you need to do is advise them in advance.

clairec79

You can, or always used to be able to, restrict the wages to usual wages for the first 13 weeks of a claim - it was just written onto the Jsag