JSA And Funeral Attendance

missapril75

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

But the OP is supposed to be available for, and seeking, work. Hence, JobSEEKERs' Allowance, which is what they are paid while they are out of work.

And why wouldn't she be?

If they are attending a friend's parent's funeral, they are neither available for work nor seeking work. Unless they take holiday they are asking to be being paid for attending a funeral. This is not allowed. So, if they have no holiday left, they can't go.

So you're okay with someone going on holiday for however long but not for taking a day out for a funeral?

Just as one can be employed and go to a funeral, one can be available and looking for work and attend a funeral. Or go shopping. Or visit your parents. Or go to a concert. One is allowed a life while unemployed.

This reminds me of those people who say a single parent shouldn't have a boy/girlfriend stay over if they claim benefits.

If the funeral was on a different day, the OP would still have been available and looking for work and it would not have been a problem.

If there had been nothing wrong by going on a non signing day - and there would not be, so long as she could show he JSAG had been satisfied - there should be nothing wrong attending on the signing day.

A bit of common sense needs to be applied. If you have two people both signing on a Tuesday, for example, and one has a funeral to attend on a Thursday and one on the Tuesday, it would not be fair to penalise one. That would be discriminatory.

If there were other reasons, then that's different.

But there's a one in ten chance a funeral (or some other reason) will clash with a signing day. That fluke alone is not a reason to make life difficult for someone.

peapoddy

Cate1976 wrote: »

peapoddy: How did you get round that one?

I had to phone the hospital and change the appointment, when i turned up at the course they were none too pleased because they said the course runs all the time and they have no problem changing days around.
No one likes that bloke, in fact the ones that work there dont even like him!

missapril75

peapoddy wrote: »

No one likes that bloke, in fact the ones that work there dont even like him!

Was his name John? :rotfl:

seven-day-weekend

princessdon wrote: »

Can they not take "unpaid leave". Ie sign off then sign back on? They would lose the days inbetween but better than nothing?

I think that this should be allowed. Unpaid leave or holiday leave is fine. It is what you would have to do if you were working, so I don't see why a Jobseeker should be any different.

princessdon

I would think so - In employment for a none relative I'd have to take AL or unpaid and so reasonable for a job seeker.

Only question is how quickly this is re-instated. I don't have to wait 6 weeks following .......

Dunroamin

bazza5070 wrote: »

Bit Harsh!!! and I am know in my JCP as the uncaring cynical b*****d! :rotfl:

I don't really think so. After all, this isn't a relative or even a friend - it's a friend's relative!

It's not particularly common to go to the funeral of a friend's relative, after all.

missapril75

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Unpaid leave or holiday leave is fine. It is what you would have to do if you were working, so I don't see why a Jobseeker should be any different.

Because jobseeking is different to working. There's no requirement to wear your overalls, protective wear, suit and tie, whatever as there is for work. You don't have a boss when you're a job seeker. You don't have staff rules. You don't have a product to sell. The job centre doesn't provide you with a parking spot (yes, I know not all employers do, but no JC does). The job Centre doesn't have a gym or social club for its job seekers.

As well as all these differences, the remuneration for working is vastly superior to JSA and includes overtime, bonuses, increments, profit share etc. JSA is a bare minimum and never more.

They are two completely different things subject to different rules and conditions. Much like Cricket and Football are two different things even though they are both sports.

Tell you what, let's have all 22 cricketers on the field at the same time. It's what happens in football.


Seriously...close a claim and then open it again. All that admin work, letters to be mailed, notice to be sent to the LA so they close a Housing Benefit claim. Then the person claiming can still apply for HB on income grounds so they make a separate application which the HB office has to assess and process, so there's extra admin for the LA.

Then there's a new application that has to be worked on, with more letters, more notices and the LA has to reverse what they did and now pay passported HB again.

Oh yes, and an appointment is used up which means someone else has to wait longer. This would be a significant extra wait if this was to be the solution for everyone so as to maintain consistency and fairness to all.

missapril75

Dunroamin wrote: »

It's not particularly common to go to the funeral of a friend's relative, after all.

Her attendance would appear to be greatly desired. But I don't see that as being an issue.

I don't see any negative impact on the OP's job seeking activities for the fortnight.

It's entirely feasible to meet every obligation in a JSAG in one day and then sit around doing naff all for the rest of the two weeks.

I really don't see having your interview on a different day occasionally as anything to get worked up about.

Plenty of job seekers have it far too easy, I'll go for that one.

SmartPricePoster

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

But the OP is supposed to be available for, and seeking, work. Hence, JobSEEKERs' Allowance, which is what they are paid while they are out of work.

If they are attending a friend's parent's funeral, they are neither available for work nor seeking work. Unless they take holiday they are asking to be being paid for attending a funeral. This is not allowed. So, if they have no holiday left, they can't go.

There's only so much time in a day someone can spend 'jobseeking' before hitting a dead end or losing their marbles. A few hours spent paying respect to a deceased friend is hardly going to effect any job seeking in the rest of the day or week.

Dunroamin

missapril75 wrote: »

I don't see any negative impact on the OP's job seeking activities for the fortnight.

It's entirely feasible to meet every obligation in a JSAG in one day and then sit around doing naff all for the rest of the two weeks.

I really don't see having your interview on a different day occasionally as anything to get worked up about.

Well, when you're put in charge of the DWP you can change the rules!