JSA Arrrrrg

gigglerm

Please help, last week I went to sign on to be told that i now have to do daily signings? I advised them that I would not be able to attend today as have a gas meter being fitted and they could not give me the exact time only between 8 am and 8 pm I gave the job centre the paper work and she photocopied it and told me to phone if i couldnt make my appointment which was at 2pm i called at 1.45 to advise that i am still waiting for them to call and she said because i am a daily signer i would need to come in, I adv tht this would not be possible as I have no one else here to wait for the engineer the woman then said that i would have to call in first thing and give a statement as this would need to be reffered to a decision maker, does this mean i will lose my jsa? i am so stressed with all this I am being made to feel like I am cheating them out of money - i have worked for 25 years and never claimed a benefit looking for a job is stressfull enough without all the added worry they put on you!

princessdon

Do they not alllow you take "holidays" from signing on?

Eg that's what I would have to do - take a day's annual leave or is it that they haven't calculated the holidays for a daily sign on?

raven83

No advice really, but I do feel for you, daily signings are ridiculous and a waste of resources, what happens if you have an important hospital appointment you have to attend? Do they expect you to cancel it? If it means you may be sacrificing your health? Surly they can't expect you to do this long term?

rogerblack

The decisionmaker will decide if you have 'good cause' to not sign.
If they decide you do not, then you may be sanctioned for a period.
(I'm not sure of the amount, or period, as I haven't looked into this in detail).

If you are sanctioned, you can appeal this decision, and ask for a reconsideration. If this is turned down, you can in principle appeal to the independant tribunal.
This is likely to take over 6 months before they hear your case though.

Voyager2002

In practice, you do have a good reason and will be able to attend the next day, so I cannot imagine that you will actually lose money. Just a pain that you have to fill in more forms, and a decision-maker has to look at your case rather than doing more important stuff.

FBaby

This is really taking it too far. Surely if you were working, you could take a day off paid in this circumstances without risking losing your job. The job centre is taking things a bit too far if they have even higher expectations than employers....

I really hope this get sorted out for you.

gigglerm

Thanks everyone I feel somewhat victimised by the job centre I can only claim for 6 months and just looking for part time work as i have a four year old too I have worked for 25 years and the experince of signing on has been very trying at times I am looking for pt work but there is just nothing out there employers have the upper hand and they need you to be flexible which I can't be. I don't know why I have to sign on daily it is a waste of time and money and I could use the time more productively searching for work I was signing on fortnightly i don't even mind doing it weekly and todays events has just been the last straw!

princessdon

You are on Contribution Based!!!

gigglerm

yes i am why?

princessdon

I am gobsmacked that they would do this to someone on CB

gigglerm

easy target i guess! I feel humiliated that I have to ask for help from them in the first place just really don't know what to do