Jobcentre forcing me on Work Program

Ollie90

Hi,

Since finishing college I've not been able to secure full time work.

I've been on Jobseekers for a while and they told me I'd have to go on the Work Program. However I've already been to the same company they are suggesting now and found them really unhelpful and uninspiring, the company itself is just located in a business block and is just a horrible old room surrounded by 10 old computers which barely work and has a desk in the middle of the room with newspapers. I don't know why this is supposed to be a good thing because they don't help me find work and I find it really uninspiring and depressing. Is there any way I can refuse to go to this work program considering I've already been there and my feelings about it? I went to a different work program which was great and ended up in some work but got made redundant, but this one is just dreadful.

nannytone_2

there is nothing you can do about it apart from getting youyrself a job!

even if you manage to find a job and then go back on JSA you will go straight back to the work programme.

sorry!

BigAunty

I believe that those who don't cooperate with the Work Program with anything other than a strong reason (such as sickness) can be sanctioned and have their JSA stopped.

Just suck it up as a condition of receiving JSA.

Your observations about the work programme are probably valid but if you take the govt shilling you've usually got no choice.

Pop over to the Job Seeking and Employment forum with your job seeking frustrations and the posters there may be able to inspire you to getting into employment or training.

Have you considered anything like voluntary work, the Princes Trust courses or apprenticeships? The longer you are unemployed, the harder you will find it to get a job. The Job Centre doesn't really care about you - you are just a number - and they aren't the best place to get a job - only you can help yourself.

lowla

I've always been under the impression this scheme is voluntary? Jobseekers cannot be forced into it? I might be wrong though.

You can't pick and choose where you get placed. There was a big thing in the news about it a few months ago. A uni graduate on JSA was volunteering at a museum, but the jobcentre made her give it up to go work in Poundland instead.

Personally, i'm set against the scheme when it placed people in shops like this. Shoving a person into Poundland to stack shelves is doing nothing to boost their skills or confidence. It's just allowing mega rich companies to take advantage of the poor.

IMO jobseekers should be placed in charities, or places where they genuinely learn skills.

Anyway, back to the point, as far as i know this will only last three weeks, is that right? Try and be positive about it. Go out your way to try and learn new skills.

Ollie90

nannytone wrote: »

there is nothing you can do about it apart from getting youyrself a job!

even if you manage to find a job and then go back on JSA you will go straight back to the work programme.

sorry!

If I found myself some Work Experience at a local Charity Shop would they not allow me to just proceed with that instead of the Work Program?

BigAunty

Ollie90 wrote: »

If I found myself some Work Experience at a local Charity Shop would they not allow me to just proceed with that instead of the Work Program?

You'd need to check with the Job Centre - seems we on this forum are a bit confused about WP (or maybe the govt and providers are, too...).

However, there was a thread on here by a chap who missed his WP start date to attend an interview with a charity for voluntary work that he applied for indepedently of the Job centre (he wanted extra time to prepare for the interview) and he's been sanctioned for not cooperating with the WP.

How long have you been unemployed?

lowla

Ollie90 wrote: »

If I found myself some Work Experience at a local Charity Shop would they not allow me to just proceed with that instead of the Work Program?

No - i don't think so. See my above post regarding the uni graduate and poundland. The jobcentre choose.

It's only a few weeks. And it'll look great on your CV. Would you not rather be out doing something productive that could help you find a job in the future? Just grin and bear it. If it's one of the conditions of JSA, then i don't know what else you can do.

marybelle01

lowla wrote: »

I've always been under the impression this scheme is voluntary? Jobseekers cannot be forced into it?
.

Yes, it's voluntary. Nobody has to go on it, but then the government doesn't need to pay you JSA if you don't go - that's also "voluntary".

marybelle01

lowla wrote: »

It's only a few weeks.

It's up to two years! You are talking about work experience, not the Work Programme.

sniggings

Ollie90 wrote: »

If I found myself some Work Experience at a local Charity Shop would they not allow me to just proceed with that instead of the Work Program?

i doubt it going by the poundland example above.

Remember that the idea is to make you want to get off benefits, so making you sit in an office you hate is what they are aiming for but all they are really doing is showing you why stopping on benefits is the better option.

3 weeks in Poundland will make you want to stop on the dole not take a job like that.

nannytone_2

it wouldnt be unheard of for them to agree your choice of work experience .... but its by no means guaranteed