Please help! JSA sanction question

Mystic-Dagon

Hello, my name is Sophie and I'm new here.
I was wondering if anyone could help with the recent sanction that has come into place on our JSA payments.
This might be long so I'm going to try and put it into sections.

Background:
Right, first off, both me and my partner claim JSA and have been for around 9 months since we both were laid off in the same workplace. We live on our own and also claim housing benefit to pay for the rent.

Info about the job:
About two weeks ago we received a letter stating that my partner hasn't applied for a job match handed to him in the job centre. We remembered which job this was as he told our job advisor that he would be unable to get to the job via public transport.
The job started at 7am and the bus to get to this job only started running at 8am. So he wouldn't have provided to be a very good employee if he were 2 hours late for the job everyday. We've had to commute via public transport before, this was not the problem. My partner said to our job advisor that he couldn't get there in time. Our job advisor replied with something like "oh apply for it anyway" and stuffed it in his face and we went on our way.
So we wrote back to this letter stating that he was unable to attend the job on the agreed hours, and he applied for another job in it's place.

They then sent a letter back saying that that wasn't a good enough excuse for not applying for this job match and have sanctioned our benefits. We were getting £110 a week. Now we get only £55 a week between us. Baring in mind we need to pay for rent, bills, phone, internet, food, travel. This is in effect until 13 March 2013!!

The weird part:
We panicked and searched through all our papers in hopes to find something to rectify this situation and have come across the actual job sheet our job advisor was meant to have received from us during signing on. We remember she called us in one day that wasn't our signing day and we brought the sheet with us and she gave it back to us and told us "just bring in the important one next week". So they obviously don't have a problem with not receiving our sheets or our benefits surely would have been stopped or someone would have noticed?
So how do they know that my partner did or did not apply for the job match if they don't have the sheet?
We looked at the sheet and it has the actual job written on it like my partner had applied for it despite the hours being impossible to get to. The thing is, he has cleared his email box by now and all possible proof of him applying for it are all gone. (It didn't occur to us at the time but we're never deleting emails again lol)

We now don't see this job advisor as we have been put on the work program so we can't even pop in and be like why didn't you take our sheets?

I want to appeal against the sanction because even if my partner didn't apply for it, he had applied for 3 jobs anyway because he couldn't get to that one.
But I don't know what to do. Show them the job sheet with the job he might have applied for, and blame the incompetent job advisor? Or tell them that he didn't apply for it because it was impossible to get to the job and still fell into the job seekers agreement because he applied for other job matches and 3+ jobs a week.
I'm so confused.



Extra info (don't have to read):
I would just like to point out how degenerately incompetent this job advisor is. Upon every appointment we had with her she has managed to F up the computer program that does the signing. She closes it, opens the wrong window, reads the wrong things, misses parts of it. SHE USED THE MOUSE BACKWARDS AND WONDERED WHY IT WASN'T CLICKING. Every appointment was an embarrassing struggle with her. And before we did not receive JSA for a shocking 6 months because she got my partner confused with someone else of the same name who owned a house!! So when we weren't getting paid its because they thought we owned a 4 bedroom house. My partner at one point even thought he had his identity stolen and we were going to go to the police lol.

busy_mom_2

Ok, if you cannot get to the job and prove you cannot get there, appeal. When the refusal doubt was sent to a decision maker the adviser has to put down how your partner would have got there. Can you walk there? reasonable to bike there? If you feel the decision is wrong then go down this route. The rest is irrelevant. If an adviser matched you a job they have to state why it was a match and not just an enquiry..

You need to complete a GL24 stating why you feel the decision is wrong. Ask at your local jobcentre for the form.

benefitbaby

And the DWP decision maker guidance may (or may not) assist you...
paragraph 34452 -
‘If other forms of transport are not available, it is reasonable to expect a healthy person with no disabilities to spend up to an hour each way walking to and from work in the absence of any objections. For example, a claimant should not have to walk in the dark through a dangerous inner-city area.’

The decision maker will refer to their guidance when considering whether your partner had 'good cause' for failing to apply for a job given to him by his adviser, does this help or hinder??

princessdon

9 months and not one of you have found any form of work?

Must be really tough where you live

slenderkitten

hmm, thats not a good situation to be in as the other poster said appeal. You cannot be expected to walk to work if its such a distance becasue inevitably in bad weather you will take greater care and take longer to reach your destination. Fortunately I haven't had such a situation arise so far in my search for work. Please keep any email evidence you dont need to delete them from webmail based accounts such as gmail, hotmail etc as the storage is basically never ending. At least you dont have that unhelpful advisor to see anymore.

good luck.

sniggings

I think you only get 5 days to appeal so do it now.

Also go see your MP.

You need to apply for all jobs suitable and those that the adviser hand you so maybe not a good idea to argue you applied for 3 different jobs in it's place, a better argument would be to say it was impossible for you to get there so unreasonable for the adviser to have given you it in the first place.

In future, just apply for any they give you, the employer will see it's unsuitable so you won't get it anyway and will keep the adviser happy, I total waste of time, the advisers should be using these harsh rules on those unwilling to work not using them to punish all on JSA, some it seems has let the power go to their heads.

Mystic-Dagon

Thank you for all the help guys.
The distance was way to far to walk or use bike. It's around 20 miles. We don't mind travelling even that far on the bus. It's the fact that it's before the buses start. They wouldn't expect you to commute up to an hour away relying on public transport if it was a night shift would they?
The bad thing is, I used to have a car and absolutely can't afford it on JSA

Also we have both been applying for several jobs a week, for 9 months and we've only had 5 interviews. Shops are closing in this town all the time. I think we live in a really bad area for employment.

sniggings wrote: »

In future, just apply for any they give you, the employer will see it's unsuitable so you won't get it anyway and will keep the adviser happy, I total waste of time, the advisers should be using these harsh rules on those unwilling to work not using them to punish all on JSA, some it seems has let the power go to their heads.

Yeah unfortunately I resoundingly feel this day in day out. The amount of unprofessional yobbsters that roam the street not wanting a job get by fine in the JSA office. But when me and my partner (who both have degrees lol) claim benefits, we get treated like dirt. All the sharp rules and regulations makes me feel so uneasy.

Bayblue

I'm sorry you've had this problem. A similar thing happened to me. On my first visit to the Job centre I was handed three sheets detailing three jobs. It wasn't made clear to me that I had to apply for all of them and I applied for two and disregarded the third as I didn't think I had the relevant experience. I also applied for around ten other jobs but because I didn't apply for one of the ones printed out I was sanctioned for (I think) around 6 weeks. It was horrible and a real lesson for me in learning how things operate at the job centre and how to behave when claiming JSA. From then on I:

Kept records of every job I applied for and brought them with me every visit.

Only got them to print jobs that are suitable and if they printed them I definitely applied and again made sure I had proof.

Most importantly I did my best to foster a professional relationship with any and all advisers. I figured that they've heard all and every excuse and it's a matter of trust, so if I slipped up I told them the truth but generally I did my level best to go above their expectations.

I can't remember how many jobs 'they' thought I should apply for but I thought that in the jobs climate it was a numbers game and I set myself a target of at least 25 a week.

Unfortunately whilst you are claiming you are somewhat at their 'mercy' and at times it felt like playing a game that you hadn't learnt the rules for yet. But I did learn..and quickly.;)

I think that your boyfriend should appeal, explaining that it was an honest and genuine mistake.

benefitbaby

Bayblue wrote: »

I think that your boyfriend should appeal, explaining that it was an honest and genuine mistake.

The OPs partner didn't make a mistake. He failed to follow a jobseeking direction and as such he will only win an appeal if he can show that he had 'good cause' for failing to apply for the job (this is the law), as the OP said a distance of 20 miles is not acheivable on foot and a bus timetable will show that there was no public transport available... this is the good cause upon which he could win.

Bayblue

benefitbaby wrote: »

The OPs partner didn't make a mistake. He failed to follow a jobseeking direction and as such he will only win an appeal if he can show that he had 'good cause' for failing to apply for the job (this is the law), as the OP said a distance of 20 miles is not acheivable on foot and a bus timetable will show that there was no public transport available... this is the good cause upon which he could win.

Oops, I'm wrong then. I'm probably thinking of my own case, where I didn't have the relevant job experience and therefore didn't apply. Either way (I learnt) you've got to apply for those printed jobs.

Still, I am glad he can appeal.