uk holiday whilst on JSA - advice please

lauram25

hi everyone

im a lone parent with one child and have been signing on since september.
a friend of mine lives in kent and is going away for the may half term, she has a dog and asked me to house sit - i thought yeah why not as she lives quite close to the beach and i can still do all my job searches etc from there. its not my signing on week either.

trouble is, ive been landed with a not nice person in the job centre - i dont mean just pushing me to get back to work, which i fully expect, i mean like telling me to apply and get jobs i cant fulfil hours wise and then negotiate hours once im in the door - not a helpful suggestion.

i saw her last week and she told me that im now on weekly signing on as ive been signing on for 3 months and after another 2 weeks im on daily signing on. i personally thought this was a bit fast and i cannot find any information on the net regarding it.

anyway, it looks like il now be required to sign on for the week i was hoping to go away with my daughter. so am i allowed to go as in the uk and can still do job searches?

i briefly asked her about it, but had my daughter with me so was hard to concentrate, she said i might be able to go but need it authorised as they may not agree to it, and that if they did agree to it they would want the full address (why ?) and i would be required to sign on in kent for that week.

i just need some firm information before i face her again as to be honest, i just become a nervous wreck when i face her and would quite like to speak to a lone parent advisor about some of the things she has said to me and asked of me.

thanks all and sorry for rambling on.

Voyager2002

Yes, you are allowed to go on holiday within the UK once each year. You need to complete a "going away" form in advance, and are not required to sign on while away. The form does ask for your full address and contact details, so that if a suitable job comes up they can let you know without delay. And you do have to agree that you would cut short your holiday and return immediately if you were offered a suitable job.

As for the other issues you mention: the period of "intensive signing" does not usually last very long, and is probably decided by the computer rather than by your adviser. And I do think that it might be worthwhile to apply for jobs with impossible hours and try to negotiate the times at interview. I agree that it would be a waste of everyone's time to accept a job at times that were impossible for you.

Perhaps you could tell the Lone Parent adviser that you felt there was a personality clash between yourself and your adviser, and ask for a different adviser?

emsywoo123

OP, how old is your child?

kazzah60

whilst my hubby was signing on we were able to take a weeks holiday in Cornwall - as voyager states, you ask for a holiday form put all the contact details you have and submit it - KEEP a photocopy for your own records!

lauram25

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Yes, you are allowed to go on holiday within the UK once each year. You need to complete a "going away" form in advance, and are not required to sign on while away. The form does ask for your full address and contact details, so that if a suitable job comes up they can let you know without delay. And you do have to agree that you would cut short your holiday and return immediately if you were offered a suitable job.

As for the other issues you mention: the period of "intensive signing" does not usually last very long, and is probably decided by the computer rather than by your adviser. And I do think that it might be worthwhile to apply for jobs with impossible hours and try to negotiate the times at interview. I agree that it would be a waste of everyone's time to accept a job at times that were impossible for you.

Perhaps you could tell the Lone Parent adviser that you felt there was a personality clash between yourself and your adviser, and ask for a different adviser?

The advisor I see a lot and who gave me the information told me it was her that was putting me on daily signing on not the computer. She told me she wwanted to put me on it before xmas but that I had signed on with someone different that week. To me that proves that it's not the computer or a standard time to switch me - just her wanting.

Thanks for holiday advice. How early should I submit form ?

lauram25

emsywoo123 wrote: »

OP, how old is your child?

My daughter is 6 tomorrow.

lauram25

I think I will ask to see my lone parent advisor about the issues I'm having with her.

She also tried to put me on a course for 2 weeks that clashed with school times and when I said I couldn't do that as couldn't afford child care if I wasn't being paid, she said that she highly doubted I could not get other mums to do the school runs for 2 weeks and that I needed to broaden my horizons.

I just feel awful when I see her, but not when I'm lucky enough to see anyone else.

FBaby

Are you assuming that you will still be out of work in 5 months time? Why? What happens if you do get a job and you are told you can't take that week off? Will you let your friend's down then?

I think it is an excellent suggestion to apply for job even if the hours are not accommodating as indeed, there might be room for negotiations, and you might find that you are more flexible then you think you are now. The bottom line is? What have you to lose doing so? The worse is you are being told that they can accommodate you and you are no worse off then when you started....except having made the effort to apply and maybe go to an interview.

She is also right that you should try to broaden your horizon in regards to childcare. I was a single mum for 5 years of young children and worked full-time. I quickly learn the importance of networking with other mums to help each other during holidays/afterschool etc... I probably wouldn't have put so much into it if I hadn't needed help, but in the end, it worked well for me as much as other mums and I ended up with great friends this way too.

I've moved to another town 2 years ago, so lost my network, so I started again and sure enough, I now have three mums with whom we share some childcare. I take one to football every Sunday morning and she brings my son back from school three times a week.

It is hard to be a single parent and you often have to do more than you would otherwise, but being single is not a ticket to taking a victimised role either, you just have to think out of the box more.

emsywoo123

lauram25 wrote: »

My daughter is 6 tomorrow.

Did I miss why you are on JSA rather than income support?

GMbabies

lauram25 wrote: »

I think I will ask to see my lone parent advisor about the issues I'm having with her.

She also tried to put me on a course for 2 weeks that clashed with school times and when I said I couldn't do that as couldn't afford child care if I wasn't being paid, she said that she highly doubted I could not get other mums to do the school runs for 2 weeks and that I needed to broaden my horizons.

I just feel awful when I see her, but not when I'm lucky enough to see anyone else.

I know it's not ideal but why don't you take your daughter to the course and say you can't afford the child care if expenses aren't reimbursed and you couldn't find anyone to look after your child for 2 weeks. If she become distractive, so be it. You are attending the course, for goodness sake! You couldn't have left your 6 years old alone at home. Good excuse? Basically, they are asking something unreasonable IMHO.

lauram25

FBaby wrote: »

Are you assuming that you will still be out of work in 5 months time? Why? What happens if you do get a job and you are told you can't take that week off? Will you let your friend's down then?

I think it is an excellent suggestion to apply for job even if the hours are not accommodating as indeed, there might be room for negotiations, and you might find that you are more flexible then you think you are now. The bottom line is? What have you to lose doing so? The worse is you are being told that they can accommodate you and you are no worse off then when you started....except having made the effort to apply and maybe go to an interview.

She is also right that you should try to broaden your horizon in regards to childcare. I was a single mum for 5 years of young children and worked full-time. I quickly learn the importance of networking with other mums to help each other during holidays/afterschool etc... I probably wouldn't have put so much into it if I hadn't needed help, but in the end, it worked well for me as much as other mums and I ended up with great friends this way too.

I've moved to another town 2 years ago, so lost my network, so I started again and sure enough, I now have three mums with whom we share some childcare. I take one to football every Sunday morning and she brings my son back from school three times a week.

It is hard to be a single parent and you often have to do more than you would otherwise, but being single is not a ticket to taking a victimised role either, you just have to think out of the box more.

Im assuming the worse with regards to still being unemployed in 5 months time just so i know what is what. if i do find a job within that time and they say i cannot take that week off then of course i will have to let me friend down. but if i am signing on in may and it isnt my week for signing on, i can still do all my job searches from my friends house, well a local library, so i wanted to know where i stand in regards to going.

when i mentioned that she has told me to apply for jobs that i cannot fulfil hours wise and then negotiate - she didnt mean at the interview, she told me to accept the job and suffer the hours and then once im in the door negotiate with them - that is a ridiculous suggestion as if my childcare finishes at 6pm which it does where i live (only 2 childminders that do my daughters primary school and both finish at 6pm and so does the local after school club) then me finishing work and getting to her later then 6pm is just not possible. its not a question of suffering it - its simply impossible to do.

as for broadening my horizons with childcare, i can only work with what is available to me as stated above. for the duration of the course which was 2 weeks, i may be able to get mums i know to pick my daughter up on the odd day here and there, but not 5 days a week for 2 weeks as their own children have activities which they need to attend themselves etc.

im not taking on the victimised role simply because im a single parent, but i do believe in being fair and the same rules for everyone, not just because of the advisor you see or whether they like you or not - that is simply not fair. that is why i came onto here for advice, to see if what ive been told is right or simply my advisor.