Help and advice please

mummybee82

I was made redundant in August 2012. I started claiming jobseekers and have never claimed before for any benefit. In october my 6 yr old was rushed to hospital and was there for a total of 8 days. I rung the jobcentre the day before i was suppose to sign on as i didnt realise he would have to be in that long. The lady on the phone said she would sign for me that day under domestic emergancy. When i went to sign on the following week i was asked why i did not apply for a job i was given and i explained my son had been admitted to hospital the day i was given the job and was there for 8 days. She told me i should have rung on the day he was admitted as i have to treat them as my employers..... I appoligised and said i was unaware and very stressed because of the situation. 2 days later i had a phone call at home asking me the same question (why did i not apply for a job). I again explained it and the lady appologised and said she will update my records. I then went on a tabs training course for 2 weeks and when i went to sign on after that i was cornered and asked why i did not apply for this job. By now i was getting abit annoyed because i had already explained it twice before. They again appologised and wrote on my file. Everything seemed ok then until 8th jan when i signed on and was asked to speak with someone else who asked me why back in october i did not apply for this job when i was told too..... I said ive already explained this 3 timez and she said she needs to write up a report as it cant be filled as domestic emergancy for failing to apply only for not being able to sign on. She said when i rung up it was made out that my son had only just been taken to hospital when he had already been there 6 days. She said she has no choice but to report it and my benefits could be sanctioned. Is this aloud? What can i do? Please help

midnight_express

Yes it is allowed. JSA is paid on the basis that you available for and actively seeking work. I think you can appeal. You can put in a claim in for hardship.

mummybee82

I have been sanctioned from 9th Jan till 9th April for failure to apply because my son was in hospital. They looked on my file and there was 2 jobs in question on the same day and one had been approved the other had not. Ive had to appeal against this decision as I have hospital proof that my son was in hospital so I was unable to apply for the job in the one week they gave me ( he was in hospital for 8 days in total!)

princessdon

mummybee82 wrote: »

I have been sanctioned from 9th Jan till 9th April for failure to apply because my son was in hospital. They looked on my file and there was 2 jobs in question on the same day and one had been approved the other had not. Ive had to appeal against this decision as I have hospital proof that my son was in hospital so I was unable to apply for the job in the one week they gave me ( he was in hospital for 8 days in total!)

Did they give you the job the same day he was admitted or prior?

Morlock

mummybee82 wrote: »

I have been sanctioned from 9th Jan till 9th April for failure to apply because my son was in hospital

It appears that you have been given a higher level sanction, which is 13 weeks for the first 'failure'.

mummybee82 wrote: »

Ive had to appeal against this decision as I have hospital proof that my son was in hospital so I was unable to apply for the job in the one week they gave me ( he was in hospital for 8 days in total!)

I hope your appeal is successful, but if not you need to be very careful, your next higher level sanction (second failure) will be for 26 weeks, a third failure will net you a 156 week (three years) sanction. Hopefully your son won't need to go to hospital again any time soon.

mummybee82

They gave me the job the day he was admitted. He was taken to a&e straight from school that day where he spent a further 8 days. I contacted my mp on the advice of CAB and he is appalled and taking this further for me

mummybee82

They said it is sanctioned because i didnt applu for the job when i was given it but i explained that i did infact apply for it at a later date and they looked on their file and said they rung the job in question on 20th november and they said i didnt apply for the job. I checked my emails infront of her and i have my email to them on 19th nov applying for the job and their reply to me. Why would a company say i didnt apply when i have an email saying i did? It doesnt add up im taking this further

Morlock

mummybee82 wrote: »

I contacted my mp on the advice of CAB and he is appalled and taking this further for me

I'm appalled too, the sanctions regime is draconian, and it is getting worse, with harsher conditionality being imposed and more claimants being subject to sanctions, particularly when universal credit is introduced.

It is absolutely disgusting that this has happened to you, many other claimants and many more to come, for spurious reasons. This government are relentless in their anti-welfare crusade and will stop at nothing, many ESA claimants are dying or committing suicide when their benefits are stopped, but Ian Duncan Smith doesn't give a toss.

princessdon

Could they be sanctioning you for not applying once your child was out of hospital?

If they were in hospital in Mid October (8 days) and it was the 19th you applied that is some 2-3 weeks after you son was out of hospital.

Is this why?

mummybee82

They gave me 1 day to apply for it when they gave it to me. It was closed when i tried to apply but come back available and i liked the sound of it so thats why i reapplied

princessdon

mummybee82 wrote: »

They gave me 1 day to apply for it when they gave it to me. It was closed when i tried to apply but come back available and i liked the sound of it so thats why i reapplied

I would then certainly be appealing if the sanction applies to that time frame.

I was just trying to work out if the sanction was because 3 weeks later it was still live and you hadn't etc.

In that case if the sanction was for October not applying then the company are correct you DIDN'T apply as applying in Nov was from a different time period.

It is unfair to expect you to apply for a job the same/next day a child is taken into hospital IMO.