3 hour comute rule

koiboy

Commute three hours a day or lose benefits, jobseekers are told in tough new plan :eek::eek::eek:

• The new rules from Universal Credit will come into force in April
• Jobseekers will also be forced to accept any job that pays minimum wage
• Claimants can forfeit as much as £10.20 a day for three years http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2283162/Commute-hours-day-lose-benefits-jobseekers-told-tough-new-Universal-Credit-plan.html

gingerdad

Seems reasonable, an hour and a half each way...

Antispam

Not if your on minimum wage and travel costs are expensive

gingerdad wrote: »

Seems reasonable, an hour and a half each way...

306chris

When I sgned on for JSA it was agreed for 90 mins travel anyway. However if you do not drive and rely on a poor public transport system it doesnt get you that far. It's nothing new

DCFC79

I think 1.5 hours is the limit Id go for a job (would depend what the pay was ), Ive done a fair few 3 hour commutes and was just too long for me.

Who?_me?

Please note that this is from the Daily Mail. I would not believe half of what is written there.

momofmonster

I don't see a problem with this commute time. I spend almost 4 hours a day commuting in total. One of the buses i catch is over an hour, but that is the choice i made to have this job. I know other people in work whose commute can be longer than mine.

I think the issue shouldn't be how long they have to travel for but it should be factored in how much travel costs against the wage they will be earning.

AP007

It has ALWAYS been 1.5 hours travel in each direction when you have been out of work 6 months or more. It's not a new thing. As far as travel goes you have to have a better off calculation to see if any job makes you worse off.

HappyMJ

It is by bus though. Wherever a daily travel card could take you. There is no need to take an expensive rail service.

earthbound_misfit

Being willing to travel 1.5 hrs and take any job has been part of the jobseeker's agreement for years. Or perhaps the travel time used to be 1hr but certainly you were/are expected to take any job (and most on JSA would be happy for the chance!)
The problem is they ignore public transport timing, and any parts of the journey that are walked - eg. you might have to walk 20mins to get to the bus stop, then have to take 2 buses that are so infrequent you must wait 40mins between them (before anyone asks I would love to cycle but am lethal on the roads due to poor balance, not to mention the hills around here that mean you're walking anyway!). Yet this extra hour is completely ignored by JC+.
A friend of mine was forced to apply for a job he wouldn't be able to get home from as public transport finished before the shift ended... yet technically it was still 1.5 hrs away...
As for the travelcard... I used to live in a smallish town (not small at all, but rural!) and it cost about £10+ to get to the next town along. A lot to spend on minimum wage...

The_ICT_Engineer

HappyMJ wrote: »

It is by bus though. Wherever a daily travel card could take you. There is no need to take an expensive rail service.

Where does it state this? From my own last dealing with the jokers at the Job-Centre, they have always used the fastest possible route.