JSA: justifiable reasons to limit hours/days of work sought?

Adereterial

What hours the Jobcentre will allow her to restrict will depend on a number of things:

Caring responsibilities (with some caveats eg - school
hours for sole carers)
Health conditions
Transport limitations (eg around public transport)

She may also be able to restrict based on the nature of the job. If, for example, she's looking for (and is qualified for) office work, an hours restriction of between 8am-6pm may be viewed as reasonable and not likely to limit her chances of finding employment.

If she wishes, she has the right to refuse to sign her agreement and ask for the matter to be referred to an expert decision maker, who will make the final call. Two versions will be sent - one her advisor deems acceptable, and her version.

However, as having a signed agreement is a condition of receiving benefit, payment will be suspended until a decision is made & an agreement is signed by both parties.

nannytone_2

you have 3 chilfren. you CHOSE to have a third whilst you were a student.
that means the responsibility is yours and your wife's to finance that choice.
you need state hep and want to choose to limit the effort you wish to make as a couple?

Naf

nannytone wrote: »

you have 3 chilfren. you CHOSE to have a third whilst you were a student.

Wrong again.

nannytone wrote: »

that means the responsibility is yours and your wife's to finance that choice.

Yes, and unfortunately it has turned out harder to budget and afford than we had planned & budgeted for. In poart because of the terrible advice that government agencies & websites gave with regards benefits & student finance

nannytone wrote: »

you need state hep and want to choose to limit the effort you wish to make as a couple?

Wrong again. The choice we're making is to care for our family as best we can - unfortunately the state do not support people making this choice.
I don't think its reasonable to force her to look for FT hours under the circumstances; nor to ignore the efforts I make.

StormyWeather_2

I think as you're a couple, and she's the one claiming that you'd be classed as the main care provider and given more flexibility as far a job seeking is concerned.

Realistically, how soon would she get work? Does she have plenty of work experience and qualifications? Will there be plenty of jobs out there that she can do?

Has she signed a job seekers agreement yet? That will have the number of applications she has to make each week, so she should apply for that number of full time vacancies to meet the job centres requirements. Then on top of that, she should apply for jobs that will fit around the breast feeding issues while you try to find something that also suits your circumstances.

I've just thought, if you're only planning on what to do for the next 2 months, you won't come under the new Universal Credit rules. You can claim JSA as a couple if you work less than 24 hours between you. To get WTC, you need to work 24 hours or more, with one working at least 16 hours.

You must be able to find 24 hours between you. That's 6 pub shifts.

iammumtoone

Yes she will have to apply for full time work, but this does not stop her applying also for part time work which is more suited.

As a side note on the expressing issue, I had that problem with a hand pump but when I got an electric pump it made a big difference. I went back to work and expressed for my son. I would not have been able to do this without the electric pump (get a medela - works wonders )

FBaby

unfortunately the state do not support people making this choice.

And thank god for that. I can imagine what state the country would be in if it had to support everyone's choices....

You are clearly more determined to blame the government rather than your choices and not much inclined to look at solution... so she can't express her milk and you are absolutely not prepare to wean your baby. Fine, take baby to her each time needed and she can take a break and feed at work. Not convenient, no, of course not, but these are only the consequences of your choices.

In any case, we know this is just an excuse as even if she restricts her hours, how can she be certain that these hours won't fall during the time your baby needs breastfeeding.

dawn_rose

Hiya sorry I do not know what help you can get re jsa and sanctions. i am a mum of three and breastfed my lil one till 20 months. My lil one wouldnt have a bottle and the baby could get more than the expresser could so i can empathise. Can you not try to put baby on more solid food in day and breastfeed at night which means your wife will be able to work in the day? How old are your other children? You need to factor in childcare as well and for three thats quite costly. Are you able to work around your course? It is a bit of a juggling act I know we live this circus life too.

ELMATHUD

nannytone wrote: »

you have 3 chilfren. you CHOSE to have a third whilst you were a student.
that means the responsibility is yours and your wife's to finance that choice.
you need state hep and want to choose to limit the effort you wish to make as a couple?

i dont think the op is not asking you to judge them .i find nannytone attitude disgusting
why post on here if you dont want to help

dseventy

Most new mums after maternity leave and breastfeeding make it work. With support from the Health Visitor and a new routine, both mum and baby can settle into it. You say baby is already "part breast fed" so its just about setling into a new way of doing it.

Millions of mums across the world manage to do it, I am sure you will be able to manage it too.

You just need to be flexible, be open minded and don't focus on jobseeking rules being a barrier, you are not going to be able to influence it.

Concentrate what you can influence, look at alternatives, get baby into a new routine.

Its what most working families have to do, seems its always an issue on these boards where no one works and relies on the state to support their family.

D70

Naf

Wouldn't it be nice if more people were helpful and not judgemental.
So for those ignorant people who haven't bothered to read my posts or to ask before making assumptions:
-Childcare along with work isn't worth it during term time, so all we need is a summer job.
-Baby is being weaned but still takes milk feeds at present.
- I hadn't even applied for uni when we discovered we were expecting; however we are generally financially better off while I'm at uni.
- This has nothing to do with maternity; she hasn't worked since no. 1 was born (I have). We weren't anticipating needing extra income over the summer (based on the original info we'd got about student finance & benefits - which all turned out to be wrong), but income & budgets have not turned out the way we planned.