JSA and temporary work

lou2_2

Hi, my brother is due to sign on in a few days but has been offered some temporary work for the rest of the week. Is it possible for him to put his JSA on hold for a week or does he have to end his claim and start all over again when the work comes to an end? Also what should he do about not being able to attend signing on this week?

He is unable to call the jobcentre to discuss with them as he is unable to use the phone at work for long periods of time (they keep you on hold soooo long!) and i'm guessing they won't speak to me?

Any advice would be great, i really don't want him being punished for the sake of 3/4 days work and missing his appointment.

sammyjammy

If he doesn't contact them to tell them (and get the name of the person!) then they will close his claim, I think he has three working days to contact them after his signing date before this will happen.

If he is going to be working more than 16 hours in a benefit week (if signing day is Thursday then this is Friday to Thursday etc) then he would have to sign off and then make a new claim anyway in which case he should complete and return his signing book so that he gets paid up to the day before he started.

Does he not get a lunch break in which he can contact them? If he has a regular signing officer then he could attempt to email them?

lou2_2

Thanks for the reply Sammy. Would i be able to return his signing book on his behalf? Or will they totally refuse to deal with me? Apologies if i'm asking silly questions but i've been lucky enough to never have to go through the ordeal of dealing with the job centre.

He could ring from work but it's in a noisy environment and in the past when he's rang they've kept him on hold for over an hour - not only that he hasn't got the money to cover the cost of the call as it's not a local number.

I'll ask him if he has a regular signing officer and try and get some contact details for him/her.

Was hoping someone would tell me there was a simple form that i could've collected and returned on his behalf lol. You'd think they'd make it easy for people to be able to take on temporary work, I can now see why most people don't bother!

sammyjammy

You should be able to hand the booklet in for him if he has completed it, don't just hand it to a security guard though make sure you give it to someone at a desk and ask them for their name (you could ask for a written receipt but not sure they would comply - these things seem to go missing regularly when handed in at Jobcentres) or he could send it in to the benefit centre if he knows their address (it might be on his JSA letters).

No point emailing the signing person if he is signing off due to more than 16 hours.