UJM Advice needed.

joseph99

Ok. I'm needing advice on how to fight back against my local jc. Ive been told by my lawyers that I'm having the mick took out me and I need to act and lodge complaint.


I'm not that long unemployed. I'm not fully used to this new system.


-When I started claiming, I was told ujm signup was compulsory and law so I signed up.
-They then threatened to sanction me almost immediately because I turned in my job seeking history on a basic job log. They told me I MUST use the activity history section in ujm. That it was compulsory.
-I did as they asked. They said it was fine for a few weeks then they started raising the bar. Demanding well more than is printed on my jobseekers agreement (search more sites and more often etc) and kept pushing for me to add more info to ujm that is almost impossible to provide.
-I revoked access and sighted unfair treatment and discrimination as the reason for it (no one else in this jc is pushed as hard as me. I have verified this with 8 other clients). They issued me with an order threatening to sanction if I didn't give them access back.
-At one point I had a court hearing for a contact order. They refused to allow me an excused or early signing as I had no letter with the details on it (my lawyers had the paper work) so I had to fail to appear and that dropped me right in it.


The fact I couldn't attend court because of this seriously ticked off my legal team (I'm going through a divorce and family welfare hearings etc). They insist the local jc are breaching rules and laws and that they believe I'm being set up for sanction. They told me that...


-The jcp advisor cant issue a jobseeker direction forcing me to grant access to my ujm as this is against data protection laws and that they can't sanction me for revoking access due to this.
-That granting access is voluntary. That the information I have on ujm is my own private personal property and as it is kept on an internet server, its subject to international data protection legislation, not domestic there bye neither the jc staff nor the government can circumvent this.
-Due to this they can't issue a jobseeker direction forcing me to use the activity history section as again, granting access is voluntary. I can apparently use written notes, reference emails and screenshots if I want.
-That ujm sign up is NOT compulsory for everyone
-In general that I have been mislead on every front
-That the claimant commitment part of ujm is terms and conditions of a legally binding contract.
-That giving a client undue information is a breach of that contract, as they say has happened to me and that the contract is now null and void and should be removed.


They have gave me a carefully planned out speech I'm supposed to use tomorrow when I sign on to lodge official complaint and a string of demands to make in that complaint. They state they have confirmed all this with the dwp freedom of information team. I've been told to revoke access again as they apparently cant legally touch me without breaching data protection laws.


Thing is I'm terrified of getting sanctioned and loosing my money. Can anyone confirm for me please if my lawyers are def correct with this.

melysion

They are lawyers and are going to know a lot more than people on an Internet forum. They are the experts after all.

wapow

melysion wrote: »

They are lawyers and are going to know a lot more than people on an Internet forum. They are the experts after all.

You say that but do you not think that sites like these also have visits from working professionals?


That was rhetorical. Ofcourse they do.

joseph99

melysion wrote: »

They are lawyers and are going to know a lot more than people on an Internet forum. They are the experts after all.

They're experts in defence and family laws, not benefits laws. Hence the fact that they had to contact the dwp freedom of information team to confirm the rules of this... its got me worried to say the least. I'm living on a knife edge atm. One sanction and the whole world I've just spent 3 months building for myself, falls apart around me.

melysion

Oh absolutely. I'm just saying the OP has already got a definitive answer from a professional

wapow

melysion wrote: »

Oh absolutely. I'm just saying the OP has already got a definitive answer from a professional

Agreed 100%


OP do you think that there is always a way out? Do you believe that maybe, just maybe, the system may be right on this one?


If you don't, then im not sure any amount of re-assurance will satisfy you. This legal team seem to know what they are doing regardless of what they specialise in. Also, some of it relies on you to trust this legal team and the advice they provide. If they've done you right so far then hold your mettle and play the part tomorrow or whenever it is. By all means ask for advice here, just remember its quite a specific case you have so not sure how it will go here. You never know though! Sometimes some expert always pops up at the right time

mro

Nobody at my Jobcentre has EVER insisted I give access to UJM, my paper log has always been ok & never been questioned.

mro

joseph99 wrote: »

Ok. I'm needing advice on how to fight back against my local jc. Ive been told by my lawyers that I'm having the mick took out me and I need to act and lodge complaint.


I'm not that long unemployed. I'm not fully used to this new system.


-When I started claiming, I was told ujm signup was compulsory and law so I signed up.
-They then threatened to sanction me almost immediately because I turned in my job seeking history on a basic job log. They told me I MUST use the activity history section in ujm. That it was compulsory.
-I did as they asked. They said it was fine for a few weeks then they started raising the bar. Demanding well more than is printed on my jobseekers agreement (search more sites and more often etc) and kept pushing for me to add more info to ujm that is almost impossible to provide.
-I revoked access and sighted unfair treatment and discrimination as the reason for it (no one else in this jc is pushed as hard as me. I have verified this with 8 other clients). They issued me with an order threatening to sanction if I didn't give them access back.
-At one point I had a court hearing for a contact order. They refused to allow me an excused or early signing as I had no letter with the details on it (my lawyers had the paper work) so I had to fail to appear and that dropped me right in it.


The fact I couldn't attend court because of this seriously ticked off my legal team (I'm going through a divorce and family welfare hearings etc). They insist the local jc are breaching rules and laws and that they believe I'm being set up for sanction. They told me that...


-The jcp advisor cant issue a jobseeker direction forcing me to grant access to my ujm as this is against data protection laws and that they can't sanction me for revoking access due to this.
-That granting access is voluntary. That the information I have on ujm is my own private personal property and as it is kept on an internet server, its subject to international data protection legislation, not domestic there bye neither the jc staff nor the government can circumvent this.
-Due to this they can't issue a jobseeker direction forcing me to use the activity history section as again, granting access is voluntary. I can apparently use written notes, reference emails and screenshots if I want.
-That ujm sign up is NOT compulsory for everyone
-In general that I have been mislead on every front
-That the claimant commitment part of ujm is terms and conditions of a legally binding contract.
-That giving a client undue information is a breach of that contract, as they say has happened to me and that the contract is now null and void and should be removed.


They have gave me a carefully planned out speech I'm supposed to use tomorrow when I sign on to lodge official complaint and a string of demands to make in that complaint. They state they have confirmed all this with the dwp freedom of information team. I've been told to revoke access again as they apparently cant legally touch me without breaching data protection laws.


Thing is I'm terrified of getting sanctioned and loosing my money. Can anyone confirm for me please if my lawyers are def correct with this.

I wouldn't turn it into a drama.

Simply take back control of your UJM account.

It's your account, it belongs to you, it's up to you whether you give access.

JC advisors are just doing what they are told, by their managers, DWP politicians, but sometimes you need to stand your ground.

joseph99

@wapow: No. My concern is just that they may have missed something. Some rule that can override or something. I'm probably just being stupid but in my defence, this job centre I'm under seem to enjoy threatening me whenever I try to defend myself or question them. They seem to have a god complex and are quite literally bullying me.


@mro: Thank you. That's confirmation that this isn't common practice in other job centres. Its exactly what I was looking for. Corroboration.

joseph99

Sorry for the double post. The edit button isn't working (clicking it and nothings happening. Could be my end)


So I revoked access last night. I'm not due to sign until 2.25 later today however I just got a rather abusive phone call from my advisor telling me that if I don't restore access by the time I sign on, I'm getting sanctioned...


And this is why I was worried. They seem to be above the law. I can't move or follow any legitimate path as they threaten sanction every turn...

krok

You do not have to worry about getting sanctioned for refusing access to your personal ujm account.

They have to obey the law and you are 100% in your rights to refuse.
Make sure you have unticked the consent box and the other box consenting to emails.

You are within your rights to present your work search in any format you want. Even if its written down on a piece of used bog paper.

They know all this so just stand up for yourself and dont let them bully you.

I have sent some links to prove what i am saying. These are law and you can find everything regarding UJM in their own toolkit.
The DWP have to obey the law as well as any one else.

http://consentarchive.wordpress.com/universaljobmatch/

http://refuted.org.uk/2013/10/13/jobmatch/

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/146137/response/365038/attach/html/4/Universal%20Jobmatch%20Toolkit.pdf.html