ESA and been offered a job

fiodyl

I've been on ESA for 6 months but am still in the assessment phase (not been asked to go to ATOS yet) but I have been offered a job, to start ASAP which I would like to take. The problem is to take up the job offer I also have to commit to the required training course (its a job where you complete the training, while already doing the job) which costs £300. I don't have this money due to being on ESA but I was wondering if they would be willing to help me with covering the cost of this as obviously it will mean I will be off their books and back into employment.


Does anyone know if this is a possibility? If not I don't think I will be able to accept as I have no other way of paying, which will be a shame as I am desperate to get back into paid employment (I have been volunteering for the last 2 months for the company who have offered me the job) and off benefits.


thanks for your help

sueturnersmith

Why doesn't the company provide free training? Can they give you a loan and deduct it from your wages?

Horseunderwater

Sounds fishy to me - a genuine employer should pay for any training courses themselves. They should not be charging someone who is vunerable and on benefits in this way.

fiodyl

Well the company are actually offering the training for free (and providing a mentor) on the job but to be legally allowed to employ me I have to already have or be working towards a specific qualification. This is government requirement not the company policy. To gain this qualification I need to be registered with a 3rd party provider (city and guilds) who will asses the work and award the qualification. this is the reason it costs.


The company will actually paying the majority of this cost (total amount is around £1250) and I only need to pay 25%. In the past they paid the full amount but had a lot of people leave after getting their free qualification, so they can't afford to do that anymore.


I'm guessing that there is no chance the DWP will help me with this though so I'm probably going to have to turn it down. I've been trying to juggle the figures all morning to see if I can find a way to scrape the money together, but even if I live on dry toast for the month I won't save enough. It's madness really as they would save that amount really quickly in future benefits I wouldn't need to claim if I could start work.

Horseunderwater

You could ask this employer if they would deduct a set amount from your monthly/weekly pay until the £300 is paid off. That is a common way to do it. All they need to do is draw up a document that you both sign stating how much they will take out each pay day and if you left - they could take any balaance due from final wage. This is done in the bus driving industry and I assume in quite afew others. Worth a try.

fiodyl

Unfortunately that is not possible. Legally they are not allowed to employ me unless I am at least registered on the course. If there was any audit or inspection where it was found they had done this, they would be shut down immediately. Only thing that is allowed is for me to carry on volunteering but they actually don't want to have me doing a job for free that they could be paying me for.

bloolagoon

fiodyl wrote: »

Unfortunately that is not possible. Legally they are not allowed to employ me unless I am at least registered on the course. If there was any audit or inspection where it was found they had done this, they would be shut down immediately. Only thing that is allowed is for me to carry on volunteering but they actually don't want to have me doing a job for free that they could be paying me for.

What is the course? Can it be funded elsewhere?

fiodyl

Yes I could do the course independently at college, but then I would have to pay the full cost myself- so even less chance of finding that amount! And no I am not entitled to any help with the costs of the college course (I am over 25 and already have qualifications at that level and above in a different subject) as I have already tried that route.


Also its unlikely I would be able to stay on ESA if I went to college, so I would have no means to support myself. At least this way I can work while training AND earn enough money to live on.