JSA Partner Interview - Advice on what to expect

alanamyles

I'm posting on behalf of my friend who has an appointment to attend an interview at the Jobcentre on Tuesday. Her husband claims JSA for them both, but she's been called for an interview as his partner and would appreciate some advice about what to expect.

A little background info: her husband is a builder by trade, though for the past couple of years has been claiming JSA on and off between the times he's been able to secure work for a few weeks. He is the one who made the claim and signs on at the jobcentre. My friend works part time (I think 8 or 10 hours a week) as a lunchtime assistant at a local school. I'm pretty certain they receive a reduced amount of JSA due to her part time income. They have a 14 year old daughter, for whom I assume they receive CB/CTC and an adult son who works and doesn't claim any benefit.

My friend and I are both wondering whether she is expected to secure full-time work equally with her husband, since the claim for JSA is for them both? She loves her job (which seems pretty secure as she's been working there for around 6 years) and would hate to have to leave it, particularly as her husband is actively seeking work and is likely to get at least some temporary employment again soon.

She's also asked - if she is expected to seek employment on the same terms as her husband - whether she'd be allowed to look for work to fit with her daughter's school hours?

I understand that the rules for claiming JSA are rather strict these days and hope to give her the best advice possible to help them avoid possible sanctions, though have barely any experience with the jobcentre myself as I've been self-employed for years.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!

missapril75

Assuming circumstances haven't changed this should have happened on previous claims.

alanamyles

So she should have attended interviews for her husband's previous JSA claims? Sorry, I'm clueless with this, she hasn't mentioned anything about having to attend the jobcentre before so assumed it was her first time.

Just to clarify, is my friend expected to be actively seeking work to the same extent as her husband (and be willing to give up her PT job to take on a FT one) in order to meet the requirements for their joint JSA claim?

I had warned her this may be the case, though I think she was hoping to be able to work around their daughter's school times.

sueturnersmith

Surely your friend's daughter, at 14, is able to look after herself while her parents are at work during the daytime?

missapril75

alanamyles wrote: »

So she should have attended interviews for her husband's previous JSA claims?

Joint claims involving both partners looking for, and being available for, work have existed for many years. From the info in your first post, she should have unless he had only claimed Contribution based JSA and that's unlikely if he's self employed.

Just to clarify, is my friend expected to be actively seeking work to the same extent as her husband (and be willing to give up her PT job to take on a FT one)

She might satisfy them by looking for additional work but if that was looking less likely than a single job of more hours it might come to being willing to give it up. But maybe he gets work and the claim ends before that situation comes up?