daily signing at jobcentre

Bilbo2010

koiboy wrote: »

From wednesday this week i have been put on daily signing at my local jobcentre it feels like a punishment to me is anybody else on daily signings at the jobcentre?

Get to know your rights, in particular look at the Data Protection Act. Sites that follow the actions of work programme providers are particularly useful.

I would say if you are just going to attend, sign and go home. That is an unreasonable request. I would refuse, if they sanction you then appeal the sanction. Something like 60% of sanctions are reversed.

A lot of people are being bullied into doing things, thinking they have no other options. But they are being blatantly lied to, like you must use Universal Jobmatch (to make their life easier), you must give them access to it, sign that etc etc. In most cases data protection covers you for sharing information. Especially if third parties are involved.

All in all ... stand up to them. Be careful what you sign, seek advice and don't let them bully you.

BigBoss

The jobcentre is a joke at helping ppl back into work.

BillJones

Bilbo2010 wrote: »

The Jobcentre is suppose to be there to help people back into work, not police the benefits system. Somewhere down the road, the seem to have forgotten the concept.

It's there to do both.

lakes17

As for your circumstance I don't want to cause you offence but you've either got substantial savings or you're an idiot.

If you have substantial savings you wouldn't be able to claim benefits anyway so it's hardly a badge of honour, if you're eligable and you've just decided not to sign because of some notion that it makes you worth less as a human being that hubris is going to make you feel pretty stupid when you're on the streets.


I am neither!! I have got no savings whatsoever and yes I do sign on bu I am not entitled to any benefits because my son (who is on NMW) lives with me and the house is mortgaged for another 7yrs. Even though I have paid into the system for over 40yrs, and have been a single parent for 35 of those yrs I have always worked since he was a toddler managed to save enough for a deposit, but now when I need help I am not eligible for any benefits and those who are on a mortgage will know to well the government only pay interest instead of the capital leaving you with arrears unlike people who have the rent paid for them. But again because my son lives with me I don't even get the interest paid. Yes, we are in arrears as there isn't enough coming in to cover the mortgage. And yes, if I don't find a job soon we may end up on the streets. However, it is unlikely to happen as I am prepared to take any job to prevent it!!

Bilbo2010

BillJones wrote: »

It's there to do both.

Well according to latest 'whistleblower' revelations, they are given targets on the number of people to sanction. Told to provoke people into a reactions to allow sanction. Make appointments without telling the claimant, then sanction them for missing it etc etc.

In essence they should be there for both, but they are just the 'benefit police' these days. They have one single aim, to get a person off benefits. That in itself does not mean into meaningful employment...

Bilbo2010

BigBoss wrote: »

The jobcentre is a joke at helping ppl back into work.

Everybody in the system, knows that. You might have the odd decent advisor, but overall nobody is there to help you into work. Just to keep you jumping through hoops for your 'benefit', like a performing seal.

musemad

u lot really are a load of misery guts ready to put anyone down at the meerest hint they might be getting £5 a day to live on for free maybe some of you lot would like too live on £5 a day :eek:- then you really would complain.:rotfl:

Wozzie

lakes17 wrote: »

I am neither!! I have got no savings whatsoever and yes I do sign on bu I am not entitled to any benefits because my son (who is on NMW) lives with me and the house is mortgaged for another 7yrs. Even though I have paid into the system for over 40yrs, and have been a single parent for 35 of those yrs I have always worked since he was a toddler managed to save enough for a deposit, but now when I need help I am not eligible for any benefits and those who are on a mortgage will know to well the government only pay interest instead of the capital leaving you with arrears unlike people who have the rent paid for them. But again because my son lives with me I don't even get the interest paid. Yes, we are in arrears as there isn't enough coming in to cover the mortgage. And yes, if I don't find a job soon we may end up on the streets. However, it is unlikely to happen as I am prepared to take any job to prevent it!!

If you've been working for 40 years and paying into the system you should be able to get contribution based JSA, unless you've been unemployed longer than 28 weeks and it's run out. Contribution based JSA is there to help out people who have paid into the system.

Income based is there to ensure minimum standards of living which you wouldn't meet because it's calculated based on household. Your lights and gas aren't going to go off because you didn't get JSA.

As for housing I understand it's a !!!!!! situation but could you imagine if the government started paying peoples mortgages after bailing out the banks to prevent house prices crashing through the floor? I'm waiting and praying for a collapse in the housing market to undo the last 25 years of insanity, but instead I got tax increases, benefit cuts and a recession to keep house prices astronomically high and keep this train plowing head first on into the next major financial crash.

So I'm sorry but you're going to have to forgive me if I come across as somewhat flippant to the plight of homeowners.

Rental accommodation isn't an asset, owning your own home is. In many ways it's better than substantial savings because savings just are where as property increases in value and can generate you an income whilst it's doing so.

You're free to rent out a room, rent out the entire house and move to a bedsit whilst you weather the strom or... hell, whatever you want.

Welfare is meant to cover peoples needs not peoples wants. If you live on your own in rented accommodation and don't have an income you need to eat, you need power and you need to be able to keep a roof over your head and that's what JSA and housing benefit is for.

If you're not on your own and someone can provide for the household you don't need JSA to provide all the things that JSA is meant to provide for, you may not want to have someone else pick up the slack but maintaining personal pride is not within the DWPs purview.

You may not want to utilise your property to see you through this rough patch but you have that option and welfare is meant to be for people who don't have options.

That said the way benefits are structured isn't suitable for modern society, it's still stuck in this 1950s "get on your bike" model where the focus is all about finding a job when it should be about generating an income.

For instance I can work freelance but you can't just jump into that and expect to be successful you have to build and that takes time. I can't start doing that because if I do my benefits will be cut off, so I need to work for someone else before I can work for myself where as if I was allowed to just work and have my earnings deducted from my benefits I'd probably be close to signing off by now.

That's what I hate about the Conservatives. There are parts of the Tory "philosophy" that actually appeal to me.

I don't like the whole self-centered "why should I pay for somebody elses healthcare" angle, I don't like the way they generally put ideaology above pragmatism and destroy public infrastructure just because they believe the private sector can handle everything and I don't like how they preach about small government interfering with peoples lives and they try to legislate based on their own subjective morality.

What I do like however is the idea that people should be free to become self sufficient, that if you have talent or an idea and are prepared to work the government shouldn't hinder you they should help where they can but at the very least they should leave you alone.

Yet I don't see any policies being enacted to enable that, and you ask the job centre about your options suddenly you're under investigation.

donnajunkie

Bilbo2010 wrote: »

Get to know your rights, in particular look at the Data Protection Act. Sites that follow the actions of work programme providers are particularly useful.

I would say if you are just going to attend, sign and go home. That is an unreasonable request. I would refuse, if they sanction you then appeal the sanction. Something like 60% of sanctions are reversed.

A lot of people are being bullied into doing things, thinking they have no other options. But they are being blatantly lied to, like you must use Universal Jobmatch (to make their life easier), you must give them access to it, sign that etc etc. In most cases data protection covers you for sharing information. Especially if third parties are involved.

All in all ... stand up to them. Be careful what you sign, seek advice and don't let them bully you.

the problem is people dont want to take the risk and they know it.

donnajunkie

Bilbo2010 wrote: »

Well according to latest 'whistleblower' revelations, they are given targets on the number of people to sanction. Told to provoke people into a reactions to allow sanction. Make appointments without telling the claimant, then sanction them for missing it etc etc.

In essence they should be there for both, but they are just the 'benefit police' these days. They have one single aim, to get a person off benefits. That in itself does not mean into meaningful employment...

i cant see how a sanction for missing an appointment you didnt know about can stand. whenever they give me a letter they get me to sign a copy for them to say i got it.