Jsa paid to cover weekends?

corvus_2

Hi

My question is: does Job Seeker's Allowance cover Saturday and Sunday, or is it only paid to cover Monday-Friday?

I've looked online but it seems a question impossible to answer. I think I remember (vaguely) hearing quite a few years ago that benefits do not cover weekends, but now I need to find something concrete. Yes I could ask the DWP itself, but having worked for Government Department Communications, I know it's not worth the effort.

My Job Centre is forcing me to look for work at weekends, and I resent that. It's not job hunting I resent (I apply for over 50 jobs a week), what I resent is being forced to jump through hoops by a bunch of fascists for what is, let's face it - a pittance.

Any info welcomed.

tomtontom

Fascists? I can only assume you don't even know the meaning of the word.

corvus_2

I do know the meaning of the word and it's quite apt. However, such a discussion is irrelevant to my question.

tomtontom

It is relevant when the main people that can answer your question are said fascists.

Good luck with your seven day job search!

PasturesNew

Simple ... don't take the fascists' money then. Your choice. You don't have to sign on or take any benefits.

But yes, JSA and all benefits cover every day of the week. If they didn't there'd be opportunities for loopholes etc.

DCFC79

When you went through the agreement with these "fascists" you would have been asked what days you could/couldn't work and if you had a problem with it you should have mentioned it then.

If you feel so bad about not working weekends then ramp up the job search then.

Whats wrong with working weekends then ?

corvus_2

Don't take their money, don't have to sign on... you mean get a job? Wow, thank you, never thought of that. I'll get straight on it (applied for 26 jobs today alone). Sorry, don't mean to be hostile, but really, people who say that kind of thing have no idea, and in my experience have never been in the situation. And to call it a 'choice' proves this beyond doubt. But thank you for your at least partly helpful and relevant answer.

corvus_2

Hi, dcfc79

You misunderstand, it's not working weekends I'd object to. Don't object to working at all any times, that's not the point. What I mean is, if JSA isn't paid to cover weekends, I shouldn't have to jump their hoops at weekends and risk being sanctioned if for instance I have the audacity to go away for a weekend and not be able to do my job search activities.

redcard

PasturesNew wrote: »

Simple ... don't take the fascists' money then. Your choice. You don't have to sign on or take any benefits.

But yes, JSA and all benefits cover every day of the week. If they didn't there'd be opportunities for loopholes etc.

One thing wrong with this: it isn't the fascists' money.

Voyager2002

JSA is the amount of money the law says you need in order to live, and if you like eating and having a place to live over the weekend, then presumably it covers the weekend.

A separate question is whether you need to be looking for work over the weekend. That is something that you need to decide for yourself: your plan for job-hunting needs to be set down in your Job-Seeker's Agreement, and so long as your proposals are likely to be successful the Jobcentre should accept them. If the records that you provide indicate that you are not sticking to your agreement then you are likely to have problems. Either you need to adjust the way you provide information, or you need to revise your Agreement to reflect the job-hunting strategy that works best for you. The people you usually see when you sign on can only insist that you stick to your Agreement but cannot change it: if you need to revise your Agreement you should book an appointment with your advisor (who will be more senior, and therefore may well be more reasonable).

DCFC79

corvus wrote: »

Don't take their money, don't have to sign on... you mean get a job? Wow, thank you, never thought of that. I'll get straight on it (applied for 26 jobs today alone). Sorry, don't mean to be hostile, but really, people who say that kind of thing have no idea, and in my experience have never been in the situation. And to call it a 'choice' proves this beyond doubt. But thank you for your at least partly helpful and relevant answer.

Ive been on JSA so I have experienced it, it was ok compared to other peoples experiences on here.