Can 15 hours work and 10/15 hours course stop you being put on Community placement

White-Wolf

Can 15 hours work and 10/15 hours course stop you being put on Community Work Placement Program?

I just need some advice on Community Work Placement Program that I felt was put on unfairly. I was put on CWP by a new adviser this week and told to go to the CWP appointment. I will have to work for 30 hours a week for 6 months. I've been signing on for 12 months now and I've been on to courses in the beginning of year to help with my Maths and English.

I asked to be put on the course when I first signed on but had to wait a month to do it. I wanted to be put on these because I wanted to improve my chances of getting a job. I had to do the course twice because I got a Level 1 first time and wanted to go back to get my Level 2.

I was never put on any four week work experience placements by any of my advisers, so near the end of this year I did some voluntary work. I wanted to gain some work experience. I signed up to do 15 hours at another placement end of this month/next year.

Next month I'll be enrolling on some courses to help me with gaining work. I'm going on four courses which is 10 hours. There are other courses I wanted to go on but I wasn't sure if 12 or 15 hours counts as full time. Also it gives me more time to do job-hunting with the hours that I'm studying. The courses that I'm be doing are free because I'm on JSA.

I was put on because my new adviser said I was doing a lot of job searches but said I didn't have much experience. I don't want to be doing 30 hours with no extra pay or the same job for 6 months. Also it's below the minimum wage if I do this.

My appointment to go to CWP interview will be on 21st of this month. What are my options? Could I be taken off CWP if I feel I'm being bullied and not giving enough information about it?

I was told by someone I could write to my local MP or write to the high court about the this.

I want to keep doing different voluntary work to add to my experience. I have done some research on the CWP and it's really not helping people get full time job at the end of the 6 months.

Any input would helpful. Thank you.

sangie595

White-Wolf wrote: »

Can 15 hours work and 10/15 hours course stop you being put on Community Work Placement Program?

I just need some advice on Community Work Placement Program that I felt was put on unfairly. I was put on CWP by a new adviser this week and told to go to the CWP appointment. I will have to work for 30 hours a week for 6 months. I've been signing on for 12 months now and I've been on to courses in the beginning of year to help with my Maths and English.

I asked to be put on the course when I first signed on but had to wait a month to do it. I wanted to be put on these because I wanted to improve my chances of getting a job. I had to do the course twice because I got a Level 1 first time and wanted to go back to get my Level 2.

I was never put on any four week work experience placements by any of my advisers, so near the end of this year I did some voluntary work. I wanted to gain some work experience. I signed up to do 15 hours at another placement end of this month/next year.

Next month I'll be enrolling on some courses to help me with gaining work. I'm going on four courses which is 10 hours. There are other courses I wanted to go on but I wasn't sure if 12 or 15 hours counts as full time. Also it gives me more time to do job-hunting with the hours that I'm studying. The courses that I'm be doing are free because I'm on JSA.

I was put on because my new adviser said I was doing a lot of job searches but said I didn't have much experience. I don't want to be doing 30 hours with no extra pay or the same job for 6 months. Also it's below the minimum wage if I do this.

My appointment to go to CWP interview will be on 21st of this month. What are my options? Could I be taken off CWP if I feel I'm being bullied and not giving enough information about it?

I was told by someone I could write to my local MP or write to the high court about the this.

I want to keep doing different voluntary work to add to my experience. I have done some research on the CWP and it's really not helping people get full time job at the end of the 6 months.

Any input would helpful. Thank you.

Your title is misleading. You will not be working for 15 hours. You propose to volunteer for 15 hours. For which you will not get the minimum wage. So 30 hours of working in the community is exactly the same - it isn't a job. It is work experience, just like your volunteering, at the end of either of which you may not get a job. And since you haven't got a job in the last twelve months, why not give it a try instead of dismissing it out of hand because you don't want to "work" 30 hours, and don't want to work without getting paid.

You can certainly write to your MP about it. If they didn't vote for it, then you might get a consoling letter back, but they certainly can't stop it. And the High Court will bin the letter. You don't write letters to the High Court. You submit (and pay a lot of money) for them to hear a case.

Different voluntary work doesn't add to your experience. It demonstrates that you are flighty and probably wouldn't stay in any job more than a few weeks. Instead of spending your time trying to get out of it, you could try actually enjoying it and showing that you are committed, reliable, and the sort of employee someone may want to employ. At the worst, six months is a reference and a demonstration of your ability to hold to something for more than a few weeks.

patman99

No, CWP is not like volunteering. With voluntary work if you find the workplace/job is not for you, you can leave and go and volunteer elsewhere without fear of a sanction.

I suggest you head over to 'boycottworkfare' and ask whether CWP is treated the same as MWP in so much as, to comply with a High Court ruling, the first week is treated as voluntary so you can leave within that week without the Jobcentre being able to sanction you.

These schemes are totally pointless as all they prove to a potential employer is that you are prepared to work for NMW doing all the menial rubbish jobs that paid workers on higher rates deam to be 'below them'.

FBaby

Your post come across as if you are not really wanting a proper job (of which many are not fun, but just something to do to get money), but instead want to do courses and a bit of fun experience on the side.

The issue is that would seem that the job centre as decided they have given enough time to do the above and it is now time to concentrate on doing anything to support yourself. You say yourself what is holding you most to get a job is work experience, so surely going on a work experience placement is what is most appropriate for you? Any work experience will certainly enhanced your CV much better than any short courses.

sangie595

patman99 wrote: »

No, CWP is not like volunteering. .

I did not say that CWP was like volunteering - I said that like volunteering it was unpaid and not "work" in the paid sense. The OP suggested from the title that she would be working for 15 hours a week, and that is not the case.

It may be the case that the OP can leave in the first week. When she does she will end up being placed on more and more conditions for her benefits that can be sanctioned. And as for demonstrating that it shows that one is prepared to work for NMW, there is nothing wrong with working for the NMW. Lots of people do, and it is better than not working at all. And as for NMW representing the most "menial work ", well yes. What else were you expecting - Chair of the Board? The OP has the barest of qualifications, insufficient work experience, and has not managed to obtain a job in a year of job searching. That would suggest that they are unlikely candidates for Board level, and need to start at a more realistic point. If they are not even getting jobs at the NMW, and don't feel that they have enough experience, short courses and occasional volunteering simply won't make up for that.

Simply dismissing it out of hand for a strategy that also shows no appearance of working, simply suggests that, as Fbaby points out, the OP doesn't want to work. I don't see any real evidence that they don't want to work, so why shouldn't they give it a try? Community Work Placements are not exactly working for Poundland, and contain a greater element of supported job search. The OP might just find that if they put their mind to it, it may be fun, and may actually help them.

patman99

If someone has little or no qualifications, then surely the better thing would be for the JC to actually pay for proper training courses that would benefit both claimant and future employer.

Every NMW job is considered to be a drain on the benefits system as the huge majority of people on them are still entitled to housing benefit and can also apply for working tax credits. Whilst those of us on a higher rate of pay are considered to be a good role model as we don't get any benefits..

FBaby

patman99 wrote: »

If someone has little or no qualifications, then surely the better thing would be for the JC to actually pay for proper training courses that would benefit both claimant and future employer.

Every NMW job is considered to be a drain on the benefits system as the huge majority of people on them are still entitled to housing benefit and can also apply for working tax credits. Whilst those of us on a higher rate of pay are considered to be a good role model as we don't get any benefits..

You don't need qualifications to get a job, especially when you can express as well as OP does. If any one on NMW aspires to earn more and is prepared to study for it, they can take evening/week-end classes and pay for it themselves, like most people with qualifications do.

xapprenticex

Just do it, you've been out of work for a year.

sangie595

patman99 wrote: »

If someone has little or no qualifications, then surely the better thing would be for the JC to actually pay for proper training courses that would benefit both claimant and future employer.

Every NMW job is considered to be a drain on the benefits system as the huge majority of people on them are still entitled to housing benefit and can also apply for working tax credits. Whilst those of us on a higher rate of pay are considered to be a good role model as we don't get any benefits..

Sorry, but the OP has worked hard to obtain the equivalent of two passes at GCSE. That certainly is good - but what is the competition? With two passes at GCSE they qualify to - do more GCSE's! A pass at Maths and English is a basic entry level qualification alongside, let's think about it, another five or so GCSE's and a few A levels. Which might put them into a degree. At the end of which they could end up on the NMW in a call centre.

Don't get me wrong. I love education. I have several degrees. Tons of A levels and even more GCE's. I also have forty years employment experience. I don't consider myself a role model because I earn more money than the NMW. I have stacked shelves at Asda's for an awful lot less than some NMW. I consider that I have experience to sell. And I do. The OP doesn't. If you got your higher rate of pay with no experience, and few qualifications, then good for you. But I bet you didn't.

I actually don't care if people in work still qualify for benefits. I do agree that they shouldn't need to, but that is a different discussion. I at no point said that I was against claiming benefits if they are needed. But I do think that one has to be realistic about what you can expect from someone with a couple of GCSE's and no work experience, and a year out of work. Being in work, even if you have to claim other benefits, is better for you. The bottom line is that every statistic says that people in work are healthier and live longer. There is no "benefit" from being unemployed. The OP had their chance to show that some volunteering (assuming they ever did any before this point, which they haven't suggested they did) and some study would get them a job. In a year it hasn't. Time to try something else.

red_devil

I suggest you ask the place where they send you to provide you with a copy of their insurance certificate stating you are insured to be there. Word is you are not insured as a workfare conscript but they don't bother to tell you that. Only genuine volunteers are insured.

IF they cant provide the info then refuse to do the CWP and if you get a sanction then say you refused as you aren't insured and cant be expected to go to a place where there is no insurance and that they are breaking the law.

sangie595

red_devil wrote: »

I suggest you ask the place where they send you to provide you with a copy of their insurance certificate stating you are insured to be there. Word is you are not insured as a workfare conscript but they don't bother to tell you that. Only genuine volunteers are insured.

IF they cant provide the info then refuse to do the CWP and if you get a sanction then say you refused as you aren't insured and cant be expected to go to a place where there is no insurance and that they are breaking the law.

Hmm. Rubbish. Public liability, which is a legal requirement under any circumstances, covers it. But great myth. You should never believe the 'word'. It's usually wrong.