JSA and Job Offer

sangie595

PJQueen wrote: »

Savvy_Sue,

That is excellent advice and exactly what I was looking for - having never been in this position I hadn’t even thought of the advance. Thank you!

Of course I will also speak to my job coach at my next visit.

Which is why I suggested a sub from the employer in post 9! That was about the time toy started arguing with people about why you shouldn't have to pay for the costs of your job!

UniversalCretin

The correct answer is ask your Work Coach.

The money they offer is to pay for anything that could stop you taking up work. It varies from office to office how strict they are with it. You don't generally have to repay it and the general idea is that paying for something like that up front if it will get you a job is more value for money than you staying on benefits for another six months because you couldn't go. Obviously I don't know how nice your work coach is.

You most probably wont be sanctioned for not taking the job for financial reasons. It's a lot more work to sanction someone than people seem to think. Contrary to popular belief they actually want you to get a job. If the reason that you couldn't take the job was lack of money to support yourself while working then sanctioning you is just going to make that problem worse.

They do pay for travel. It doesn't have to be public transport. They have a per-mile rate for petrol but they'll likely ask for proof that you'll actually be making that journey i.e. job offer/contract etc from the employer. Hotel costs might be a bit trickier as it could add up to more than someone working at the job centre has the authority to sign off on.

But ask what they're willing to help you with. Explain the situation and let them know what you need and why and I'm sure they'll do as much as they can.

PJQueen

sangie595 wrote: »

Which is why I suggested a sub from the employer in post 9! That was about the time toy started arguing with people about why you shouldn't have to pay for the costs of your job!

I don’ t believe I argued with anyone on why I should or shouldn’t pay for the costs of this training.

I did state that as someone claiming JSA I didn’t think it was financially responsible of me to run up an overdraft, which I believe was your first suggestion? I missed the part about a sub, apologies.

Labsuper

Credit card and pay it off when reimbursed?

PJQueen

UniversalCretin wrote: »

The correct answer is ask your Work Coach.

The money they offer is to pay for anything that could stop you taking up work. It varies from office to office how strict they are with it. You don't generally have to repay it and the general idea is that paying for something like that up front if it will get you a job is more value for money than you staying on benefits for another six months because you couldn't go. Obviously I don't know how nice your work coach is.

You most probably wont be sanctioned for not taking the job for financial reasons. It's a lot more work to sanction someone than people seem to think. Contrary to popular belief they actually want you to get a job. If the reason that you couldn't take the job was lack of money to support yourself while working then sanctioning you is just going to make that problem worse.

They do pay for travel. It doesn't have to be public transport. They have a per-mile rate for petrol but they'll likely ask for proof that you'll actually be making that journey i.e. job offer/contract etc from the employer. Hotel costs might be a bit trickier as it could add up to more than someone working at the job centre has the authority to sign off on.

But ask what they're willing to help you with. Explain the situation and let them know what you need and why and I'm sure they'll do as much as they can.

Thank you so much. This is so helpful and informative. You’ve given me so much information I can ask my job coach about now.

As I say, I knew there might be a fund but I wasn’t sure who could apply or if there would be a restriction as I hadn’t been out of work long enough.

Thanks for your help!

nicechap

PJQueen wrote: »

Hi all,

I have been claiming JSA for two weeks and I've now got a job interview.

If successful at interview, the employer requires a 3 week residential training programme. The employer will reimburse the travel and hotel cost on successful completion of the course. Although they will only cover the hotel Mon-Fri as they expect you to travel home at weekends.

As you can imagine this is a huge outlay cost when claiming JSA, and I was wondering if the JCP could assist with this kind of thing? I'd still have travel costs every weekend I would have to cover and the cost of meals etc. But I was wondering if I could get help with the initial travel costs and the hotel via the JCP?

I could not afford this outlay myself so if I was offered the job and the JCP can't help with funding, would this be reason enough for me to turn it down without a JSA sanction? I was aware there was training when I applied however there was no mention of it being residential.

Any help or info appreciated.

PJQueen wrote: »

The training is central London and even by AirBnB standards, 15 days accommodation (if I travel home for weekends) is still out of my reach unfortunately.

I am not assuming meals to be expensive, rather explaining that covering the cost of meals and travel back home at the weekends will amount to a fair amount over 15 training days (3 weeks, minus the weekends, I do have to travel back at the weekends as the weekends at a hotel wouldn't be reimbursed).

Unfortunately, my only family is my grandmother and since she is a pensioner, I doubt she would be able to help. I will definitely try friends though, thank you.

PJQueen wrote: »

They will reimburse the initial travel to training, however not the expense of travelling home in-between.

Training is paid, but again, it is paid monthly so wouldn't be paid upfront. Although, there are three exit points at the end of each training week, whereby an exam has to be taken to progress to the the next week. I assume that if I was only there a week (hopefully not) I would be paid that at the end of the month.

This employer who presumably could negotiate a corporate rate, thinks it makes more business sense for you to pay public hotel rates and then claim it back?

They expect you to pay up front for 15 nights accommodation over 3 weeks but only pay your travel once? and won't pay anything at all if you fail the training? - what if you go sick in the 3rd week?

Is it the sort of career that has a high drop out rate during training? Does it rely on sales, maybe to friends & family or the gullible?

There are plenty of cheaper ways to stay in London - hostels, vacant student accommodation, sofa surfing with friends; and coaches are generally cheaper than trains. Cheaper hotels & airb&b can be found on the outskirts and then tube/ train into the centre.

PJQueen

nicechap wrote: »

This employer who presumably could negotiate a corporate rate, thinks it makes more business sense for you to pay public hotel rates and then claim it back?

They expect you to pay up front for 15 nights accommodation over 3 weeks but only pay your travel once? and won't pay anything at all if you fail the training? - what if you go sick in the 3rd week?

Is it the sort of career that has a high drop out rate during training? Does it rely on sales, maybe to friends & family or the gullible?

There are plenty of cheaper ways to stay in London - hostels, vacant student accommodation, sofa surfing with friends; and coaches are generally cheaper than trains. Cheaper hotels & airb&b can be found on the outskirts and then tube/ train into the centre.

Hi, yes they will pay for the intital return travel to training and will only pay for the training completed.. so if I complete a day, then fall ill, I would only be paid for that day in terms of wage. I think (though I will have to clarify) that on production of travel and hotel receipts this will be reimbursed regardless of how many training days you complete - there are three ‘exams’, one at the end of each week and failure of one of those would mean the training would be cut short and I wouldn’t progress.

There aren’t any sales involved, and thank you for the suggestion of air bnb on the outskirts. They have provided a list of hotels they usually accept which are mostly premier inns.

BrassicWoman

PJQueen wrote: »

Hi, yes they will pay for the intital return travel to training and will only pay for the training completed.. so if I complete a day, then fall ill, I would only be paid for that day in terms of wage. I think (though I will have to clarify) that on production of travel and hotel receipts this will be reimbursed regardless of how many training days you complete - there are three ‘exams’, one at the end of each week and failure of one of those would mean the training would be cut short and I wouldn’t progress.

There aren’t any sales involved, and thank you for the suggestion of air bnb on the outskirts. They have provided a list of hotels they usually accept which are mostly premier inns.

Ringing huge alarm bells for me. I am not convinced this company is legit.

[Deleted User]

Any chance of getting a 0% credit card? Then you could pay it off over the full term of the offer, which could be a year or more.

TELLIT01

Financial support from JC tends to be mainly for long term unemployed getting back into work, but there is certainly no harm in asking.

Expecting you to pay for accommodation and then reclaiming from the company raises alarm bells for me too. As others have said, they should be able to get a better corporate rate than the public so would be saving money overall.