Are job centres contacting people to attend again?

donnajunkie

MarkN88 said:

This guidance has had a slight update so I’m thinking for the foreseeable anyway it looks like you will be asked to attend in exceptional circumstances. 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-what-to-do-if-youre-already-getting-benefits

if its over the phone then they surely still have to give you an appointment. you cant be expected to be in all day everyday monday to friday on the off chance they could call. although i suspect it may just continue to be in the form of the odd courtesy call rather than a set fortnightly of right what have you done to look for work.

calcotti

See https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2020-06-29/66067/
JobCentres will be contacting all claimants - but that’s obviously going to take a long time.

poppy12345

donnajunkie said:

MarkN88 said:

This guidance has had a slight update so I’m thinking for the foreseeable anyway it looks like you will be asked to attend in exceptional circumstances. 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-what-to-do-if-youre-already-getting-benefits

if its over the phone then they surely still have to give you an appointment. you cant be expected to be in all day everyday monday to friday on the off chance they could call.

I would imagine the majority of people have a mobile phone these days, so there's no need to be "in" all day, everyday.

[Deleted User]

donnajunkie said:

MarkN88 said:

This guidance has had a slight update so I’m thinking for the foreseeable anyway it looks like you will be asked to attend in exceptional circumstances. 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-what-to-do-if-youre-already-getting-benefits

if its over the phone then they surely still have to give you an appointment. you cant be expected to be in all day everyday monday to friday on the off chance they could call. although i suspect it may just continue to be in the form of the odd courtesy call rather than a set fortnightly of right what have you done to look for work.

I speak to my mum, relatives and friends that still claim JSA and they say all there courtesy calls have been on their usual day of signing so you wouldn’t need to be available everyday of the week. 

As the email my mum received suggests, there is still support there if you need it and you can be expected to attend a JC in exceptional circumstances but even the work coaches are pointing out, even though the opening of job centres are happening it’s not going to be business as usual for a while yet. 

donnajunkie

poppy12345 said:

donnajunkie said:

MarkN88 said:

This guidance has had a slight update so I’m thinking for the foreseeable anyway it looks like you will be asked to attend in exceptional circumstances. 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-what-to-do-if-youre-already-getting-benefits

if its over the phone then they surely still have to give you an appointment. you cant be expected to be in all day everyday monday to friday on the off chance they could call.

I would imagine the majority of people have a mobile phone these days, so there's no need to be "in" all day, everyday.

Not everyone though. Even if you do it's a good idea to say you don't if you don't want them to expect to be able to have you on call all day every day. 

poppy12345

donnajunkie said:

poppy12345 said:

donnajunkie said:

MarkN88 said:

This guidance has had a slight update so I’m thinking for the foreseeable anyway it looks like you will be asked to attend in exceptional circumstances. 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-what-to-do-if-youre-already-getting-benefits

if its over the phone then they surely still have to give you an appointment. you cant be expected to be in all day everyday monday to friday on the off chance they could call.

I would imagine the majority of people have a mobile phone these days, so there's no need to be "in" all day, everyday.

Not everyone though.

Which is why i said the "majority" and not everyone.

donnajunkie

MarkN88 said:

donnajunkie said:

MarkN88 said:

This guidance has had a slight update so I’m thinking for the foreseeable anyway it looks like you will be asked to attend in exceptional circumstances. 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-what-to-do-if-youre-already-getting-benefits

if its over the phone then they surely still have to give you an appointment. you cant be expected to be in all day everyday monday to friday on the off chance they could call. although i suspect it may just continue to be in the form of the odd courtesy call rather than a set fortnightly of right what have you done to look for work.

I speak to my mum, relatives and friends that still claim JSA and they say all there courtesy calls have been on their usual day of signing so you wouldn’t need to be available everyday of the week. 

As the email my mum received suggests, there is still support there if you need it and you can be expected to attend a JC in exceptional circumstances but even the work coaches are pointing out, even though the opening of job centres are happening it’s not going to be business as usual for a while yet. 

Even if just your usual signing day if you aren't expecting it you may not be in.

Spoonie_Turtle

donnajunkie said:

poppy12345 said:

donnajunkie said:

MarkN88 said:

This guidance has had a slight update so I’m thinking for the foreseeable anyway it looks like you will be asked to attend in exceptional circumstances. 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-what-to-do-if-youre-already-getting-benefits

if its over the phone then they surely still have to give you an appointment. you cant be expected to be in all day everyday monday to friday on the off chance they could call.

I would imagine the majority of people have a mobile phone these days, so there's no need to be "in" all day, everyday.

Not everyone though. Even if you do it's a good idea to say you don't if you don't want them to expect to be able to have you on call all day every day. 

No, it's never a good idea to lie about your details when claiming benefits.

I'm not really sure why you think they expect people to answer calls whenever and at whim? Of course it's in their interests to give you a heads-up about when they plan to call anyway so they don't waste their time phoning when you happen to be unavailable because you're using the bathroom or driving or at a medical appointment or something. If you're expecting a call then you'd make sure be available unless there's a sudden emergency.

Yes in general if you're looking for work you should be contactable (similar principle to how you should be contactable for when people offer you job interviews) but that's within reason - we're all human with things to do in everyday life and are not expected to just sit by the phone for the whole of the working week!

Edit: I realise your initial response was to work coaches contacting claimants. I still don't see how that would be a problem because I'm pretty sure they can't sanction you for missing a call that wasn't arranged or on your usual appointment day, and they'd presumably leave a message and/or ask you to call them back anyway.

donnajunkie

Spoonie_Turtle said:

donnajunkie said:

poppy12345 said:

donnajunkie said:

MarkN88 said:

This guidance has had a slight update so I’m thinking for the foreseeable anyway it looks like you will be asked to attend in exceptional circumstances. 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-what-to-do-if-youre-already-getting-benefits

if its over the phone then they surely still have to give you an appointment. you cant be expected to be in all day everyday monday to friday on the off chance they could call.

I would imagine the majority of people have a mobile phone these days, so there's no need to be "in" all day, everyday.

Not everyone though. Even if you do it's a good idea to say you don't if you don't want them to expect to be able to have you on call all day every day. 

No, it's never a good idea to lie about your details when claiming benefits.

I'm not really sure why you think they expect people to answer calls whenever and at whim? Of course it's in their interests to give you a heads-up about when they plan to call anyway so they don't waste their time phoning when you happen to be unavailable because you're using the bathroom or driving or at a medical appointment or something. If you're expecting a call then you'd make sure be available unless there's a sudden emergency.

Yes in general if you're looking for work you should be contactable (similar principle to how you should be contactable for when people offer you job interviews) but that's within reason - we're all human with things to do in everyday life and are not expected to just sit by the phone for the whole of the working week!

Obviously it's not good but people need to look after themselves. I have heard of people who give their mobile number being sanctioned for missing a call because you can't really excuse not answering a mobile in their view. At least with a home phone you can be justified if you miss a call because you are out.

NedS

donnajunkie said:

MarkN88 said:

This guidance has had a slight update so I’m thinking for the foreseeable anyway it looks like you will be asked to attend in exceptional circumstances. 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-what-to-do-if-youre-already-getting-benefits

if its over the phone then they surely still have to give you an appointment. you cant be expected to be in all day everyday monday to friday on the off chance they could call. although i suspect it may just continue to be in the form of the odd courtesy call rather than a set fortnightly of right what have you done to look for work.

For Universal Credit , telephone appointments will be booked as normal on the UC system and will show in your todo list, just like any other appointment. If you fail to make yourself available for that appointment by failing to answer the phone, it can be treated the same as failing to attend a face to face appointment.

There is currently no guidance (to my knowledge) as to how failing to attend a phone appointment in the current climate will be treated. I understand that appointments will be booked from 8th July onwards. Initially appointments will be for new claimants and will be an initial commitments appointment followed by fortnightly work search reviews by phone. Subsequently (I don't know when) they will start booking commitments and work search review appointments for people who have made a claim since mid march, and then eventually pre-covid customers will start to get appointments. Eventually face to face appointments will resume, but these may be a long way off yet depending how things develop. That's what the plan looks like at present, but things have a tendency to evolve and change.