Universal credit 35hrs

Dortmund

Hello.
Very new to universal credit and I know a friend who has just had there first commitments interview where they have to search for 35 hours a week.

My question is my friend wants to do every above board as they can but It seems very very unlikely that considering where they live they could go into each individual shop within there town and scroll through indeed and it take not even 4 hours.

I asked another friend of mine what they do. ( I don't agree with his ethics at all as he just sits at home playing games all day )
He said that he finds himself repeating himself everyday. So "I did 4 hours looking on indeed"

Anyone else on universal credit have this? That you find yourself repeating yourself? 

I understand that there is cvs to amend ect and other bits and bobs. But surely you will be repeating the same stuff every week? 
Im getting myself confused for my friend lol.

Do they check your work search history? 

For example if my friend wrote 

"3-4 hours on indeed"

Surely there's no way they can check this they just have to take there word for it?

They also have been told to apply for 5 jobs a week. Which is fine. They were doing this anyway before the committements interview.

Are universal credit very anal about it all? Meaning if they added up the weekly and it was say 32 instead of 35 are they likely to sanction. Or if they have applied for 5 jobs like I says would they not worry?

I'm just concerned for my friend as 35 hours seems very very strange to me. 

It also says they have to travel 90min to work.
Does this mean 90 there and 90 back.
Surely not. If my friend got a 5 hour shift 90 minuets away it wouldn't be worth doing it? 

Thanks

Spoonie_Turtle

Dortmund said:

Hello.
Very new to universal credit and I know a friend who has just had there first commitments interview where they have to search for 35 hours a week.

My question is my friend wants to do every above board as they can but It seems very very unlikely that considering where they live they could go into each individual shop within there town and scroll through indeed and it take not even 4 hours.

I asked another friend of mine what they do. ( I don't agree with his ethics at all as he just sits at home playing games all day )
He said that he finds himself repeating himself everyday. So "I did 4 hours looking on indeed"

Anyone else on universal credit have this? That you find yourself repeating yourself? 

I understand that there is cvs to amend ect and other bits and bobs. But surely you will be repeating the same stuff every week? 
Im getting myself confused for my friend lol.

Do they check your work search history? 

For example if my friend wrote 

"3-4 hours on indeed"

Surely there's no way they can check this they just have to take there word for it?

They also have been told to apply for 5 jobs a week. Which is fine. They were doing this anyway before the committements interview.

Are universal credit very anal about it all? Meaning if they added up the weekly and it was say 32 instead of 35 are they likely to sanction. Or if they have applied for 5 jobs like I says would they not worry?

I'm just concerned for my friend as 35 hours seems very very strange to me. 

It also says they have to travel 90min to work.
Does this mean 90 there and 90 back.
Surely not. If my friend got a 5 hour shift 90 minuets away it wouldn't be worth doing it? 

Thanks

With respect, your friend is the claimant, it's up to him to meet his commitments. But for the record, nobody in their right mind here is going to condone lying on work search journal!

Not sure why the 35hr requirement seems strange to you. It was the same on JSA.

KatrinaWaves

If ‘your friend’ really wants to find themselves a job then the 35hour work search will fly by. They’ll be fine I’m sure! 

calcotti

Have a look at 
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/878192/admj3.pdf
Paragraphs J3050 onwards
I will highlight one paragraph

J3075 There will be times where a claimant has spent less time on work search than their expected hours of work. In such cases, where a claimant has taken all reasonable action to find paid work, then the work search requirement is satisfied. What all reasonable action will be will depend on the claimant’s circumstances. 

Dortmund

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Dortmund said:

Hello.
Very new to universal credit and I know a friend who has just had there first commitments interview where they have to search for 35 hours a week.

My question is my friend wants to do every above board as they can but It seems very very unlikely that considering where they live they could go into each individual shop within there town and scroll through indeed and it take not even 4 hours.

I asked another friend of mine what they do. ( I don't agree with his ethics at all as he just sits at home playing games all day )
He said that he finds himself repeating himself everyday. So "I did 4 hours looking on indeed"

Anyone else on universal credit have this? That you find yourself repeating yourself? 

I understand that there is cvs to amend ect and other bits and bobs. But surely you will be repeating the same stuff every week? 
Im getting myself confused for my friend lol.

Do they check your work search history? 

For example if my friend wrote 

"3-4 hours on indeed"

Surely there's no way they can check this they just have to take there word for it?

They also have been told to apply for 5 jobs a week. Which is fine. They were doing this anyway before the committements interview.

Are universal credit very anal about it all? Meaning if they added up the weekly and it was say 32 instead of 35 are they likely to sanction. Or if they have applied for 5 jobs like I says would they not worry?

I'm just concerned for my friend as 35 hours seems very very strange to me. 

It also says they have to travel 90min to work.
Does this mean 90 there and 90 back.
Surely not. If my friend got a 5 hour shift 90 minuets away it wouldn't be worth doing it? 

Thanks

With respect, your friend is the claimant, it's up to him to meet his commitments. But for the record, nobody in their right mind here is going to condone lying on work search journal!

Not sure why the 35hr requirement seems strange to you. It was the same on JSA.

This isn't what I asked. I NEVER under any circumstances said that they were going to lie and they do not condone lying. This is the first time they have been on Universal credit so they know nothing about jsa.
They are trying there best to find a job but you never answered one of the questions.

Like previously said this is the first time they have ever had to claim so it's all new. I understand 35 hours isn't much.

Please do not label this post as "trying to lie"
And apologies for helping my friend...

Dortmund

All I really want to know is if people find themselves repeating themselves.
There's only so much you can school on indeed and other sites.

And also like stated I DO NOT CONDONE my other friends action..the one who sits on his !!!!!! playing games.
This is what they are trying to avoid..
But you can understand that it's very frustrating he's milking the system when my other friend is trying there hardest but may get sanctioned if they don't reach a target of 35 hours.

KatrinaWaves

The job coaches aren’t daft. I’ve been on JSA a couple times in my life and extremely briefly on UC, but I had a part time job so never actually saw someone on UC. 

I have never once had my job search queried as I was clearly looking for work and wasn’t a long time claimant. The longer you claim and the more you take the mick, the more they will notice. 

Spoonie_Turtle

Dortmund said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Dortmund said:

Hello.
Very new to universal credit and I know a friend who has just had there first commitments interview where they have to search for 35 hours a week.

My question is my friend wants to do every above board as they can but It seems very very unlikely that considering where they live they could go into each individual shop within there town and scroll through indeed and it take not even 4 hours.

I asked another friend of mine what they do. ( I don't agree with his ethics at all as he just sits at home playing games all day )
He said that he finds himself repeating himself everyday. So "I did 4 hours looking on indeed"

Anyone else on universal credit have this? That you find yourself repeating yourself? 

I understand that there is cvs to amend ect and other bits and bobs. But surely you will be repeating the same stuff every week? 
Im getting myself confused for my friend lol.

Do they check your work search history? 

For example if my friend wrote 

"3-4 hours on indeed"

Surely there's no way they can check this they just have to take there word for it?

They also have been told to apply for 5 jobs a week. Which is fine. They were doing this anyway before the committements interview.

Are universal credit very anal about it all? Meaning if they added up the weekly and it was say 32 instead of 35 are they likely to sanction. Or if they have applied for 5 jobs like I says would they not worry?

I'm just concerned for my friend as 35 hours seems very very strange to me. 

It also says they have to travel 90min to work.
Does this mean 90 there and 90 back.
Surely not. If my friend got a 5 hour shift 90 minuets away it wouldn't be worth doing it? 

Thanks

With respect, your friend is the claimant, it's up to him to meet his commitments. But for the record, nobody in their right mind here is going to condone lying on work search journal!

Not sure why the 35hr requirement seems strange to you. It was the same on JSA.

This isn't what I asked. I NEVER under any circumstances said that they were going to lie and they do not condone lying. This is the first time they have been on Universal credit so they know nothing about jsa.
They are trying there best to find a job but you never answered one of the questions.

Like previously said this is the first time they have ever had to claim so it's all new. I understand 35 hours isn't much.

Please do not label this post as "trying to lie"
And apologies for helping my friend...

I meant 'not condoning lying like your other friend does' - but rereading it I think I may have misunderstood that part about your other friend, because you called into question his ethics but then simply stated he repeats himself. (If he is repeatedly searching that's fine, if he's saying he's repeatedly searching when in fact he isn't, then of course that's not.) But yes, job searching is tedious and repetitive and mind-numbing and horrible. I've been there, not during this pandemic but during the recession - it was not fun.

The thinking behind the 35 hour requirement is that looking for a job should be a full-time job in itself. (I'm not saying I agree or disagree, just that that's what the intention behind it is.)

Also 90mins, yes that's correct - if using public transport that is the whole journey time including waiting for connections. I don't know what the thinking behind that is, maybe that it means people would only take 7-8hr working days to make it worth it? Opening up the search area? Not sure. In reality like you say, if it's a part-time job with 3hrs' travelling each day, people are unlikely to think it's worth it.

NedS

I'm old, and nearing retirement. I've applied for a fair few jobs in my lifetime. I do not think I can remember a job application that I did not spend at least 35h working on. When I've looked at job applications that have crossed my desk in the past, it has been very apparent who has put in the time and effort, and who has not. It's a buyers market at the moment - just saying

[Deleted User]

The 35hrs is very realistic to me. Your meant to spend as much time in a working week as you would spend if you had a full time job. That’s if your fit for work. 

There’s so much more you can record that would count towards these hours, not just job searching. 

Even with indeed jobs you should be tailoring each CV and supporting statement to the individual job. So there’s at least a minimum 2hours per application. 

If you submit a generic application to every job as already mentioned it becomes quite clear who has put the effort in. 

Other things that could be counted towards the 35hours are:

1. volunteering with local organisations and charity shops. 

2. Updating your skills. 

3. Improving your CV.
4. Attending training and workshops. 

5. Completing distance learning courses. 

6. Going business to business and dropping CVs in. 

7. Preparing for interviews and research. 

8. Attending interviews. 

9. Obvious one - the actual job searching and locating job vacancies. 

10. Another obvious one - how long you spend on each application. 

It’s better to apply for 10 well presented, thought out, personalised applications a week compared to a 100 generic fire off applications through indeed. 

calcotti

Lots of information in the ADM document I referenced earlier about what is considered appropriate and relevant action.