JSA Sanctions and National Insurance Credits

Iceweasel

My wife has been on JSA for over a year now - no actual payments as such - only National Insurance Credits.
She has had regular telephone appointments with her 'work coach' every two weeks.
Next week they want her to come into the Jobcentre as they say it's now safe to resume face to face appointments.
She is extremely anxious and concerned about entering any such public buildings as Covid cases are actually rising in our area.
What possible sanctions could they impose?
All our research so far has given only info about reducing her payments or stopping them for a few weeks.
As she gets £0 at the moment that is of no concern - but could they stop her much needed National Insurance credits. 

huckster

Found this information online which appears to be internal DWP guidance.  Suggests the Job Centre is entitled to check that the person having NI credits applied is available for work and actively seeking work.  And if they don't attend appointments, the Job Centre won't record the NI credits.  Job Centres are safe.  They limit numbers allowed in,  people are not allowed to wait around, they are required to wear masks and the Job Centre staff sit behind screens.  The appointment is likely only to be 10 minutes.

Credits Only Claimants Summary

100. Claimants who are claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance but do not receive payment may continue claiming and receive National Insurance Credits, as long as they remain available for and actively seeking, work.

101. This could be because the claimant: is not entitled to JSA(C) because they do not meet the contribution conditions has exhaustedtheir JSA(C) and are not entitled to JSA(IB)Credits Only

102. From a Labour Market perspective,the procedures to follow for these claimants areexactly the sameas any claimant receiving payments of Jobseeker’s Allowance.

103. As long as they continue to meet the Labour Market conditions, they are entitled to receive the same levelof support as any other Jobseeker’s Allowance claimant.

104. These claimants are not to be confused with ‘non-claimant

There is the  information about people who just have NI credits without havivng applied for benefits.

105. A non-claimant is someone who, by choice, applies onlyfor National Insurance credits. They may be customers who regardless of their entitlement do not wish to claim payment of Jobseeker’s Allowanceor may have failed the habitual residency test(HRT) or not met the genuine prospect of work (GPoW) conditions.

106.The term non-claimant must not be used when speaking to the public.The correct term to use is ‘applying for credits without claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance’.

107. The rules for receiving National Insurancecredits for a ‘non-claimant’, are broadly the same as for people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance. The claimant must be:available for work and actively seeking workDelivery of Jobcentre Plus services

108. A non-claimant must still have anInitial Work Search Interview but it should be handled clerically.

109. There is no requirement for a non-claimant to enter into a Claimant Commitment butyou should explainthe benefits of having one in place.

110. Non-claimants are not subject to the HRT.

111. Non-claimants do not have access to any of the programmes funded by Jobcentre Plus, or external providers but they should still be signposted to any appropriate help identified.

112. You should tell Non-claimants that days of jobsearch declared and recorded can never count for linking purposes,so if they make a later claim for Jobseeker’s Allowance, waiting days would have to be served.

113. You must note on all clerical and IT-based information that a claimant is a ‘non-claimant’.

114. You must ask Non-claimants to readand sign the Labour Market declaration on CR2 not ES24.

p00hsticks

Iceweasel said:

Next week they want her to come into the Jobcentre as they say it's now safe to resume face to face appointments.
She is extremely anxious and concerned about entering any such public buildings as Covid cases are actually rising in our area.

Playing devil's advocate, if she is not willing to spend any time in a public building, can she really honestly say that she is available for work ?  After twelve months JSA she will be expected to look at any jobs on offer, not just those related to her previous skills / experience, and the vast majority will, I expect, involve working in a shared space and/or with other people.

Iceweasel

p00hsticks said:

Iceweasel said:

Next week they want her to come into the Jobcentre as they say it's now safe to resume face to face appointments.
She is extremely anxious and concerned about entering any such public buildings as Covid cases are actually rising in our area.

Playing devil's advocate, if she is not willing to spend any time in a public building, can she really honestly say that she is available for work ?  After twelve months JSA she will be expected to look at any jobs on offer, not just those related to her previous skills / experience, and the vast majority will, I expect, involve working in a shared space and/or with other people.

A good question, but - she is an interpreter/translator who normally (pre-Brexit) did all work from home or by video link.

poppy12345

Iceweasel said:

p00hsticks said:

Iceweasel said:

Next week they want her to come into the Jobcentre as they say it's now safe to resume face to face appointments.
She is extremely anxious and concerned about entering any such public buildings as Covid cases are actually rising in our area.

Playing devil's advocate, if she is not willing to spend any time in a public building, can she really honestly say that she is available for work ?  After twelve months JSA she will be expected to look at any jobs on offer, not just those related to her previous skills / experience, and the vast majority will, I expect, involve working in a shared space and/or with other people.

A good question, but - she is an interpreter/translator who normally (pre-Brexit) did all work from home or by video link.

Although at the moment she isn't, she's claiming JSA, although credits only the same rules applies and this means she needs to attend the appointment.

Iceweasel

Perhaps she needs to clarify that she is a non-claimant as per huckster's post.
Perhaps also review the need to satisfy some of the sections she agreed to in her Claimant Commitment - as note Nr.109 says she there is no requirement even to have one.

Iceweasel

huckster said:

Found this information online which appears to be internal DWP guidance. 

Could you give us a link to where you found this info, please.

calcotti

p00hsticks said: After twelve months JSA she will be expected to look at any jobs on offer, not just those related to her previous skills / experience, 

I think that would be after three months rather than twelve months.

huckster

https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/312208/response/764313/attach/4/Credits.pdf?cookie_passthrough=1&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwjrt9yXjrfxAhWBilwKHWctDc4QFjAAegQIBhAB&usg=AOvVaw2t8WvZ_2CNlBNFs7iQvkwZ

huckster

calcotti said:

p00hsticks said: After twelve months JSA she will be expected to look at any jobs on offer, not just those related to her previous skills / experience, 

I think that would be after three months rather than twelve months.

Correct, the period where claimants are only required to look for a specific job because of previous employment experience is a maximum of 13 weeks. The period is agreed between claimant and Work Coach. If the max 13 weeks is applied, from week 14 the claimant has to broaden their job search,

p00hsticks

calcotti said:

p00hsticks said: After twelve months JSA she will be expected to look at any jobs on offer, not just those related to her previous skills / experience, 

I think that would be after three months rather than twelve months.

Agreed. Looking back, my post could have been worded better - my reference to twelve months was in relation to the time the OP said his wife has already been claiming JSA, not the about of time before a wider job search is required.