hi

I recently finished a full time course at the end of january and started signing on to job seekers allowance while looking for work.

At the first meeting at the job centre before anything else was discussed i was told that at the start of all new claims there is a mandatory 12 weeks of daily contact.

After questioning this i was told that this is a national policy for all new claims.

although im not attending every day i'm getting appointments to attend 2 or 3 times per week and must email my job search activity, jobs applied for, and forward all email responses from applications.

i was told this was to help me find work

but after almost 2 months all it has involved is keeping them updated on my work search activity with no help whatsoever towards finding work.

after searching online i cant find anything about a mandatory 12 weeks of daily contact for all new claims so suspect that it is just some local thing.

can anyone let me know if this is a national or local scheme?

i expect that things like this are intended for people who who need help or encouragement towards looking for work rather than everybody, and as i was placed on this before anything else was discussed they have no reasons whatsoever to suspect that i might need this extra attention.

Is there any national criteria to determine who gets placed on this daily contact which i could use to complain & be placed on the normal fortnightly signing?

Sounds like BS from some overzealous work coach to me, Whilst they can mandate you to sign daily, this inst normal practice, Have they mandated you to do this and given you a formal letter backing this up?

hmm

no formal letter about it

nothing whatsoever about it in writing

thinking mabee worth telling them that i refuse to unless its in writing & an afficial instruction to attend (i think its called a direction or something like that)

just sent my daily email asking for a direction if she wants me continue with the daily contact

including that i was told that it was to help me find work & instead i have just been onforming them of worksearch activities.

recently qualifying in computer security after 3 years of study & i know i'm entiteled to stick to searching in this area for 12 weeks

annoying thst the only help i get is the suggestion that i find unskilled work while looking

If it is policy then there must be a policy document. Ask to see it. If there is a problem then do an FOI

Permitted periods are not automatic for job searching so unless you have been actively employed in that field for at least 2 years you can't just stick to one area and you will be expected to search for all work that you are capable and qualified to do.

When I left the JCP last year there was something coming in about mandatory contact but I haven't kept upto date with it sorry as I'm in another field now. The contact could be however you and your work coach deem acceptable, it could be by telephone, email, job clubs, training sessions, work experience or face to face appointments when I left but don't know if that has changed.

thanks i realised after posting and looking for details online that this Permitted periods is not automatic but i was told that i could concentrate in that area for 12 weeks when i started signing.

i seem to be finding a reasonable ammount of work in computing to apply for.

after searching online & i cant find any changes in regulations or policies saying there should be mandatory contact or even any suggestion that it is hapening other than a few articles on sites like the guardian saying it might be used for long term unemployed.

hmm

no formal letter about it

nothing whatsoever about it in writing

thinking mabee worth telling them that i refuse to unless its in writing & an afficial instruction to attend (i think its called a direction or something like that)

or it goes on your claimant commitment that you will attend daily or have daily contact in one form or another.

or it goes on your claimant commitment that you will attend daily or have daily contact in one form or another.

If you don't agree with a claimant commitment you can dispute it, you then have to construct a version that you think is reasonable and the two versions are sent to the DMA team to consider both versions. I've seen a few of them sent away and seen both outcomes so before anyone tries to say that DMA will simply take the JCP staff CC that is not the case.

Also if the CC is not signed then it is not valid but old versions are not retained electronically so keep any paper copies that you have in case you need to submit as evidence.

Directions are not used as much now as the CC is supposed to be updated at each work search interview (not work search review) , it is a living document and a direction is only supposed to be used if a claimant is not following the agreed steps on the CC and it is something that is reasonable to help them towards employment. A direction is really the last resort.

If you don't agree with a claimant commitment you can dispute it, you then have to construct a version that you think is reasonable and the two versions are sent to the DMA team to consider both versions. I've seen a few of them sent away and seen both outcomes so before anyone tries to say that DMA will simply take the JCP staff CC that is not the case.

Also if the CC is not signed then it is not valid but old versions are not retained electronically so keep any paper copies that you have in case you need to submit as evidence.

 

Directions are not used as much now as the CC is supposed to be updated at each work search interview (not work search review) , it is a living document and a direction is only supposed to be used if a claimant is not following the agreed steps on the CC and it is something that is reasonable to help them towards employment. A direction is really the last resort.