Universal Jobmatch

[LaughingGirl]

I always understood that if you were to be sanctioned, you would have to start a new claim for Housing Benefit, but would still be entitled to it as having nil income. However, Flumps post seems to contradict that. You may want to PM her and ask for her attention on this thread if it's something you're seriously concerned about.

 

P.S: You wouldn't automatically be evicted - again, if you're seriously concerned about this, you may want to start your own thread.

[flumps1976]

no joeski, you should have the decision within 3 working days of the referral, but be aware JCP will not contact you to advise what the decision is.

If you are disallowed you will need to complete a rapid reclaim form to reinstate any entitlement to JSA and then wait for a further decision to determine if a saqnction is also appropriate following the period of disallowance (if you are disallowed of course)

[joeski]

no joeski, you should have the decision within 3 working days of the referral, but be aware JCP will not contact you to advise what the decision is.

If you are disallowed you will need to complete a rapid reclaim form to reinstate any entitlement to JSA and then wait for a further decision to determine if a saqnction is also appropriate following the period of disallowance (if you are disallowed of course)

 

thanks flumps, i always worry even if something hasn't happened.

[LongHairedLily]

thanks flumps, i always worry even if something hasn't happened.

 

Joeski

 

I am exactly the same rearding the worry. I always like to be prepared in case a situation arises!

[joeski]

Joeski

 

I am exactly the same rearding the worry. I always like to be prepared in case a situation arises!

 

you never know whats gonna happen next, IDS has everyone insecure with his selfish cuts

[RebeccaPidgeon]

you never know whats gonna happen next, IDS has everyone insecure with his selfish cuts

If the intention of George Iain Duncan Smith is to make everyone insecure, it wont work...although one must sympathise with the pleb for his well publicised failures, such as the defecient Work Programme, Universal Job Match, and Universal Credit.

[ratbag1970]

Reading all the comments with interest. Hubby came back from signing on this week, relatively new claim. He was told the last time he signed on that he would need to sign up to UJM. After reading some things regarding Data Protection etc, I found the necessary info for him from DWP (Universal Jobmatch FAQ's) and the info from a website, jonnyvoid I think. Told my hubby that he musn't refuse, just not to give consent as advised. He left his job adviser "looking into...." the data protection issues and whether or not Registering for UJM is mandatory. She claims that it is. My hubby asked her to produce the document from DWP stating that it is mandatory. Apparently she shuffled through papers, looked on her computer screen, checked through a sheaf of blank paper under the printer and returned to her desk and stated "Well, we've been told it IS mandatory, but I can't find the info so we'll make you another appointment and I'll look into it." If people are adamant they don't want to sign up for UJM, what is needed is documentary evidence that no-where does it state that it is mandatory. As yet, it doesn't seem anyone can actually produce anything. There was a link on the johnnyvoid website, however, Q13 and the answer were changed around the 12th of November. The original Q13 of the FAQ's read as follows:

Q13 Will claims to benefit be affected by the service? ANS: No this is a job posting and matching service which is open to everyone not just benefit claimants and is not connected to any claims.

However now Q13 reads as follows:

Q13: How can a jobseeker provide feedback if they are unhappy with the service? ANS: Jobseekers will be able to provide feedback on their experience via the Universal Jobmatch service itself.

There is no longer any guarantee that your claim is not affected, nor can I find plain, undisputed documentary evidence to support the JC's claim that it IS mandatory, nor can I find any that is isn't. Hubby has been told he could face sanctions if he doesn't register. So is it Mandatory or isn't it??

 

 

http://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/2012/11/18/universal-jobmatch-do-not-sign/

Edited December 4, 2012 by ratbag1970
Additional info

[flumps1976]

At the moment it is not mandatory to register with UJM, however it may become mandatory in due course.

The JSAGs have been reprinted to include that customers will utilise the UJM so if it is agreed on the JSAg then it will be part of the agreement and by not using it it a customer will leave themselves open to referrals for sanctions by not complying with the JSAg.

 

Initial things at JCP were that all staff were advised (this is also what management were told too) it was to be a mandatory part of the claim but the UNIONS have been probing into things further where it has been declared non-mandatory at present.

[ratbag1970]

Thanks flumps1976, I hear what you're saying BUT JCA's are insisting that it's already mandatory to register. Can you point me to the DWP info that states it is or it isn't as this is the crux of it at the Jobcenter. They can't produce anything to prove that it is, and I can't find any evidence to definitively prove that it isn't, and they're just threatening sanctions for failing to register. Hubby uses the UJ site and has applied for many jobs without registering and quite happily prints off confirmation emails of application acceptances but the JCA's are saying it's mandatory to register. :???:

[joeski]

i really hope that UJM crashes and burns leaving IDS feeling like a fool

[flumps1976]

I don't know where to find that guidance sorry and if honest I haven't been required to use UJM at work yet either so wouldn't automaticallly be able to locat the guidance at work even.

I don't mind helping where I can but don't want to be trawling through guidance when I'm at home iygwim? sorry

[ratbag1970]

That's ok flumps1976. I'm just explaining that without clear evidence stating either way, it's going to be difficult to get away without registering and not having sanctions placed against you. On my hubby's JSAG, it merely states that he must use UJM not that he must sign up, but that's just picking over words and the JSA's can pretty much call the shots or impose sanctions. It's all very well being able to appeal the decision, but that can take weeks and in the meantime you're left without money

[RebeccaPidgeon]

For some time, whereas the Job Seekers Agreement may be reprinted periodically, this is not happening to every claimant when they sign on every two weeks simply due to the introduction of Universal Job Match.... and, if the Job Seekers Agreement is now renegotiated by JCP Staff to include Registering for Universal Job Match (rather than simply using it as a Job Search Facility, it is entirely down to the candidate to accept signing the revised Job Seekers Agreement, or to negotiate their way out.

 

 

That's ok flumps1976. I'm just explaining that without clear evidence stating either way, it's going to be difficult to get away without registering and not having sanctions placed against you. On my hubby's JSAG, it merely states that he must use UJM not that he must sign up, but that's just picking over words and the JSA's can pretty much call the shots or impose sanctions. It's all very well being able to appeal the decision, but that can take weeks and in the meantime you're left without money

Given that every vacancy posted on UJ has a Unique Reference Number, and that at least some have the method of application within the short description (rather than go via the Apply Button), it will be easy for your other half to prove that they have used UJ and applied for those jobs.

 

If JCP wants to audit any single vacancy, all you other half need to do is to contact the employer for that vacancy, and to request that they confirm the status of the application... preferably in writing or by email.

 

At the moment it is not mandatory to register with UJM, however it may become mandatory in due course.

The JSAGs have been reprinted to include that customers will utilise the UJM so if it is agreed on the JSAg then it will be part of the agreement and by not using it it a customer will leave themselves open to referrals for sanctions by not complying with the JSAg.

 

Initial things at JCP were that all staff were advised (this is also what management were told too) it was to be a mandatory part of the claim but the UNIONS have been probing into things further where it has been declared non-mandatory at present.

 

I sympathise with the Trades Union Membership.... but unfortunately, they dont make policy, some even condemn the change to an open plan office from staff being partitioned behind security glass, and some may be wary of their jobs being transferred to a Welfare To Work Private Sector Employer in due course.

Edited December 5, 2012 by RebeccaPidgeon
Additional Information Submitted

[down'n'out]

....................but the JCA's are saying it's mandatory to register. :???:

 

Not currently.

 

At the recent meeting, DWP management confirmed that the use of Universal Jobmatch is non-mandatory.

http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/department_for_work_and_pensions_group/dwp-news.cfm/id/D34395B0-26B7-4E67-81B32F80CFEBB3E8

[san_d]

I've just rapid-reclaimed today and I was told that UJM is not mandatory but giving an email address (or opening one if you don't have one) is, so that they can feed vacancies over to you by email, regardless of UJM.

 

My prediction is: give 6 months and the DWP will fire Monster and outsource everything to India, including call centres. Who accepts the bet?

[ratbag1970]

downandout: As we all know despite the fact that all Job Centers are supposed to be the same and run the same, they're not. My hubby's JCA told him that registering for UJM IS mandatory. Clearly from the link you've provided (thank you) it isn't. I shall print this out to arm him with when he goes in next and see what the nice lady makes of it!!! Obviously he's not going to push it to the point of getting sanctioned, we have kids to feed, however it is useful for others to see to what length JSA's will go to to get you to register for UJM.

RebeccaPidgeon: Hubby already prints off screen shots of the jobs he's applied for using UJM, and any email responses (although these are few and far between) that he gets from said applications. He isn't disputing the USE of UJM being mandatory, just REGISTERING being mandatory. His agreement states that he must USE not REGISTER. That aside, the JSA told him it IS mandatory to register. They're not arguing that he doesn't use it, just that it's mandatory to register, which clearly isn't accurate.

san_d: I'm with you!!

[osdset]

More ammunition http://unemploymentmovement.com/forum/unemployment-and-job-centre-plus/4614-uj-reply-from-area-manager

[ismael urzaiz]

i'm on the WP and signed last wednesday,my advisor mention the jobmatch but said i still had to fill in the jobsearch record sheet. i asked if it was compulsory to register and was met with a shrugging of shoulders..

 

 

just signed a couple of hours ago

me. is this jobmatch thingy compulsory

advisor..no

i even had question 8 underlined on the DWP sheet and that union letter (link a few posts ago) ready for an arguement..

[sillygirl1]

I am on the Work Programme and have to go to a ;UJM Induction for two hours next week, I've told them I will show up, but I have already registered and they haven't got any jobs suitable for me, the ones which came up were demanding that you had a driving licence (for admin work?) and various qualifications I don't possess, ie NVQ in Care.

 

It also gave me vacancies all over the country which is mad as I cannot relocate nor travel to Sheffield or Kidderminster....

 

The whole jobmatch thing is mad as they KNOW there are far more candidates for posts than normal so sometimes even if you do apply you will not be selected - as for their threat of sanctioning if they phone somebody to ask if you have applied - CLAPTRAP - it cannot happen as most employers will not give that information out due to Data Protection (about the only useful use of that much abused Act),

 

It is always best to apply online, then you have proof positive that you have applied. I email across all the jobs I've gone for to my adviser at the Work Programme every fortnight so he can see what I am applying for, the responses (last week it was almost automatic rejections) and my varying covering letters.

 

It seems if you are on the Work Programme it is COMPULSORY to attend the 2 hour session, and for them to tell me to apply for 5 jobs a week (I usually apply for far more anyway) when it has already been identified VIA the Work Programme that I have an alternative skillset which can't be utilised due to lack of funding is madness!

 

However my WP adviser is a good bloke and he knows my views, and he has said that he expects me to be able to annoy the trainer by already identifying my keywords.... Job.. Vacancy... Post...

[ajax95]

I did my New Claim interview today. Advisor said nothing about UJM being mandatory, just pointed out it existed.

 

Registered this afternoon, and it seemed to be advertising quite a few vacancies I'd already applied for elsewhere.

 

Not impressed (but not exactly surprised either)

[Nimitz]

Reading all the comments with interest. Hubby came back from signing on this week, relatively new claim. He was told the last time he signed on that he would need to sign up to UJM. After reading some things regarding Data Protection etc, I found the necessary info for him from DWP (Universal Jobmatch FAQ's) and the info from a website, jonnyvoid I think. Told my hubby that he musn't refuse, just not to give consent as advised. He left his job adviser "looking into...." the data protection issues and whether or not Registering for UJM is mandatory. She claims that it is. My hubby asked her to produce the document from DWP stating that it is mandatory. Apparently she shuffled through papers, looked on her computer screen, checked through a sheaf of blank paper under the printer and returned to her desk and stated "Well, we've been told it IS mandatory, but I can't find the info so we'll make you another appointment and I'll look into it." If people are adamant they don't want to sign up for UJM, what is needed is documentary evidence that no-where does it state that it is mandatory. As yet, it doesn't seem anyone can actually produce anything. There was a link on the johnnyvoid website, however, Q13 and the answer were changed around the 12th of November. The original Q13 of the FAQ's read as follows:

Q13 Will claims to benefit be affected by the service? ANS: No this is a job posting and matching service which is open to everyone not just benefit claimants and is not connected to any claims.

However now Q13 reads as follows:

Q13: How can a jobseeker provide feedback if they are unhappy with the service? ANS: Jobseekers will be able to provide feedback on their experience via the Universal Jobmatch service itself.

There is no longer any guarantee that your claim is not affected, nor can I find plain, undisputed documentary evidence to support the JC's claim that it IS mandatory, nor can I find any that is isn't. Hubby has been told he could face sanctions if he doesn't register. So is it Mandatory or isn't it??

 

 

http://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/2012/11/18/universal-jobmatch-do-not-sign/

 

Hiya ratbag

 

The info you seek regarding UJM being optional is at the following DWP site..

 

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/universal-jobmatch-faqs.pdf

 

See question 8

 

Nimitz

[oblivious]

I was told to register for universal job search today and it was mandatory and when I gave a letter from thier own union website saying its not mandatory the advisor was not happy went to see her manager and not sure whether this is connected or not but then scrutinised my job seekers diary and aggreement and decided I had not done enough to look for work and sent it for refferral! I am sick of the benefits system and this government and will crawl away and die just like they want me too. I would rather be in prison than live everyday worrying about whether I will be able to have my basic human needs met from week to week. Subsequently I signed off and if no one else cares about me then why should I?

[LaughingGirl]

I've just responded to you on your other thread Oblivious...when does your new job start in January? I hope at the beginning.

 

Are you claiming Housing Benefit at the minute?

[oblivious]

thanks laughing girl yes I am claiming housing benefit. The job is just a casual one do not have a start date as yet.

[LaughingGirl]

Hi Oblivious. I'm going to respond on your other thread or this is going to get confusing!