Informing DWP of changes - when?

[Nystagmite]

On Thursday, I woke up and wasn't feeling well. I went to the job centre as normal and signed on. I woke up yesterday and felt much worse and am still not feeling well at all. Because of this, I haven't managed to do any job searching. (I spent most of yesterday sleeping)

 

This should be a temporary issue (I do have permanent disabilities; but this is irrelevant) - although I'm not sure how long it'll last.

 

Does anyone know what the rules are in regards to JSA and illness please?

[id6052]

if your illness is to be less than 2 weeks, contact your jobcentre and explain your situation, and request a "jsa 28" form

 

as i understand it you are only allowed a maximum of 2 periods of illness in a 12 month period, so if this is your first time, you should be okay

[flumps1976]

As id6052 said, you will need to call your office for form JSA28 to be posted out for you to complete to cover you for a maximum of 14 calender days. You can have a maximum of 2 periods of sickness in any 12 month Jobseeking period which runs from the first effective date of your claim for 365/366 days.

[andydd]

Although it would prob be bettr if you could get (crawl !) to a computer and at least apply to a couple of jobs online, this would be far easier than starting to fill in their forms, as they then start to get suspicious and you risk sanctions, etc, there are numerous horror stories on here of that happening.

 

Andy

[Guest jsa12]

Although it would prob be bettr if you could get (crawl !) to a computer and at least apply to a couple of jobs online, this would be far easier than starting to fill in their forms, as they then start to get suspicious and you risk sanctions, etc, there are numerous horror stories on here of that happening.

 

Andy

 

this is very good advice,i wrote down monday,tuesday exe on a piece of paper and the standard actions i take on each day,i then refer to this each week when filling in the job log.

 

there are probably many thousands who are ill on jobseekers',not counting those pushed by atos onto this benefit.the problem with jobseekers unlike the former incapacity benefit it heavily favors them in the ability to sanction on very little grounds just suspicion.

one of the most important points is try and not stand out.

Edited March 19, 2011 by jsa12

[flumps1976]

As long as you conduct 3 different activites in each of your jobseeking weeks you would be classed as Actively Seeking Employment, so yu could look on line, look in the local papers, ask friends or family, do something to improve your chances of finding employment (update CV, adapt covering letter), or call for an application form or finally apply for a vacancy to name but a few.

Any of those 3 as a combination and you will be ok but if all you can do is look on line because you are ill then you need to complete a JSA28 to cover you for the period of illness.

[andydd]

As long as you conduct 3 different activites in each of your jobseeking weeks you would be classed as Actively Seeking Employment, so yu could look on line, look in the local papers, ask friends or family, do something to improve your chances of finding employment (update CV, adapt covering letter), or call for an application form or finally apply for a vacancy to name but a few.

Any of those 3 as a combination and you will be ok but if all you can do is look on line because you are ill then you need to complete a JSA28 to cover you for the period of illness.

 

Not strictly true, you have to do the activities that you agreed in your jobseeker agreement, mine says apply for 2 jobs online (Im often applying for 50!) and phone an employer (which I have never done), so in theory you have to do what your lil JSA book says but ive sometimes neglected to bring in proof to the JSA with no ill effects, of course it could be you searched high and low in papers and online and didnt find any jobs to apply for, so just the searching would normally be deemed good enough.

 

Andy

[Guest jsa12]

unfortunately it comes down to who you see,however it must be what is stated on the jobseekers agreement you hold,in recent times its become very important to do this and log it.

 

another point thats raised is the number of jobs to apply for,this can lead to people applying for practically anything regardless,this may be because there simply isn't the suitable vacancies to apply for in the first place from previous work experience,really this agreement is totally outdated and useless,they themselves are also tied to this.

 

when these are drawn up a comment was made on here "yes yes yes" this is a mistake as long as thirty nine hours are down its fine,doing the above could lead to more problems ie being forced to travel unrealistic times and leaving yourself open to shift work and a sanction if you dont comply,this may be fine if you have the means to travel independently of public transport and have a good car and are able to cope with night work and have a well paid job at the end and the person is up to this health wise,however many who lose their jobs often find the equivalent pay and position are impossible to obtain especially on the low wages that job centre plus advertise.

 

whats quoted above is the barest minimum and not reflective of everyones agreement and if not accounted for could lead to a withdrawn benefits so its best check in each case

[flumps1976]

Some JSAGs will be noted with specific items such as contact JSD 3x weekly and apply for 2 jobs each week. This is usually for people who are searching for specific job roles such as IT Techninican or Plumber (for example) or if you happen to have a permitted period at the start of your claim. The majority of Job Seekers will be looking for a wider range of jobs (factory warehouse, labouring, retail etc) and are usually required to conduct 3 seperate activites each week.

If someone comes into the office where I work and they have only conducted an internet search not applied for any vacancies then they are referred directly to an adviser to consider if they should be referred for an Actively Seeing Sanction by DMA and unless it is a specifi job search requirement then each cumstomer should be showing the 3 seperate activites as required by our local DMA team. The vast majority of referral sent for a decision will come back as Disallowed and a sanction imposed as the customer did not conduct an adequate job search during their sigining period.

[Nystagmite]

Thanks guys. My JSAG does say I have to use the internet everyday to search and apply for jobs. Will phone job centre tomorrow and talk to them. Do I need a sick note? I've not seen my GP because I thought it was just something I'd eaten and that it would pass.

[andydd]

When I first started claimiung JSA my JSA agreement was based on when I signed on before (about 7 years ago), and it listed thye job types I was looking for, the first two were IT jobs but the 3rd was a general admin one, this once lead to a JSA advisor 'giving' me a job to apply for whixch was totally unsuitable and would of been a waste of my time and theirs, so i didnt apply, it wasnt made clear that I MUST apply for the job, lo and behold I was threatened with a sanction, I filled in a form against this with evidence of hundreds of jobs I applied for and had a general moan about the way they operate and the sanction wasnt applied and more importantly the 3rd 'admin' job was removed form the type of jobs I was looking for and things have been far simplier since so it is important to make sure your job agreement is very suitable and if not, ask to make changes to it.

 

Andy

[Nystagmite]

Thanks Andy. Yes, it is suitable for me. I was on JSA in September and signed off to take a Christmas temp job and have been on JSA since January. I had to change my agreement then - because my disabilities changed a lot and one job type 9shelf stacking, I think) I was no longer able to do; so had to change.

[Guest jsa12]

Thanks guys. My JSAG does say I have to use the internet everyday to search and apply for jobs. Will phone job centre tomorrow and talk to them. Do I need a sick note? I've not seen my GP because I thought it was just something I'd eaten and that it would pass.

 

personally i wouldn't take a sick note in there on jobseekers.for whatever reason.

 

some areas have a lack of certain types of work,this brings very little up on their systems regularly and if someone is tied to previous work experience it may well be for far more then a fortnight before a vacancy appears even when looking elsewhere too.this can leave someone out of work for a very long time as they dont have the experience to be successful for other types of work and are quickly discounted on applying,more so in todays climate.

Edited March 20, 2011 by jsa12

[caledfwlch]

Not strictly true, you have to do the activities that you agreed in your jobseeker agreement, mine says apply for 2 jobs online (Im often applying for 50!) and phone an employer (which I have never done), so in theory you have to do what your lil JSA book says but ive sometimes neglected to bring in proof to the JSA with no ill effects, of course it could be you searched high and low in papers and online and didnt find any jobs to apply for, so just the searching would normally be deemed good enough.

 

Andy

 

Good grief, I must be very lucky with the JSA agreements I have always had!

 

Generally, my agreement is - carry out 6 activities a week - activities can be applying for a job, checking the newspaper, internet, and so on. So as long as I perform 6 job searches a week I am "covered" though I generally spend all day checking the internet, so do at least 6 "activities" per day.

 

Whilst my agreement is for Admin/office work, I also apply for jobs not in that category to increase the chance of actually getting a job, and to cover my rear from the jobcentre, they can be very schizophrenic sometimes

 

I was told off by one idiot a few weeks ago because all my job searches are on the internet, apart from the odd walk around town to look for ads in windows - why dont you buy the local paper?, she asked, because I said, the local paper has a website, and the jobs that appear every week, also appear on their website... its like dealing with children.

[Life-Goes-On]

Good grief, I must be very lucky with the JSA agreements I have always had!

 

Generally, my agreement is - carry out 6 activities a week - activities can be applying for a job, checking the newspaper, internet, and so on. So as long as I perform 6 job searches a week I am "covered" though I generally spend all day checking the internet, so do at least 6 "activities" per day.

 

Whilst my agreement is for Admin/office work, I also apply for jobs not in that category to increase the chance of actually getting a job, and to cover my rear from the jobcentre, they can be very schizophrenic sometimes

 

I was told off by one idiot a few weeks ago because all my job searches are on the internet, apart from the odd walk around town to look for ads in windows - why dont you buy the local paper?, she asked, because I said, the local paper has a website, and the jobs that appear every week, also appear on their website... its like dealing with children.

 

 

Sounds like my one was.

 

The biggest joke I found are the job points.

Was living in London at the time, searched local jobs for stock-taker and the first result was a Cocktail maker in Scotland ( I didn't even think they drunk cocktails there)

[caledfwlch]

Sounds like my one was.

 

The biggest joke I found are the job points.

Was living in London at the time, searched local jobs for stock-taker and the first result was a Cocktail maker in Scotland ( I didn't even think they drunk cocktails there)

 

I live on the coast of Mid Wales. Last week a friend of mine was given a job to apply for.

 

14 hours a week, part time. In Manchester.

 

It would take about 5 hours each way by train to get to Manchester from here.

 

For 14 hours a week. And the thing is, it wasnt a mistake, they actually did look at the location and hours. When he pointed this out, he was given another one. In Canterbury.

[Nystagmite]

Madness

[andydd]

The strange things is you could of then gone to the Travel To Interview scection and try to get the journey paid for, you could of gone to the interview and then enjoyed a day out in Manchester . I live in essex and very rarely is there any decent jobs locally so most of my interviews are in London.

 

Andy

[andydd]

Sounds like my one was.

 

The biggest joke I found are the job points.

Was living in London at the time, searched local jobs for stock-taker and the first result was a Cocktail maker in Scotland ( I didn't even think they drunk cocktails there)

 

Iron Bru and Buckfast

[andydd]

Good grief, I must be very lucky with the JSA agreements I have always had!

 

Generally, my agreement is - carry out 6 activities a week - activities can be applying for a job, checking the newspaper, internet, and so on. So as long as I perform 6 job searches a week I am "covered" though I generally spend all day checking the internet, so do at least 6 "activities" per day.

 

Whilst my agreement is for Admin/office work, I also apply for jobs not in that category to increase the chance of actually getting a job, and to cover my rear from the jobcentre, they can be very schizophrenic sometimes

 

I was told off by one idiot a few weeks ago because all my job searches are on the internet, apart from the odd walk around town to look for ads in windows - why dont you buy the local paper?, she asked, because I said, the local paper has a website, and the jobs that appear every week, also appear on their website... its like dealing with children.

 

Ha...I agree, the pre-printed example they use in the Job Seeker booklet is something like "Went into Bakers and asked about jobs !", ok this may be ok for a 17 year old who has just left college, but I'm 43 and have been employed in IT for the last 7 years, its like they think getting a job is like in Eastenders where people just wander from pub to market to corner shop and hey presto get a job (no doubt paying minumum wage), 99% of jobs I apply for are online and even then they are not the employer directly but via an agency.

 

I was told by one of the JC staff the other day that I must bring in EVERYTHING I had done job serach wise, I said, ive applied for 100's of jobs online and have had various correpsondence via email and phone and I am not going to bring it details from EVERY application (nor does my Jobseekers agreement require that I do so), but alas he just didnt understand..maybe you dont have to have much sense to get a job at a JC ?

 

Andy

[flumps1976]

Thanks Andy, I work in a JC and have worked for DWP for last 16 nearly 17 years! I do have common sense and I would like to think that I good at the jobs that I'm required to do each week.

Surely people working in a JC are the same as other areas/businesses which happen to be full of both good honest people and also those who are dishonest or don't give a rats about what they do or how it affects others. Please don't tar us all with the same brush.

[SueP1944]

I live on the coast of Mid Wales. Last week a friend of mine was given a job to apply for.

 

14 hours a week, part time. In Manchester.

 

It would take about 5 hours each way by train to get to Manchester from here.

 

For 14 hours a week. And the thing is, it wasnt a mistake, they actually did look at the location and hours. When he pointed this out, he was given another one. In Canterbury.

 

Hello, I live about 10 miles from Canterbury and it is a lovely place to work and shop. I also originally come from South Manchester.

I can't understand what the problem is. They do have cheap B&B's for working people.

I know if I was younger and out of work, I would lodge for a couple of nights away from home no matter where it was.

My brother hasn't spent any weekday night at home for the past 30+years, unless he was on holiday. He travels the UK going anywhere where the work is. He does B&B's, flatshares and has even lived in a caravan he bought for £50 just off the beach in Morecombe for 6 months!

Unfortunately today you have to go where the work is, not wait for it to come to you 14hrs a week or not.

[andydd]

Thanks Andy, I work in a JC and have worked for DWP for last 16 nearly 17 years! I do have common sense and I would like to think that I good at the jobs that I'm required to do each week.

Surely people working in a JC are the same as other areas/businesses which happen to be full of both good honest people and also those who are dishonest or don't give a rats about what they do or how it affects others. Please don't tar us all with the same brush.

 

Sorry, but I've come into contact with many business in my time and the staff at DWP/JC do seem to make more than their fair share of cockups, for eaxmple, I have lost count of the amount of times Ive had to chase up missing payments, they have made numerous cockups with my mortgage interet payments, my documents regarding getting help for exam expenses were strangely lost..twice, only last week a appointment for travel-to-interview was cocked-up..I was then told that the person booked it in the past..surely making booking on a computer system is pretty straight forward ?

 

The above are just a few examples that spring to mind, Im sure you are a hard working and diligant employee but my (and no doubt many others) experiences are just that mistakes are made time and time again..Ive often wondered why Job Centers need such a heavy securioty gaurd presecence, is it because people get angry annoyed with the mistakes made ?

 

If the JC was a private company it would of gone bust years ago, incidently Im prob not alone in thinking the above comments may also apply to other poorly run goverment agencies such as DVLA and HMRC, organisations who by the own admission are riddled with mistakes and cock ups.

 

Andy

[Nystagmite]

I once had to correct the adviser on the rules regarding savings over £6k and income based benefits. I was shocked that he didn't know that. (it's widely available on the internet too)

[caledfwlch]

Hello, I live about 10 miles from Canterbury and it is a lovely place to work and shop. I also originally come from South Manchester.

I can't understand what the problem is. They do have cheap B&B's for working people.

I know if I was younger and out of work, I would lodge for a couple of nights away from home no matter where it was.

My brother hasn't spent any weekday night at home for the past 30+years, unless he was on holiday. He travels the UK going anywhere where the work is. He does B&B's, flatshares and has even lived in a caravan he bought for £50 just off the beach in Morecombe for 6 months!

Unfortunately today you have to go where the work is, not wait for it to come to you 14hrs a week or not.

 

How does one pay to move when on JSA would be my first question? deposits, transport, etc.

 

Secondly, would you honestly travel away 300 miles for a job that is FOURTEEN hours a week, with no money to get there, no money to move your stuff, or keep it in storage, all your family and friends then 300 miles away? £65 a week is not going to pay for a deposit on somewhere to live, and it is certainly not going to pay for one night in a B&B, neither will 14 hours.

 

This is the problem with the entire system, and its not helped by people expecting others to abandon everything they know just for 14 hours - the friend in question btw is 20, so wouldnt be entitled to any tax credits, if the job fell through, or only lasted a few weeks, housing benefit wouldnt pay for B&B costs, and nor would you be entitled to a hostel or going on the homeless register, he would have to return (somehow with no money) 300 miles back for that.

 

If someone gave me deposit money and bus fare, I would happily move to south wales where the jobs are, friend would too. But short of finding a flat swap, its an impossible dream at the moment. Even bedsits - £65 a week to live on is not enough to fork out for travel down to find a bedsit.

 

Its simply not as easy as you suggest.

 

How would 14 hours a week work pay for a "couple of nights" B&B, AND twice weekly travel tickets for a 300 mile journey? If you can answer that with a reasonable solution, I will be very impressed. Work is not why we exist and live, and a life constantly travelling, alone, for 14 hours here and there is pointless.