Starting work programme

[notmeguvhonest]

I am being inducted on the work programme on Monday, has anybody had any experience of it and tips on how to survive it? From what I have read, the providers spend virtually no time on people who have little or no chance of a job, and concentrate on those who have a good chance of a job.

[Mr.P]

Sign nothing, read everything, and demand copies of all paperwork. Record every conversation (most mobile phones have an app for that). Question everything they say, and don't believe a word of it. Also read the DWP issued guidance so that you can counter any unreasonable or questionable activity. Others will be along shortly with links and further advice.

[Belfaster]

Exactly as Mr P says, sign nothing and question everything, don't let yourself be bullied by these people. Is your provider Seetec by the way, if so be very wary and keep your wits about you!

[Stigman]

Sorry to hear you have started the Work Programme, all you are to the Provider is £18,000 a year.

 

Totally agree with the advise above especially never to be bullied. The more Courses that they recommend and that you attend, the more the Providers get paid.

 

Stigman

[neword]

I agree with everything thats been said above.

 

You really do need to keep documentary evidence of all letters you send and receive, All forms/letters they give you.

Record everything as the times they have *cough* said something then denied it after *cough* comes up time

and again on these boards.

 

Get everything in writing don't go on word of mouth ever. You will regret it later if you do.

 

If you are ill make sure they know by letter preferably or if you do have to use the telephone

record the conversation. Telephones are their friends and they can easily deny anything they say

or tell them if you don't record it.

 

But the best piece of info I can give is "protect your back" because if they can stab you, they will.

 

Other than that, if you can use the time constructively (get on courses that improve your JOB chances or help you if

you want to go self employed then try to do them) and I am not talking about CV writing or Job Interview techniques

Because everyone (I think) will agree that they are a big time waste in the main.

[Mr.P]

A couple of points to bear in mind that allow you to turn the tables on them:

 

• If the provider is A4e, the company is up for sale. There will be redundancies, and the job market for snake oil salesmen is very limited.
  
• There is a general election just a few months away. If the Tories are ousted, there will be a change in policy and some of these W2W contracts will be reviewed. There is a good chance that the Work Programme will be scrapped just as Labour's Flexible New Deal was when the Tories came in to office.
  

Maybe you should be going in and advising the staff on how to survive on the dole

[Dazza1983]

Hopefully it wont be as bad for you as the Work programme is for me.Because i have just 2 months left on it i am now expected to attend for jobsearch every single weekday for 2 hours every time despite the fact i have faster internet and computer at home.The apparent reason for this is so i can concentrate on jobsearch as well as the fact i haven't had a recent interview.

 

Also be prepared for them to tell you to apply for all kinds of job including ones that you are not even qualified to do.My adviser is now making me apply for jobs with no more than 15 hours a week.Not sure if i can refuse them or not?

 

My advisor also contacts me almost every day to the point that my missus jokingly asked me if i had another girlfriend in my life.

[starman59]

I had to go on the work program a few years ago. The advisor I saw took one look at me and said straight out that there was nothing they could do or me. I have arthritis and angina and am unable to walk much distance as well as a couple of other things. The office was up 2 flights of stairs and on my second visit I had a rather large and painful angina attack the bods thought I was going to die on them, funny now looking back on it. I must admit they were ok with me though.

[Nystagmite]

 

If you are ill make sure they know by letter preferably or if you do have to use the telephone

record the conversation. Telephones are their friends and they can easily deny anything they say

or tell them if you don't record it.

 

They had a right go at me for the lack of notice I gave them in regards to being ill and having to cancel an appointment. As if I can plan a dodgy tummy.

[Dazza1983]

They had a right go at me for the lack of notice I gave them in regards to being ill and having to cancel an appointment. As if I can plan a dodgy tummy.

 

I had the same thing.Told them 5 hours before my appointment that i was not coming in due to illness.I was then asked numerous questions about it.Like i planed a bout of ibs.If you are ill make sure you get a form from the jobcentre which you fill in and return to them.

[Lapsed Workaholic]

I am being inducted on the work programme on Monday, has anybody had any experience of it and tips on how to survive it? From what I have read, the providers spend virtually no time on people who have little or no chance of a job, and concentrate on those who have a good chance of a job.

Have you tried this link, it's mostly about claimant's experiences on the work programme:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?309173-Ingeus(4-Viewing)-nbsp

 

At the last count the thread had 306 pages and 6,104 posts.

Read it and weep

[Nystagmite]

I had the same thing.Told them 5 hours before my appointment that i was not coming in due to illness.I was then asked numerous questions about it.Like i planed a bout of ibs.If you are ill make sure you get a form from the jobcentre which you fill in and return to them.

 

I was asked numerous questions about it too. I knew about the forms; but didn't bother because being IBS, it's usually no more than 12-24 hour issue.

[essexmat]

Congratulations on being part of the WP - as long as you are open minded about the following you will be fine:

 

• They will not help you in any way
  
• They will harrass you constantly
  
• They will lie to you about everything
  
• They will not help you get a job in any way
  
• Their 'courses' are a waste of time and utterly pointless
  
• They will try and not pay for your travel outside of a normal signing on day
  
• They will try and sanction you at every opportunity
  
• You will probably see an 'adviser' who has not got a clue about regulations and has about as much work experience as my cat
  
• ....and many more
  

Apart from that they are not too bad but if they are you will probably find you get so stressed you move from JSA to ESA like thousands have done due to the sheer ineptness and rudeness of these organisations that are not fit for purpose

[Dazza1983]

I have lost count with the amount of courses i have done.One of the things we did in the last one i did which was 2 weeks long was make a bridge out of newspaper.Utterly pointless.

 

I also did a course where there was supposed to be 20 people doing it.3 people turned up including myself.Passing the course meant we were supposed to get a job.I got turned down for the job because i lived to far away as some of the shifts started as early as 6am and there was no way of me getting there as i no longer have a car.

[Nystagmite]

I can't say any of the courses really helped me that much either. Not helped much by not being able to read the pieces of paper we were given. (they knew that)

[Lapsed Workaholic]

The Claimant's Lament

 

In a dreich and dreary office, in a dismal part of town,

In snow or wind or sunshine, or when rain was lashing down,

There are smug advisers sitting there and I know as like as not,

That anything they say to me will not be worth a jot.

 

"Come in, come in, how are you?" and "Please won't you sit down"

The usual hollow platitudes, and the smile, more smarmy frown.

"Please can you show me what you did, how have you looked for work?"

The look exudes indifference, goes from smarmy frown to smirk.

 

"I check the CV Library, Concept and Indeed,

There's Total Jobs and Fish4jobs, and also I use Reed,

I check the local papers, the web and Jobs Today,

But I will not use, on principle, the site they call UJ".

 

They put me on a work programme, that paragon of schemes

Any good that they thought they did was only in their dreams.

For hours and hours and weeks and weeks, a total of two years,

Some were reduced to mental wrecks, most, reduced to tears.

 

We were sat in front of monitors, to some all this was new,

Others used the 'You Tube, yet others, sites more 'blue',

On odd occasions we'd be told they'd teach us how to be

Proficient letter writers and compilers of CV.

 

Sometimes the sheer futility made morale sink so low,

Desperation seemed to take a hold that just would not let go.

At times like these I had to find a last drop of reserve,

And vow that I would not be beat, they wouldn't break my nerve.

 

At last I got it over with and back to the jobcentre,

Another lot of futile schemes, another base tormenter.

Not much for it but to take it, any mean and silly ruse

That their vile imaginations could think up to abuse.

 

Claimants sat there anxiously, huddled in the pews,

The bouncers looking ominous, like torture chamber 'screws'.

Advisers sitting at their desks, it makes one feel quite weak,

The silence hangs so heavy that one's half afraid to speak.

 

They told me next that a month's work would be the very thing,

Unpaid, of course, but what is that to the gains that it would bring.

In my forty years of working, by way of illustration,

That single month's experience was a shocking revelation.

 

There were other silly obstacles that were placed along the way,

One never knew what might transpire on any given day.

Every effort must be made to find excuse for sanction,

And nothing less than that would do to give them satisfaction.

 

Oh take me somewhere else but here, where there's nothing but the best,

Where there's no Claimant Commitment and a soul can have a rest.

Where there's no more wasting leather looking for what isn't there

No more sending applications or finding jobs out of thin air.

 

Well, they made me what I am today, and I hope they're satisfied,

They stitched me up and dragged me down 'til the soul within me sighed.

They've shattered each and every dream, fooled me right from the start.

And though they've deceived and lied to me, I shan't let them crush my heart.

[Mr.P]

"Come in, come in, how are you?" and "Please won't you sit down"

 

Oh if only they were that civil and polite. At my last meeting, it was: "Follow me... Take off your hat and coat and sit down"... Suffice to say the session went down hill from there on in and ended up in the "advisor" having a hissy fit complete with the toys being thrown out of the pan All recorded should it ever be needed

[Dazza1983]

I wish i recorded the row i had with my adviser especially when she said i had to do jobsearch every week day.The longest conversation i normally have is not with an advisor but the receptionist as we both support the same football team.I used to have 30 minute appointment with my old advisor and most of it we ended up talking about football.

[notmeguvhonest]

My provider is Avanta I had my induction today, my adviser is on annual leave at the moment, so no meetings for a week or so. I am not worried about travel costs, as i live within walking distance of their office. I also don't mind applying for jobs that I am not qualified for, as I am hoping to become self employed within the next three months or so.

[neword]

notmeguvhonest :

 

Use then to your advantage if you are really going to go SE. Get them to send you to courses/

money advisor's/etc which can help you with SE.

It probably be the only time you can use them to an advantage.

[impecunious]

Have you advised the Job Centre that you're thinking about becoming self-employed? Not sure if you're entitled to New Enterprise Allowance when you're on the work programme but it's worth investigating. You'll be allowed a period of grace where you'll be allowed to concentrate on putting together your Business Plan (you'll be exempt from job search activities for about 8 weeks), etc and will be entitled to NEA for six months when you start up your business, can apply for a local council small business set up grant of say £500 (for capital purchases) and access to a £1,000 business loan. There's also the added the advantage of having a personal business advisor, regular meetings and there are lots of really valuable business workshops available - free of charge - to help with you budget planning, marketing, research and accounting etc. Worth asking about.

 

 

Impecunious!

[Mr.P]

Not sure if you're entitled to New Enterprise Allowance when you're on the work programme but it's worth investigating.

 

Once inducted in to the Work Programme, support such as the N.E.A. and any other DWP/JCP funding or assistance disappears. The reason given is that the W.P. provider will provide all the support and assistance that is needed.

[essexmat]

Once inducted in to the Work Programme, support such as the N.E.A. and any other DWP/JCP funding or assistance disappears. The reason given is that the W.P. provider will provide all the support and assistance that is needed.

 

The obvious problem with this is you will get ZERO help and ZERO assistance from a WP provider - useless people.

Edited March 18, 2015 by honeybee13
Pejorative word removed.

[Dazza1983]

The obvious problem with this is you will get ZERO help and ZERO assistance from a WP provider - useless people.

 

and you will get spoken to like you are child as well as being told to apply for jobs you have no desire to do or even can do in some cases.

[neword]

Prior to going SE I was on the WP and to be honest they are a real asset and the greatest help you could ever get.

 

Their help with making a business plan was brill, they helped with material sourcing, they helped really well

with finding outlets for my stuff and services.

 

I must admit they pulled out all the stops for me...

 

Oh I better go and get me a few pep pills to bring me back to the real world.

 

They were about the most useless, self centred overgrown parrot faced wassacks who had the brain capacity

of single celled organism, the attention span of a goldfish and usefulness of a rusty bent nail. and I am

being kind.

 

If your going self employed you are far better finding things out for yourself or use other organizations such

as business link, business initiative also have a look at LinkIn website.

If you over 50 have a look at the PRIME website.

loads of info on their site.