UC Course followed by guaranteed job interview - Scam?

[Clear33]

Around the two-four month mark, my friend eagerly accepted a UC course. Some of it was actually helpful and useful. Other bits were a complete joke.

 

 

But anyway, the main plus was it came with a 'guaranteed job interview'.

 

 

Now I am wondering if this is a [problem]. My friend can not find out anything about the job.

 

 

I was wondering if anyone has experience of these being a [problem] and also what the rules are for declining the job. If it is possible.

 

 

The job coach has said he has to take it if offered it so long as it is not commission, however if he doesn't like it, then after a month, he can resign. This sounds bizarre to me.

 

 

Can anyone offer help/insight on this?

 

 

Thanks

[Clear33]

ha ha..

 

 

sorry site team - I did not know 'problem' was a banned word

[Mr.P]

Who was this "course" with ?

 

Being guaranteed an interview does not guarantee a job at the end.

[Clear33]

These are booked through UC. The job centre gives you a weekly bus pass reimbursement and you attend daily for two or three weeks. There were different short courses to choose from:

 

 

Security, Internet, Customer service skills, maths and English, some accredited through ECDL(?), call centre training and I think a few others.

 

 

There is Entry level three followed by level one and finally level two. Each course gains you a point and three points would win you a laptop, or two points I think got driving lessons etc. A £10 bonus is paid if you get the job at the end of the course. This process has humour.

 

 

There is no word on the job or where it is and the company has no on-line presence. And yet all those on the courses are going through this interview process. There are apparently 15 jobs available. A few things make me worry it is a [problem].

 

 

Would rather have the info before hand to pass on to my friend. If it is a legit job, then great, my friend is desperate to work, but if it is not he doesn't want to be stuck in a [problem] when he should be hunting down and getting a real job.

[Lapsed Workaholic]

ha ha..

 

 

sorry site team - I did not know 'problem' was a banned word

 

 

I don't get the joke here.

 

 

Nor do I get the 'problem' when nobody knows anything about the job and a job hasn't even been offered.

[Clear33]

Lapsed Workaholic -

 

 

A [problem] usually happens based on little or no real knowledge. I think because the details before the interview could be generously stated as being sparse and knowing the government have misled and used job seekers in the past - causes me to worry.

 

 

I am worried he will be conned into saying Yes at the interview and he has no get out clause if it is a [problem].

 

 

He can't afford to be messed about.

[Clear33]

p.s. the computer is changing the word I am using into 'problem' - denoted [problem].

[Clear33]

Can someone point me to a reference of workcoach advice: 'if after a month of the job you are not happy with it , you can leave without being sanctioned'

[antone]

Can someone point me to a reference of workcoach advice: 'if after a month of the job you are not happy with it , you can leave without being sanctioned'

 

It's probably a reference to Employment on Trial, which you can read about on this CAB page. Basically, you can accept a job to see if you can do it and leave without sanction if it's not working out. I suppose the idea behind it is that otherwise people might not take the chance on a new job, and from the DWP's point of view it's better that you try something and fail than not try at all.

 

The rules seem to be:

 

• You must have been doing no work at all for 13 weeks prior to the start of the trial (you don't have to have been claiming benefit for the whole period)
  
• The job must be for at least 16 hours per week
  
• You must have started the 5th week of work but not started the 13th week
  

In these cases, you won't be sanctioned for leaving the job unless you are dismissed for gross misconduct.

[Clear33]

Oh yes. Interesting. Many thanks.

 

 

Setting it up as a 'work trial' maybe useful too.

 

 

Where might I find guidance on turning down jobs on religious and/or ethical grounds?

[Clear33]

So, as an example:

 

 

A Nurse may be on universal credit. She finds a job in a local hospital and initially accepts. However she discovers the hospital implemets mandatory vaccination for staff. She therefore can no longer work there for Health, Ethical and/or Religious reasons. This is happening regularly by the looks of reports.

 

 

How done one turn down this job without being sanctioned?

[think about it]

subscribing to see what the [problem] is...

 

Although the pragmatist in me can only suggest that your 'friend' speaks to one of the course tutors, who undoubtedly will have done this before, and asks for a little information as to the nature of the job on offer. Of course, as someone has already pointed out, it's only an interview and there's always the opportunity to do a 'spud' in Trainspotting... It does all seem a little premature, 'conning' someone into taking a job????

 

I hope you find the info you're looking for...

[Lapsed Workaholic]

So, as an example:

 

 

A Nurse may be on universal credit. She finds a job in a local hospital and initially accepts. However she discovers the hospital implemets mandatory vaccination for staff. She therefore can no longer work there for Health, Ethical and/or Religious reasons. This is happening regularly by the looks of reports.

 

 

How done one turn down this job without being sanctioned?

 

 

Forgive me for asking, this may be regarded as a silly question, and I may live to regret asking it, but why should your friend, a nurse, of all professions, refuse to be vaccinated, which would protect her from catching and/or carrying infections?

Anyway the Jobseeker's Allowance Regulations 1996 Section 13(2)may help:

(2) Subject to regulations 6, 7 and 9, a person may impose restrictions on the nature of the employment for which he is available by reason of a sincerely held religious belief, or a sincerely held conscientious objection providing he can show that he has reasonable prospects of employment notwithstanding those restrictions and any restrictions on his availability in accordance with regulation 7(2), 8, paragraph _2(3), (3A) or (4)_ of this regulation _3, regulation 13A or_ or regulation 17(1) or (2).

However, your friend must get her Jobcentre adviser to accept such a restriction on availability for work and have it included in her Jobseeker's Agreement (or Claimant Commitment). Unless it is in the Agreement it may not be accepted later as grounds for turning down or leaving a job.

[think about it]

Forgive me for asking, this may be regarded as a silly question, and I may live to regret asking it, but why should your friend, a nurse, of all professions, refuse to be vaccinated, which would protect her from catching and/or carrying infections?

Anyway the Jobseeker's Allowance Regulations 1996 Section 13(2)may help:

(2) Subject to regulations 6, 7 and 9, a person may impose restrictions on the nature of the employment for which he is available by reason of a sincerely held religious belief, or a sincerely held conscientious objection providing he can show that he has reasonable prospects of employment notwithstanding those restrictions and any restrictions on his availability in accordance with regulation 7(2), 8, paragraph _2(3), (3A) or (4)_ of this regulation _3, regulation 13A or_ or regulation 17(1) or (2).

However, your friend must get her Jobcentre adviser to accept such a restriction on availability for work and have it included in her Jobseeker's Agreement (or Claimant Commitment). Unless it is in the Agreement it may not be accepted later as grounds for turning down or leaving a job.

 

Lapsed, nothing to regret... I too had to suppress the inner anti-antivaxxer and question the logic of a health professional who saw fit, on any grounds other than his/her own health, to endanger the health of others by refusing vaccination. Indeed, I bear my arm/leg to every available vaccine to protect myself and our patients and I'm only on the admin side of things...

[sillygirl1]

clear33, your comment about 'mandatory' injections and somebody who cannot work in nursing for health, ethical and/or religious reasons is slightly off-topic.

 

I've long worked in the NHS and many hospitals (and the Nursing council) require that all medical staff are up to date with their vaccinations for varying things, including Hep C. The vaccinations vary according to the level of risk the nurse is exposed to.

 

The nurse can turn down the job as she is not vaccinated against Hep C and believes that the vaccination is against her beliefs.

 

So, as an example:

 

 

A Nurse may be on universal credit. She finds a job in a local hospital and initially accepts. However she discovers the hospital implemets mandatory vaccination for staff. She therefore can no longer work there for Health, Ethical and/or Religious reasons. This is happening regularly by the looks of reports.

 

 

How done one turn down this job without being sanctioned?

[Clear33]

Thanks All,

 

 

Agreed, I certainly don't want a vaccination debate on this thread.

 

 

However my point being was that usually, before a job interview, one has researched the company etc. and before applying, one has made sure one is confident it is legit and the work does not violate health, religious or ethical beliefs.

 

 

And so it seems prudent to know how to turn down a job on those grounds. My friend pressed and pressed for information re: job. And just couldn't get it out of them. Another alarm bell.

 

 

Whilst my friend is not a nurse and the issue is not mandatory vaccination (I used that as an all encompassing, easy to understand example), I have known quite a large number of medics over the years who have simply not followed the NICE vaccination schedule - for a number of indivisual reasons.

 

 

I would advise anyone interested in this topic to thoroughly research. Nurses Against Mandatory Vaccination, for example, is NOT anti-vaxx and its website is under construction has some info on the home page and About us page...

 

 

http://www.namv.org/

 

 

But the reason I wanted the legislation to hand is in case the job centre also did not understand the grounds to which one is rejecting a job. Many Thanks.

 

 

Anyway, if all the caggers could cross everything in the hopes that it is not a [problem] and that he gets it...

[Clear33]

Ok. Here is the deal:

 

 

Job seekers train in the job for two weeks. They carry on claiming benefits and are paid £15 per day to cover food and travel expenses.

 

 

After the two weeks is up, job seekers are either chosen for a job or let go of to carry on job seeking.

 

 

The Actual wages:

 

 

Job seekers are given either - £75, £100, £150 or £200 per week basic wage. You do not necessarily start off on the bottom pay scale. It is not clear what the criteria is.

 

 

Job seekers are required to sell 6 products per month. Each product earns commission of £75. Over and above the 6 products sold earns £100.

 

 

What do you think?

[Mr.P]

If this is for a full time job (40 hours per week), it falls well short of NMW if you don't make any sales.

[Clear33]

Hi Mr.P

 

 

Yes. I was just thinking this. It is 8.5 hours for 4 days and 7 hours for one day.

 

 

[problem]!?

[Mr.P]

sc@m, probably not. However, there is certainly an odour of deceased rats about this. I'd be asking the JCP some very pointed questions about this and enquiring as to what checks they have made.

[think about it]

Okay, like Mr. P says, advise your friend to be very careful around minimum wage rates:

 

Just for reference, those 41 hours are likely to have 5 hours removed for unpaid lunch breaks giving you 36 hrs. I've broken down the NMW below for weekly gross pay.

 

21 and over £6.50 - £234.00 wk

18 to 20 £5.13 - £184.68

Under 18 £3.79 - £136.44

Apprentice*£2.73 - £98.28 (not sure you can call selling something you'd need an apprentice for...)

 

Dependant, of course, on what they're asking him/her to sell it's going to be difficult to challenge on religious / ethical / health reasons if it's something quite innocous like Sky TV or Netflix. But, sales organisations don't sustain poor performers for long so the 'interview' should be easy to sway should it not suit your friend. That said, I enjoyed the sales job I did while at Uni, they're often good fun, high energy and with a good earning potential - especially with a bit of experience the possibility is there to move into more lucrative organisations. Yes, it's busy and time consuming but then in all honesty, I earn less now in a management role than I did selling furniture...

[Clear33]

It should be a proper job paying minimum wage plus commission. I do not like all this other nonsense. Another [problem] job was reported to the jobcentre that they were sending people for and they sorted it, so I do think the workcoach will prove helpful. He surely should have known all the details before hand...

 

 

'What thorough checks have you done?' is something that will be being asked. And in the future.