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complaint to DWP about a JCP Advisor. What would you do?


Max1968
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Not sure if this is the correct forum so apologies if not but I was wondering what others would do/if anything, with regard to a complaint I made recently about a JCP Advisor.

 

I have been on JSA now for over a year but have been suffering from a vertigo condition (saga is in another thread!!) so I am limited as to what jobs I can apply for. Those that I have applied for and there are over 300 of them, I have been unsuccessful.

 

I had a pretty good advisor to be honest who appreciated my limitations but suddenly out of the blue I was moved to another advisor who was as far as I know newly qualified. On my first meeting with the new advisor I knew I had a problem. I am partially deaf and the advisor had a foreign accent of which I found it difficult to understand. He also looked down continuously when talking thus I could not even lip read him. I kept mentioning my difficulty but he didn't make any effort his end.

 

He was having a nightmare, getting dates for the next signing wrong, being unable to work out when I had last signed and he even went on to criticise my CV at one point so I explained to him that the gentleman who had written my CV was sitting three desks away as he was employed by the DWP as their Careers Advisor so if he had any concerns the Advisor was the best person to talk to. I doubt this went down too well!!! I asked if it was possible to see my old advisor in the future and this gentleman said he would book me in with her the following week so all's well ends well........ Not.

 

The following week I was back again with this new advisor. I politely asked as to why I was back with him and he mentioned that I was with him, end of story. I then stated, once again politely, that because of his accent I struggled to hear him due to my hearing impairment. He then replied "That's not my problem, it is YOUR problem". I'm not easily upset but that I have to be honest rocked me, I was stunned. Maybe it was the stress but moments later I had a vertigo attack and had to sit down for 45 minutes.

 

I wasn't going to do anything about it but thought how can they speak to anyone like that, let alone about a disability, so I wrote to the DWP to complain because I think too often we all just accept the shambolic way they treat claimants.

 

Unsurprisingly they have replied and this fella has denied making such a comment, of course I didn't really expect anything else although if he had said that he had made the comment and apologised I would have accepted that.

 

So I am now not sure what to do. Leave it because I guess it's just my word against his or continue with the complaint? Fortunately they have moved me to a new advisor anyway, although not my original, and she was as nice as pie when I saw her so maybe someone has had a word, although I doubt it. So I guess I will not see this chap again, although he will certainly be in the same office.

 

Half of me says leave it, but the other half says carry on and don't accept their denial. So I was just wondering what others would do?

 

I have attached their letter. Have removed personal information and names. Apologies for the coffee stains, I suspect I spluttered it out when reading the letter!!!!

Complaint 1 001.pdf

Complaint 2 001.pdf

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Well as you're unsatisfied with their 'standard' response, which is littered with errors anyway!

 

I would complain to the Director General, and inform them of the manner in which you were spoken to, also you will no longer be using this particular advisor and you demand a new one.

 

I would also remark that due to the nature of the discrimination and comments made, you have informed your local MP.

 

So you should get in touch with your local MP via https://www.writetothem.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2vG74piO1wIVDh4bCh3uDgGcEAAYASAAEgJMEvD_BwE and inform them of the attitude of their local JCP, and have them explain why they allow this to happen?

Who ever heard of someone getting a job at the Jobcentre? The unemployed are sent there as penance for their sins, not to help them find work!

 

 

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Thanks Bazooka I'll probably leave it now as I got a new advisor, who bizarrely is being as nice as pie to me! Tried writing to my MP when I was in the middle of the ESA saga and he was pretty useless to be honest so I got what I wanted which was a new advisor so I'll leave it there.

 

 

It is interesting though how they start making quite bizarre suggestions because I have now been on JSA for a while,.

 

I was asked today to put the dates for my last job from 2013 to present rather than have my leaving date in 2015,.

I asked as to why and my advisor said it would take care of the two year gap in my employment for when I have been ill and now unemployed, so it now reads that I am still with my last employer on my CV!

 

I did say that as soon as any potential employer contacts my old employer for a reference they will find out I was made redundant in 2015 but my advisor says at least it gets your foot in the door as in her opinion it's that gap that is costing me interviews.

 

She says they advise everyone to do it now the DWP are asking you to lie on your CV and I assume any application you make which is staggering really.

I'll do it anyway and if anyone asks why I'll just say the DWP told me to!!!

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Any of that nonsense I'd be lodging a complaint, and I'd make no bones about the fact that their advice is morally wrong, but as they are all morally bankrupt, they won't bat an eyelid.

 

I'd tell them to put that in writing, then if they're not willing to do so, speak to their manager, and continue exposing the lies and deceit to your MP. This cr@p really has to stop.

Who ever heard of someone getting a job at the Jobcentre? The unemployed are sent there as penance for their sins, not to help them find work!

 

 

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I'm just going to leave it Bazooka because the JCP manager has already shown his/her incompetence in dealing with my first complaint so not worth burning my bridges.

 

The advisor asked me also to contact employers I have sent unsuccessful applications to for feedback as well, even though the likes of you and I know damn well employers aren't going to waste time giving people individual feedback.

 

I had the odd generic email along the lines of "you don't meet the criteria"

have just copied and pasted those comments onto my Universal Job Match account mixed in with the usual info on any applications I make

 

already the page is looking a mixed up mess so my advisor will only be wasting her own time now having to trawl through my UJM account with extra information to read.

 

by giving me more instruction she has only given herself more work to do.

They live in fantasy land.

 

70% of jobs online now are done through agencies and if a company doesn't give you an interview the agency is hardly going to contact that company to ask to give you feedback.

 

A mate of mine runs a company who recruits through an agency.

That means the job is listed along with most other details bar the companies name.

That is done he freely admits because they get applications but because the company name is not there anyone who does not receive an interview has no idea who to contact for feedback.

 

After all if you received 50 applications for a job would you want to give 49 of them the reasons why they were unsuccessful?!

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Unsurprisingly they have replied and this fella has denied making such a comment, of course I didn't really expect anything else although if he had said that he had made the comment and apologised I would have accepted that.

 

That brings back memories of complaints I made about one of their Third Party Providers. The TPP claimed that I had swore and threatened an "adviser", and when I pointed out there was no evidence in the covert recordings of all meetings, their story changed.

 

If you have a modern mobile phone, most have the ability to record conversations. Alternatively, a small digital recording device is useful. I have a small MP3 player about the size of a pack of chewing gum that also has a record function. A word of caution though: If you decide to record interactions covertly and are discovered, you may find yourself being asked to leave and threatened with a sanction. There may also be an attempt to beat you around the head with the data protection act.... However, the DPA (and RIPA) allows a private individual to make and retain records for his/her personal use.

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Yeah I was aware that it's not a legal requirement to allow access to a UJM account but from the start I find it easier to allow them access because if you are doing what they have asked I find that they can't sanction you.

 

However it does mean that you end up wasting everyone's time because you find yourself applying for jobs that you can't do or are not qualified to do just to keep your applications on target.

 

Indeed website for instance may have three jobs you apply for on a Monday but it doesn't update much on the Tuesday so just to show you are applying you as I say just apply willy nilly.

 

That I think is why they are suddenly asking me to ask employers for feedback and asking me to doctor my finishing date at my last job, it's because I am doing my bit and still not finding work but because I have shown I have tried they can't knock you.

 

Of course I told them two years ago that a person with unpredictable vertigo is pretty much unemployable and over 300 applications with only three interviews is proof of that although being close to 50 doesn't help!!!

 

As for the gentleman who made the comment I am not seeing him now so we just ignore each other when I attend my signing.

My new advisor is being pleasant and they have forgotten to put me on a weekly signing moving me back to fortnightly so that complaint probably helped because they haven't actually been as pleasant as this since I started signing.

 

As long as you do what has been asked they can't do anything because they can't force someone to employ you.

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I just feel you're making things more difficult for yourself than need be.

The trouble with allowing UJM access is they can pick a LOT more holes in your jobsearch if they decide to, ie if you have a dispute with them for something else.

 

For example if you aren't logged on before 9.30 nor after 4.30 they could claim you aren't responding promptly to job ads.

One boob on your part and they can come down on you, whereas with me they have no way of forcing the job sites I use, to release data on what time of day I do my search, or indeed whether I do.

 

Just turn up with a sheet of serial number and dates, your "advisor" will take one look and not dare question.

They may ASK you to follow up and and all sorts of other crap but at the end of the day, you applied daily; case closed.

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Yep see your point but it's just easier for me than writing down on a notebook or sheet of paper.

I probably log in a couple of times a day and the first time I just log

 

"Continuing job search on sites like Indeed, Monster etc" and have only ever applied for about 5 jobs actually on UJM, most I apply for via Indeed and just log that job as "Applied for Admin Assistant in *******" for instance and that is obviously fine because they have never criticised my job search,.

 

Plus I have let them know that UJM logs out if it's inactive for about 5 minutes and they seem to accept that so on the whole I guess at the moment it's obviously acceptable to them.

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  • 1 month later...

Been on Jobseekers for over a year since I lost an ESA Tribunal and finally have passed an interview and been offered a job which I start on 4th January.

 

I sign on tomorrow as per usual but I am just wondering what my JSA rights are until I receive my first pay packet which obviously won't be until late January at the earliest.

 

Obviously if I sign on tomorrow I can't go back to sign on two weeks later as it will be Christmas Day and two weeks after that I will be working so unable to go to the Job Centre to sign on.

 

If tomorrow the advisor asks if I can sign the following week that's also impossible because we go away and stay with family for over a week at Christmas.

 

So I am just wondering what happens and what the rules/rights are so I don't get stuck with no money at all throughout January. Appreciate if someone can help.

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Your Job Centre Advisor will explain it all tomorrow.

 

All that will happen I suspect is that you will sign on as normal and have to meet your commitment in full e.g job searches. You get JSA in lieu of meeting your commitment. This is just in case your job falls through for whatever reason and you need to keep your JSA claim open. They will not close your JSA claim until the day before you are due to start work, just in case. You probably won't have to be there at the Job Centre to close it. They will close your claim from 4th January, unless you tell them to the contrary.

 

Job Centres may well be open on 28th and 29th December as normal. Although you don't sign on Thursdays or Fridays, they might ask you to attend to sign on for the previous 2 weeks and a few days, so you get paid your JSA for the period.

 

Which is why you need to find out tomorrow. It is up to them how they arrange it.

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Many thanks for that I just wanted to be armed with a bit of info for when I see the advisor.

 

Re Commitment because I have now found work we are potentially going to see my other half's parents for the week before Christmas,,

 

again I am sure I will find this out tomorrow but is this an issue because I would be unable to job search for a week?

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So your other halfs parents don't have internet access or you have no way of accessing internet while you are there ?

 

It is up to your Job Centre advisor as the decision maker. If you provide your job offer details to them, they might switch off your job search commitment or reduce the commitment requirement, as you have found a job.

 

But they might not, as you have between 11/12/17 to 4/1/18 before you start work.

 

They might say to you that you need to search for work online during next few weeks, just in case the job offers falls through.

 

You will find out tomorrow when you speak to them.

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Ok no problem,

I was only asking,

 

I have no idea if they have internet access but my other half's dad is ill and it's likely that this will be his last Christmas

 

so you can imagine job searching at their place when I have already been offered one wasn't high up in my thinking.

 

Because it's a school, the job has been offered,

 

I have accepted and they don't start the new term until 4th January,

 

I have signed a contract so it's unlikely it will fall through.

 

I was only asking because if I continued searching and was offered other interviews why would I waste peoples time by going to an interview when you have no intention of accepting the job because you have already accepted one!!

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Max.

If you sign on as usual today – 11/12/2017 your next signing on day would normally be two weeks today.

 

Since two weeks today is 25/12/2017 and the jobcentres are shut that day you will not be expected to sign on. Your benefit for this period, up to 8th January, will be credited to your account automatically.

 

Your next signing on date, then, would have been 08/01/2018, by which time you will be at work (all being well) and not eligible to sign on anyway.

 

As you will have already been paid your benefit up to 8th January, therefore not entitled to any more, therefore not obliged to attend jobcentre to sign on, therefore not obliged to attend just to show job seeking activity for weeks that you have already been paid your benefits for.

 

Your circumstances have changed, presumably you intend to inform the jobcentre of this. Change of circumstances require a change of your job-seeker's agreement. If you were not given a new JSAg when you informed them of your change of circumstances, then that's their problem.

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Lapsed Workaholic,

Many thanks.

 

Yes the advisor was actually quite helpful today, for a change,

she said all the things that you have said so all sorted.

 

I have to "sign off" on 3rd January the day before I start work and then somehow steady the ship until first pay-packet as the stop jobseekers when you start work which will be tough but that's the rules.

 

Always good to just come on here and check that what the JCP advisors say is correct.

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