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Rather than focussing on his treatment by the jobcentre, which doesn't surprise me. They can be officious. Like all organisations some great staff, some truly terrible ones.

Why not throw all your time and energy into helping him find work. There are many jobs out there if he's willing.

He, rightly or wrongly walked out

What do you mean 'rightly or wrongly'? It was clearly wrongly. Does he get this attitude from you?

What Twesels said.

Kepler - what did he study at College? What does he want to do?

There is some interesting stuff online about starting wages depending on education level. University/College grads only earn more than people with no qualifications at all. Everyone else, school leavers, trades etc. earn more than them. Partially as they will have more experience (because of less time in education) and partially because employers want practical skills/enthusiasm/hard work from their young workers rather than paper qualifications. As you get older a degree will mean higher wages but at the beginning you should expect to earn less.

Friend did unpaid work placement under labours back to work type scheme (can't remember proper name) at a charity after completing their degree. Then got job there on bottom rung but quickly worked their way up to management level and is now earning 40k+. So he's being unreasonable particularly with his too good for it attitude.

OP,can your ds register with some recruitment agencies,my ds did this doing temporary work,one full day paid more than the dole did in a week,the company he temped for eventually took him on and trained him up.Hew would have to be flexible and prepared to work at short notice ,hope he finds work soon.

He is learning a life lesson that maybe you should have taught him...sometimes if you want to get on or get by you just have to say how high when told to jump.

When he walked out of that work placement, you should have sent him straight back there with his tail between his legs not argued his case to an MP. Who cares why he was given the work placement, he should have made the best of it. I don't blame them for sanctioning him in that instance.

I don't believe him sorry

Sanctioned for being 3 minutes late?

Nope, not buying it.

Sorry but he really isn't helping himself. He needs to suck it up and realise that if he expects money (from either the JSA or a job) then sometimes you just have to bite your tongue and get your head down.

If I go and stick price labels on stuff at the back of a char­ity shop for a month do you really think I’d put that on my CV when I have skills and qual­i­fications already sounds so entitled. It really screams that he thinks that he's better than other people. If that was the only job going, paying £56 per week, it implies that he would turn it down as its beneath him. so yeah, I can see how they would think he doesn't actually want a job.

He does realise that we are in a recession (practically speaking)?!

hahaha there are many jobs out there there many jobs out there for a 19 year old .................turns that whould be be no

You won't beat these people at the job centres. They have their rules and stick by them. If he wants his unemployment benefit then he will have to play by their rules. Unless Alistair Darling can persuade them otherwise. But I think he does have to learn that life isn't always fair and the best way to deal with this isn't to go off in a strop.

He should have done his charity shop work with a good grace. There is no shame in helping a charity.

kelper that's the point surely. There are hardly any jobs for anyone so as a 19 yr old he needs to do what is necessary to either improve his skills (as it obviously isn't enough to get him a job) or realise that JSA is not dished out willy nilly.

IME The jobcentre are mainly staffed by real twats though. (No offence to anyone on here who works there but IME most of them are, sorry)

So I can't blame your son for being pissed off with them and not wanting to dance to their silly tunes. work "experience" my arse - slave labour more like.

However, he should definitely be job hunting and i don't think you should subsidize him whatsoever, tbh my own parents did that for me when i was an arrogant, entitled 19 year old thinking i was too good for work and it didn't get me very far.

So what is he doing with his time now? Is he working his hardest to find employment and doing voluntary work to gain experience or is he sitting on his backside?

That would make a big difference to how much help I would give.

And when he appealed the sanction and told them there was an accident on the main road Princes Street Edinburgh, that caused him to be 3 minutes late I'm sure they would have accepted that.

Are you sure he didn't use it as an excuse and dawdle off somewhere else?

I've seen they letter for him being sanctioned for being 3 mins late , and yes sadly that it true , however do you not think I was the first person to tell if to get his act together

Then if they're admitting that sanction and the appeal has failed, why not go to the local paper?

Was it the first time he had been late?

NO Worraliberty they did not except that ..........and he did not dwadle off somewhere else .....

People like you are the exact reason our sons and daughters age 19 get met with no-one believing them

If you want proof of my sons delay then just look up The Edinburgh Evening News and the story of the crash is well covered

I think he needs to get places on time (aim for early) and keep his mouth shut. He can voice opinions when he gets home but his priority needs to be to suck it up when looking for work and working.

Like you, I live in Edinburgh. When I was made redundant I signed on and did everything I was asked to do by Job Centre. I found them helpful, sympathetic and supportive every step of the way, perhaps because I co-operated fully.

Your son sounds entitled to me. If I'd been asked to work in a charity shop, I would have done it gladly

All the things he's been sent o are valid: all work placements have value, it might not seem it but they do enhance CVs - timekeeping (you son needs a little bit of that) team work ( he needs to improve that), a can-do attitude (Enough said there) and perhaps using his initiative, devising better working processes.

A 19yo boy? I think you'll find he's a man albeit one with a massive attitude problem with authority.

he was told he was being put on a work placement as 'a punishment'

‘If I go and stick price labels on stuff at the back of a char­ity shop for a month do you really think I’d put that on my CV when I have skills and qual­i­fi­ca­tions already , what does that say about me other than I was unem­ployed and put on a workscheme’

Qualifications are worthless if you have zero work experience. What most employers these days are looking for is someone who wants to work - the charity shop job is a signal to employers that he is willing to roll his sleeves up and get on with it

And does he really think there is nothing to learn working in a shop?

I will ask again, what is he doing with his time now?