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Job Centre no help - advice needed!

3 replies

KatsMother28 · 26/07/2016 17:29

Hi Mumsnetters – need some advice for my OH

After being unemployed and on income based JSA for a long time he’s managed to get some work as a steward with a security firm that cover festivals & events.

The first he did was Glastonbury for in June for 2 weeks so as it went over his allowed 16 hrs per week he did as the job centre told him to and signed off the day before he went with a view to signing back on once the work was done, unless he could get himself regular work.

Having done this, he’s then tried online (again as told to by the job centre) to put in a rapid reclaim. HOWEVER they are now saying that he cannot do this until he’s received his last paycheck from the company.

The issues are that

  1. The company pay monthly so he’s only just receiving money for Glastonbury – he’s had to borrow money to get him through June & July which will need to be repaid from this money. He was hoping to use what was left to redo his SIA course & licence so that he could apply for security jobs going forward. BUT

  2. He has a 4 day job in August, which won’t be paid until the end of September , so according to the JC he’ll have no money until after then so he’ll have to use this money to live on instead until after he receives this and signs back on.

    The thing I don’t get is how any of this is supposed to encourage him to do this work – if he gets offered another short term contract for September he’s going to think twice about accepting it as it’ll mean yet another delay before being able to sign on for regular money. In effect he’ll have to live on 4 day’s money (ie for work he does in August) for the whole of October – that can’t be right – surely?

    Any advice would be welcomed as the Job Centre seem to be less than helpful and it’s getting him down that much he’s starting to question whether it’s worth it. Thanks
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AnchorDownDeepBreath · 26/07/2016 17:55

HOWEVER they are now saying that he cannot do this until he’s received his last paycheck from the company.

Is that because the Glastonbury money is more than 16 hours? It's not usual practice.

I'd start a claim once the Glastonbury money is through. He will need to let the JCP know when the money from the 4 day job comes through and it will be deducted from his benefit, but he should be able to claim before that happens.

As for encouraging him - it's not, really. That's not what the JCP does. If he gets offered another short term contract, he'll be able to do the work (as long as it's under 16 hours a week) and just have the income deducted from his claim. If he accepts more work over 16 hours a week, he'll need to sign off and then sign back on once it's been paid.

The JCP used to aim to help encourage people back into work. Now it exists mostly to ensure people are complying with the terms of the benefits they get. He might find it less soul destroying if he mentally prepares for that, rather than for support and help, which isn't likely to happen. It might, if he gets a really good advisor, but then it can be a pleasant surprise rather than a disappointment.

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KatsMother28 · 27/07/2016 09:08

Thanks Anchor. He's going back to talk to them today but I think it may be a case of that's just how it is.

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romanrainsalot · 29/07/2016 11:00

might be worth getting in touch with your local CAB. They might have some helpful ways on how to deal with this or at least word things right to meet JCP requirements.

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