I was unable to attend an interview for a job will UC sanction me?

Oh for fuck's sake. I was unemployed (briefly) in 2021. I got a job with a home improvement company that I found out were dodgy and would pay me well below minimum wage because it's all comission based (the base wage was something like £100 a week for full time hours, I couldn't even pay my rent on that and it would fuck with my UC.) They wanted me to go in on the Monday. Monday morning came and I phoned them and said I wouldn't be working for them. Held on until I got a job at a DIY shop a few weeks later (it was the second time I'd applied for a job with them.) Nowt wrong with my work ethic.

@viques you forgot the old reliable "the dog ate my homework" which rewritten for OPs scenario could be "the dog ate my phone/brain"

@alwaysdeleteyourcookies I know, right?! Mind boggling really.

You don't sound like you wanted the job, as others have said. Your daughter's school would have understood if you'd said you were at a job interview. You can Google the school for their contact details, and you really should have phoned them directly. It's not hard.

You’re not the OP though who quite clearly will do anything to avoid even speaking to a potential job.

@Trendydiscussion was thinking that
But @SapphireSeptember OPs job interview was with the council who are a million miles from what you have described. Job regulations aplenty

@Trendydiscussion I thought that ...

Ok, I'm now seeing this as a wind then up and watch them go thread.

You should have tried her Dad again - he should have stepped up! The interview was top priority.

The school is the contact details.

then the very least you need to do is write to them. And next time get contact details (email and phone)

it is really rude not to turn up just like that. You need to tell the school to persist with the child's father, and then use judgement about things like ambulances. This is a discussion you need to have with your DH too - he must be available when you aren't.

A quick Google shows you can be sanctioned for not turning up to an interview @akdox . In your case it's likely as you didn't even contact them.

This is such a poor excuse. Of course you could have looked up the telephone number of the school online and rung the number. They would have answered I can assure you.

You seem far more concerned about what UC will say, rather than the fact you didn't turn up and have done nothing whatsoever to make amends.

Perhaps you didn't want to ring the school in question as this is where your child goes to school and your child was not ill and you have just fabricated this as well?

I despair at the apparent hopelessness of some people sometimes.
If your story is true, if you had wanted to attend the interview with the possibility of getting a job there, you would have got the number and rung and told them the circumstances. They would then have offered you another day for your interview. All quite simple. But I suggest you simply don't want a job.

Why on earth would you not want to phone the school!? If you are going for a job interview there it's absolutely fine to ring the office and explain.
As others have said, in this situation I'd have told school I was 1.5hrs away and would get there as soon as possible (after the interview basically). What would sch have done if you were a nurse who couldn't look at her phone for an hour.

You didnt call them and just didn’t turn up for the interview? That’s awful, you won’t get this job now. You should have gone to the interview and picked up your DC afterwards unless it was an emergency which it wasn’t.

I thought the same to be honest.

Every single school out there has a website including a phone number for the school office. You could easily have looked up the number it's really poor that you didn't ring and let them know you were not coming as they'd probably have offered to reschedule.
It sounds like you don't really want a job

Thats ridiculous. No decent parent would leave their sick child at school. Schools don't phone unless the child really isn't fit to be in school as the focus is on attendance rates.

I was discussing just this with my best friend, who is a DWP Work Coach, the other day.

The answer is no, unless you tell your Work Coach you didn't attend the interview, there is no way the DWP will find out. Work Coaches don't have the time to follow up if their clients are attending job interviews, and in your case I highly doubt the Council would tell the DWP you didn't attend.

If your Work Coach asks about it, just say you haven't heard anything. Actually telling them you didn't attend is what will land you in trouble, and at risk of getting a sanction.

You need a third (ideally) local emergency contact for your DD.

I was in court when the school tried to call me to say DS was unwell. They used my third contact who thankfully was able to mind DS until I could get back.

You PHONED THEM
big difference
This was in a school (so presumably not comission only) and OP didn't turn up for the interview or even let them know
I genuinely hope not because I don't want to see anyone struggle for basics but OP could be risking her UC payments

This situation isn't similar. She was interviewing for a job in a school, which will be at the very least at NMW. She will most likely still be entitled to UC top up, so won't be going short. She didn't prioritise the interview and didn't have the decency to tell them.

Surely though they can be left for an extra half hour or however long the interview would take, the OP was on her way when she got the call.