How awful is signing on?

[EhatBow]

DS has lost his job and is genuinely treating finding work as a full time job.

He already has an interview lined up for Monday (this happened on Thursday) so hopefully it will be short term. However, he was dismissed without notice (no policies followed so we will appeal in the strongest terms, but he hadn't been there long) so he's likely to have a period without earning.

He doesn't need the money as such, he won't starve while he's living at home and he has a little saved, but he is entitled to JSA. I've heard that signing on is a throughly miserable process, but he would genuinely welcome help to find work. What is it that's so awful?

It's totally fine. I signed on once for 6 weeks between redundancy and starting new position. Didn't need the money but it seemed ridiculous not to claim it when I was entitled to it. From memory I just went in every 2 weeks to sign a form and logged job search things on an online portal which I did very half heartedly because I had my next job lined up (6 week gap was to finish my final professional exams).

In my area Currently still remote via telephone appointments.

Oh I should add I don't think I found it helpful to find work, as such, that's very self led. But they did run a CV writing clinic which I attended and found helpful.

It's universal credit these days

www.gov.uk/guidance/new-style-jobseekers-allowance#why-should-i-claim-new-style-jsa

Here this gives you the info he might be able to claim new style JSA depending on the situation

I don't think so, I did a benefits calculator and he's entitled to £60 something PW JSA and 18p UC! There's a separate .gov page to apply for JSA .

I claimed contributions based JSA for a few weeks earlier this year when between jobs. I soon had another job lined up but the recruitment processes were slow and I did feel this work coach was hassling me so I ended the claim. She knew I had a job lined up but just kept threatening i would need to come into the job centre soon if it didn't start. It just wasn't worth the hassle for £73 a week.

If you're lucky enough to deal with human beings, it's fine. There's nothing inherently awful about it. If you're given someone who had their empathy sucked out and replaced with an applications-denied quota, it's miserable. You'll be penalised for any tiny mistake, including imaginary ones.

Use a benefits checker like entitledto.co.uk to check he's getting everything he's entitled to.
The real pain in the arse is if you get odd days temping work and keep having to submit a new claim every time an assignment ends.

TBH it's more about getting his stamp paid than the cash.

I did it just before lockdown and it was pretty painless (and pointless). I got a job pretty quickly and after my first couple of signings, it was lockdown and I just had to email with the number of hours I'd worked (I did some casual work).

If he has paid enough NI contributions over the past 2-3 years then he can claim New style JSA. If he hasn't then he claims UC. There is no difference in the amount paid on either. If he had rent costs or kids then he would need to claim Uc for help with those but if just single living at home and he has sufficent NI contributions then it's new style JSA.

It was awful for me but the woman who I had to deal with was nasty and rude and the whole thing just felt awful I was treated like shit she had stepped in she talked down to me and if I couldn’t make an appointment I was sanctioned, this was years ago now though so don’t know if things changed I was so glad when the local job centre closed down as it meant not having to see her again as I was moved to a different one which was quite far to get to but worth not having to see her

It’s fine. He needs to apply on line, and then go in for a quick chat every 2 weeks. As long as he shows he’s serious about finding a new job and doesn’t miss any appointments they’ll be perfectly pleasant and he’ll get his £11 a day. They can offer help with CVs, interview skills etc.

Er it depends on your situation whether it's "worth it for £77 a week", also as the OP has mentioned, it means you get NI credits and possibly other benefits too.

I did it for 6 months about 10 years ago and hated every minute of it. I was made redundant when the company I worked for went into administration. I needed the money, I had car payments which JSA covered, but some of the coaches were horrible and I did wonder if it was actually worth it.

The guy I saw on my first time signing on was lovely, understood my situation and was encouraging, everyone after him was not. After signing on for 3 months I was told I had to go along to a CV writing course on a Monday afternoon, I asked if there was any other day I could go as I volunteered at a local hospice for 3 hours on a Monday afternoon, I then got a lecture about making myself available for work if I wanted to keep getting JSA, before she gave me a Tuesday appointment. Had I followed the advice on my CV writing course my CV would have been significantly worse. I also had to sign on at 9am on a Monday, not going to lie, standing outside the job centre waiting for it to open was pretty humiliating.

Signed off after 6 months when I found a job, the woman I spoke to couldn’t get her head around the fact in I longer wanted to claim (at the time the area I lived in had the highest rate on unemployment in the country). I had heard I might be able to apply for a grant to help buy some new work clothes, when I asked about it I was told I was ‘too quick’ getting a job and if I wanted the grant I would need to turn down the job I had and keep signing on for another few weeks. My mum bought me new work clothes.

They once sent me on a "readiness for work" type course which I thought was going to be a waste of time but actually was really useful. Things like mock interviews.

It was absolutely fine when I did it. Nobody in my family had ever really gone on it before so I had some of the stereotypes in mind but it was fine. Appointments were all on time so I just went in, spoke to someone who was perfectly nice for maybe 10 mins once a fortnight and that was it. The first 6 months (although I think its now shorter) they are fine with you just looking for jobs in your field, after that I assume they get a bit more strict with you applying for anything, but I had a job by then.

The worst part was when I couldn't make an appointment the phone number they give you to ring up never got answered. I must have tried 100 times in the week before the appointment was due. Ironically the reason I couldn't make the app was because I had an interview, but it was ridiculous given how much they insist you MUST contact them if you can't make it or you'll be sanctioned. There was a thread on here before where people said that was common to different JC around the UK, with the suggestion that it was an easy way to get sanctioned.