What happens if UC want you to work but you can’t get a job?

[Whatisthereason]

What actually happens if you do the required amount of work related activities, attend interviews of you manage to get any but just never get offered a job?
If this goes on for years what actually happens ?

I agree about the limited capability for work too and probably more the LCWRA.

Does he get any support at all when filling those documents?

That doesn’t mean it’s easy to get!!

M

I found CAB pretty useless tbh.

But this FB group is amazing
https://www.facebook.com/groups/278260135547189
(Autism is perfectly within the remit of that group too - it’s just that it initially started as a support fur people with ME)

I’m confused by this because the person can drive a car. Surely if they can drive a car they can pay attention and remain focused otherwise they would not be permitted to drive a car. There must be work he can do?

You really don’t see people with such severe levels of ASD driving.

My son need prompting but as such he is learning how just to walk down a road on life skills. That’s an example of poor executive functioning on the 3 or so percentile.

Put bluntly, my ASD son aged 20 has no concept that he might drive, would not be capable of being safe and also social services would not permit it. It came up in passing and our social worker also set had a heart attack at the prospect of him behind a wheel.

Not surprisingly my son is deemed unfit to work although he would love to work but he gets distracted.

My son is obviously obsessive but he is learning to control that and indeed managed to get qualifications…with a prompt

So this does not add up.

The skill sets and attention for driving are huge. Otherwise the person is death on the road and it’s unconscionable that they are driving.

I mean has he declared he needs prompting to remember stuff to his road insurers? His premiums would be huge. - I can’t focus on a task whatsoever without someone by my side to prompt me!

Someone who can actually drive could work as a delivery driver.

I think you maybe have confused with another post as my relative cannot drive - wasn’t even able to manage driving lessons the first was a disaster when he was a teenager and he never tried again ?

If the person can't work alone and can't work in a team I can't think of any jobs they could do, all jobs I can think of require one or the other or both. Of course there's can't and don't want too. A lot of people would prefer not to work if someone gave them enough money to live on without having to.

It is definitely avoiding being offered any job. If they were genuinely looking for a job they would be finding positive things to put on their CV, no qualifications but I was good at... criminal conviction, but I've put all of that behind me now, etc. If they are smart enough to do the dodgy CV they seem smart enough to do a job of some sort. Have they ever worked? And what did they do?

I agree. Pip doesn’t ask the right questions to understand some types conditions and disabilities. In general it is much more weighted to physical disabilities. I am a retired nurse for people with learning disabilities and the most able people frequently struggled to get benefits but were very clearly unable to obtain or maintain paid employment.

I believe, sadly, that some people are just unemployable... I worked (in a voluntary capacity) with someone for over ten years, she wanted to work and she had a Job Coach but the sort of opportunities she applied for were just unsuitable, she had no 'people skills' and was not a team player. The Job Coach suggested being a carer, working in a school etc but she was 'let go' even from volunteering roles. Nearly every job involves interaction with other people and if you haven't got the right skills you won't 'fit'. I genuinely don't know what the answer is apart from long term benefits.
If there was some sort of work involving data entry or similar with no human interaction that might have worked, but I assume a lot of those roles are taken over by technology or AI.

Work as a fruit picker, litter picker or pack boxes in distribution factories? Boring jobs not none require interaction with people?

I think there is confusion though between being UNABLE genuinely to do something, and not being motivated to do it. Sadly there are lots of people who genuinely are not able to work when they actively want to, I work in supporting lots of those people every day, not a single one of them would describe themselves as “unmotivated to work alone”. There is a huge difference between “I cannot physically do xyz alone” and “I don’t want to” and that’s the barrier to LCWRA.

My brother gained a job through a charity that helps people with autism, they put him through a specific training course and then a partner company hired him. He earns really decent money now and working has really helped him.

ladykale but very few jobs don't have any interaction at all with other people... if you are a fruit picker you need to communicate with the 'manager', other colleagues etc. a litter picker (very few paid roles!) has to interact with the public ... we actually do have a paid 'refuse collector' in our town and he is a cheery soul who loves talking to people and can also, gently, point out that dropping litter is an offence etc etc. Packing boxes in factories also involves communication with other people.
I do agree it is frustrating but years of working in the voluntary sector has shown me that some people just will never be offered paid employment. In my current (unpaid) role I have to support a lot of volunteers and I find that I have to re-do their 'work' after they have left ... I have the time to do this so I do but it just reinforces the idea that some people are unemployable.
I also believe that with much tighter margins and efforts to save money companies are less and less likely to offer paid roles to people who don't contribute to the bottom line. Years ago you might find someone working in a hotel kitchen for example, peeling veg etc and it would be accepted that they weren't able to work as hard as others, in my experience that sort of attitude has long gone (not saying I agree with it - it's a very sad situation but it's not a simple solution to say that everyone 'can do some paid work')..

As an employer who recruited hundreds of seasonal staff over a period of 10 years I can tell you that they very much did do that. If someone is on their books long term and never getting a job they would phone and ask how the interview went, whether they arrived on time, dressed appropriately, how they answered and how they came across, eg were they enthusiastic etc. I took numerous calls every month like this. As I said we were a seasonal employer and worked with the job centre with recruitment days etc.

I couldn't agree more. As my previous post, we sometimes did end up taking on these employees, often after some pressure from the job centre. The work was basic and didn't really need qualification or skills. Some of the people we took on in these circumstances were very difficult to manage, they would be rude to colleagues, managers and customers. They were frequently late and would walk out mid shift because they couldn't be bothered or someone looked at them the wrong way. No amount of coaching, mentoring or additional support made even the slightest bit of difference. Some people truly are unemployable for a variety of reasons. These people often get pushed to work in job such as care, call centre, hospitality and retail. No way would I want someone like that helping my elderly relative with washing, eating etc.

I think the poster @Noras was confusing your post with my post about my friend's son who can drive but can't work. I take the poster's point about needing concentration to drive, but you need to know the individual in question to state that 'if they can drive they can concentrate enough to work'. My friend's son is medicated, and when his tablets are working her CAN concentrate. However, once the tablets start to wear off in mid afternoon he is rendered incapable. When the ADHD medication was unavailable recently he had to stop driving as he cannot concentrate at all if not medicated. He could not work as a delivery driver. He cannot interact with other people at all.

The DLA are convinced of his inability to work.

I wouldnt. I wouldnt want someone who cant or wont work as part of the team in the coffee shop to ensure good hygiene, good service, accurate money management to make sure I get charged right, engage in the right training, engage with me appropriately - serving me coffee.

I want to come into a business and feel that I am a valued customer. If someone cant offer that and be hospitable (in hospitality) then that is not attractive to me as a customer.

How old is he? Did/does he have an EHCP?

I used to work somewhere where we had a young person with autism come and volunteer- in some ways they were quite capable, and could do even quite complex tasks with a lot of repetition and support, and were mostly happy interacting with people. But they needed an awful lot of prompting, and they needed to be shown things maybe ten times, instead of once. Unfortunately, I think in most work environments, the reality is they wouldn't be employed, because there would be someone who was clearly more capable at interview. I definitely don't think they'd make it through probation, unfortunately.

I also teach students who need a high level of support and prompting in all sorts of ways. They can do things, but they need a lot of help and support- they'll often have some kind of support in school, even if it's not a 1:1 TA at all times. In school, if you lose and forget things all the time, if you trail off in the middle of a task, if you're not able to do certain things safely, adaptations are made for you- and in theory an employer should do this up to a point. But I think, unfortunately, in reality, most won't, especially if the employee isn't really able to advocate for themselves.

I don't know what the answer is. I have seen some coffee chains and similar employ people who appear to have additional needs in roles like cleaning and clearing tables. Could something like this be a possibility? That said, I imagine there are a lot fewer roles available than people who might want them?

Alternatively, would they be able to do something purely online- there are e.g. paid moderator roles on certain websites and similar?

It does sound like your relative needs more support and help than they are getting. Do they currently live independently?

If I had convictions I don't think I would be putting them on my CV! Especially if they are spent as most employers don't have the right to know about these.

Whatever you put on your CV needs to be truthful, but it is completely up to you what you choose to disclose. This is a document designed to show you in the best possible light to an employer. It's best to cover key topics to avoid unanswered questions arising from, but it's completely up to you.

@OnGoldenPond

Ok, fair enough.
I worked in education and they always asked about convictions on the application form (no cvs accepted, ever) so you had to disclose.

Yes if the job involves working with children there will be DBS and you can ask about all convictions even unspent. All employers can ask about unspent convictions and you must answer truthfully.

I just wouldn't put it in a CV which is supposed to be showcasing the best of you! That would be best dealt with as a conversation once you have got to interview and you can be seen as a real person and can discuss context.