Changing Nappies in Job Centre Plus/When there are no facilities

[Earlybirdtea]

I went to register for job seekers allowance last week for the first time after just being made redundant. I arrived on time with my seven month old son, my 2 year old is in nursery).

Anyway during my meeting my son's nappy needed changing and there are no changing facilities or even toilets so I popped him on my shawl and quickly changed his wet nappy(Not Poo). If a baby is crying and there are no facilities then as a mother I believe that to be exceptable to change their nappy in the best available place which was on the floor,not the table and I was thinking of the point of view of others around me as if he got uncomfortable then he would have started crying which would have disturbed the other interviewees.

In short, I was told, You can't do that here, I responded saying there are no facilities and was told that this is an office environment, you would have thought that you would have arranged childcare!!!

I have written a letter of complaint and been informed that the lady who approached me was in fact doing her job as a health and safety professional, fair enough and, "there are Public Facilities within 100 yards of our building and in the future we will endeavour to highlight this when appropriate." It was also communicated to me that they encourage customers not to bring children to their interviews.

Am I being unreasonable to think that they should offer changing facilities, even special access/lockable? I really don't like the idea of going down the road to some public toilet block, there may be facilities in there I will have to check.

I also feel that they have no place to tell you that children are not really welcome in this environment, it is certainly not ideal I know. I do not plan to take my son to job interviews and have only just been made redundant.

Should I just back off and except their response, I have other important things to think about I don't plan on having to go there very long or on the other hand should I escalate this within their internal complaints procedure
as this is a bit mother and young baby unfriendly.

I would really appreciate your comments

no it's an information kiaosk for the public.

The malingerers are in the minority lolly You are not coming across as being very good at hiding your disdain. Quite frankly I find your tone really offensive.

It's probably not enough but I have already written my suicide note. As we have been refused benefits, the company making DH redundant are refusing to pay his final pay packet. We will be bankrupt soon and I spent a proportion of last night googling how to put dc up for adoption. People like you making condesending, vile comments are just a further kick in the teeth.

Quite frankly your definition of diversity training is laughable. I would suggest you should look into the phrase 'there but for the grace of God go I' A little humility and compassion would go a long way.

I have worked in jobs where you get assaulted, my Saturday job which I took instead of signing on we get regularly threatened and sworn at. Yet my colleagues and I would never and could never blame the decent majority for the actions of the pathetic minority.

Thanks for all of your comments. I suppose that I was surprised that such a public place did not have such simple facilities, not even a toilet that can be accessed by key. I am sure there must be one of the disabled loos.

I changed my baby during my chat so he would not start wining too much, perhaps I should have waited, I was just thinking ahead.

With regards to childcare I did not think that I would need it to read a document and sign it. I am available for work and don't expect to be grilled too much as I am doing more than expected to find work.

Oh well we don't live in a perfect world do we. I will reply to their email and suggest that they add a changing table in a disabled loo if they have it... then get on with my life...

Thanks again

Hey look,I dont work in a job centre.They had glass panels when i was last in twenty years ago.Might be visiting soon though the way things are going.Don't do anything silly Minus273 your loved ones would never understand - look at the lives people have in places like Afghanistan and they still struggle on. You've just got to hope something turns up and you can't be sure what will happen tomorrow.

Hey,look. I don't work in a job centre - they had glass screens when I was last in one twenty years ago! Might be visiting soon though the way things are going.Don't do anything silly Minus273 your daughter would never understand and never forgive you.

Minus? Are you Ok? That was a worrying post. I hope things get better for you. Why don't you start a new thread and you will get plenty of support here . Fortunately we're not all as moronic as some posters have been on this thread...

Minus. Talk to somebody, your child needs you, not some foster parents x

minus, hope you are ok.

please speak to the CAB or someone with finacal knowledge, don't put your child up for adoption as there is always a way

I'm not going to do anything stupid before my baby is born, she will be safe. She also needs to be fed. I called CAB on Friday and they told me to try next month as they were too busy. No-one left to turn to, there are no jobs so no choices left. Some people just make it feel 100x worse.

Minus, have you spoken to your midwife and health visitor about all this? They may have some good ideas to explore. Where are you based?

I'm in Scotland, have exhausted most avenues. Another poster found something I could ask my gp to complete, it is our last chance and could involve SS anyway. I just get incredibly low as I can only see it getting worse not better.

Minus, do you own your own home or are you in rented?

My mum is putting us up, we already lost our home.

And is either of you a student?

I'm sorry to hear that you have lost your house, but wonderful that you have supportive family.

I don't have any specific knowledge about Scotland but in England a few people around me have elected to go bankrupt as a relatively straightforward solution to insoluble debt. Is your mortgage entirely off your hands now that the house has gone? Do you have other debts worrying you?

not even sure if this is legal, but if your partner moved out would you beable to make a cliam based on you alone

How long has he been working full time for? If it's over 2 or 3 years then he should be entitled to contributions based JSA. Anything you earn is not taken into account whatsoever.

That would be fraud auntie. Neither of us are students, graduated a long time ago. Thankfully no mortgage due. Just cc and loan which redundancy would have cleared of his company hadn't started mucking about.

Considered bankruptcy, what is stopping me is that it would cause me to be struck off. Effectivly losing my qualifications would lose me my Saturday job and make job hunting even more of an uphill struggle. Having to explain the reason for leaving on interviews would be excrutiating.

He's been working 17 years, 5 with last company.

Right so he should qualify for conts based JSA. Has he finished work now and can I ask what your work/income situation is? PM me if you'd rather not post.

Are you a legal professional Minus? Are you self-employed or can you go on maternity leave now?

I'm an HCP, I'm on mat leave now, section planned for 3 weeks tomorrow.

OK, I'm not quite up to date on all the current JSA rules on partners on mat leave but I will check tomorrow with someone who is.

Has he finished work and has he got in writing what pay he is owed and when they will pay it?

He finishes next week. They are currently trying to get out of what they originally promised them and are vaguely mentioning end if Jan for redundancy money and final pay packet.

And is bankruptcy really a striking off issue for HCP? Is there any kind hierarchy you can approach to seek advice on this? Surely going bankrupt under the horrid circumstances you're enduring would not reflect badly on you as a professional?