Job center telling me off for being 3 mins late

[makowhite]

When they never apologise when they call me in 20+ mins later (when I'm early) and the half an hour meetings never last more than 5-10 mins.

I'm rarely late, but seeing as the appointment is far longer than needed and they are late most of the time.

When I was last at the job centre I had an appointment that I turned up five minutes early for and I was still sat there waiting half an hour later whilst the lady who I had an appointment with sat at her desk on the computer with no client sitting at her desk, in the end I went over and questioned her and got a 'oh sorry, I'll see you now'. Yeah, if that would have been a job interview I would have been turning up for I wouldn't have been interested in taking the job or working for them.

On the plus side at least you knew about the appointment, a common issue with the bastards at the moment is they deliberately don't send the letters out and then have a reason to sanction the poor victim for non-attendance just to hit their fucking targets

DWP staff are on the lowest level with bankers

You get told off for being 2 minutes late at my local surgeries, some mums even completely missed their appointments for arriving a couple of minutes late and had to re-book. That's life. Don't be late, plan to arrive early to allow for delays on the way, other people do manage. Let's be realistic, it's always the same people who are running late, are they really more unlucky?

So, yes, it's annoying, but when you read the staff being describe as powertrip playing arseholes, you wonder why they might not be the most friendly workers.

I remember another time the lady threatened to sanction my benefits as she reckoned I had written in too large handwriting in my job searching evidence book on purpose so it looked like I had written more. I had only been unemployed 6 weeks! It's safe to say I had found another job by the next month with no help from the job centre whatsoever!

You were late so you were in the wrong.

In future, every time they make you wait, point it out. Ask for an apology and a commitment to a more professional approach the next time you meet. Accept no excuses. That's only fair, seeing as they accept no excuses from you.

I guarantee that you'll have more opportunities to deliver a lecture on timekeeping than they will.

See I would think you ANBU until I got to the bit where you are rarely late. Does that mean you have form for being late for the job centre meetings? If so I would expect them to tell you off. But then I'm the kind of person who leaves the house at an ungodly hour because I dread being late.

Sorry but isn't it the same as being late for anything else??? It's rude.

I wouldn't have been interested in taking the job or working for them.

comment of the week from someone who was at a JOB CENTER.

DB is long term unemployed due to his age and learning disabilities from birth.

He has no chance of ever getting a job, does voluntary work, follows every one of their stinking rules and as vile as it is, it's kind of reassuring to read that these employees are twats in every job centre and not just his. We have lost count of the times he has been kept waiting for up to an hour and "forgotten about" and where they have rescheduled the meeting with someone else but not told him. Where they tell him one week they know he is trying hard to get a job but the next they sanction him for not trying hard enough.

This is the way they treat someone with an obvious learning disability, who spends every hour of every day trying to get the most menial of jobs paying a pittance and is never late.

Not all, but so many of them are total and utter heartless arseholes. yes.

limited
If OP was to do what you suggest she would probably be sanctioned for having an attitude problem!

Thanks for the support.

I was late as the bus was a bit delayed and they are only every hour, so I'm not going to get there early for an appointment that often only lasts 5m and I'm done with way before the booked slot ends. Even when I'm the first appointment of the day they are late, when I've been there early it's very rare they don't call me in 5-10m late. Respect is a two way street for me!

Make yes I agree it is annoying, and you have my utmost sympathy. The attitude of many staff is appalling. DS had to sign on for a few weeks after being made redundant and his experience was awful.

They treated him as if he were useless, feckless, stupid and & lazy. And were no help towards him getting an actual job. The only positive is that the experience was so awful - he couldn't face going back and so it spurred him on to find a job.

My worry though is that the prevailing attitude towards people who are already downtrodden, will cause them to believe they are as worthless as they are treated. And that wont help anyone return to work.

OP I hope things look up for you - what sector do you want to work in?

I remember another time the lady threatened to sanction my benefits as she reckoned I had written in too large handwriting in my job searching evidence book on purpose so it looked like I had written more.

That made me laugh, but I can believe that. In a typically petty act of spite, a group of us were made to line up in a corridor to sign on, rather than sit in a room waiting to be called.

When I queried this change, they said the room was being decorated and they couldn't fit chairs in the corridor because it was a fire risk. I said I needed a chair because of a medical condition that I would not be disclosing because that was private information. I got one but no one else did.

I wrote to my MP and he got on to it. Two weeks later there was a line of chairs - not enough for everyone but it was an improvement.

Just because people are unemployed, that's no excuse to treat them like shit. Many Job Centre staff know that. But some need to be reminded of it.

YANBU - 3 minutes is not particularly late. And you are right - why is your time less valuable than theirs?!

YABU. 3 minutes or 3 hours, you were still late.

feellikeanalien. Understood. You do have to be careful. But a calm and dignified complaint, like mine over the chairs, worked. I think it's worth it.

I call BS on people saying if people weren't late they wouldn't be late. Yes they would.

Case in point. I go to the dr for the first appointment and am not seen for 20 minutes. I'm the first appointment, how can surgery be 20 minutes late?

Oh and being 3 minutes late for an interview will not mean you don't get the job. Just give a reasonable explanation and go from there.

Ha ha very funny thebald, don't you think considering they are a JOB CENTRE that they should be setting an example of being good employers and trying to motivate people to find a job? If they are lazy and slacking themselves then how would that motivate people to find work? It makes people resentful of the system, and for what it's worth I was unemployed for a period of eight weeks due to redundancy and it is the only period of time I have been unemployed since I was sixteen, so please keep your snide and unnecessary comments to yourself, it could happen to any of us so i wouldn't be so quick to be smug. It is not wrong to expect some kind of professionalism from the staff at the job centre, or do we not deserve that because we are unemployed?

Plums. Treating a vulnerable man like that. If that were my brother. I'd be calling it an abuse of power. Why are they allowed to get away with this.

I agree with you Mako.
To get respect you have to give it.

There IS an 'attitude'...

My 1st Jobcentre appointment (I had to drive 28mile round trip for)
the interviewer didn't turn up as he was 60miles away that day and 'forgot'. I parked (with my blue badge correctly displayed but my timer clock had slipped off the shiny dashboard so was hard to read) - I got a ticket. I appealed that day (the Council person actually did it for me as I was in tears and she knew that I was parked correctly).
The appeal was rejected but sent to my old address. The Council ignored 2 emails and 1 call and the 50% off period expired - by 1 day - so they insisted I pay the whole £70.
When I finally got the interview (6 weeks later after waiting in for 3 calls at home none of which ever arrived) the person was late, checked their phone twice in the 20 mins I was there re their son's sports day, and at the end ruffled around in a petty cash box to reimburse me my fare in cash. They held it out and said: 'here is your pocket money' and chortled. I felt ill tbh, as a survivor of abuse to be treated as a child by an adult man in that way. Of course he couldn't have known that but it was still unprofessional.

Then there is the Operation I have been awaiting since last Aug (to correct the damage done by the fall in hosp after I was denied walking aids when I needed them by a nurse). I got a phone call 2 weeks ago from the Chief booking in person who said: 'I am on Annual leave starting in 1.30hrs - I can offer you X date but if you cannot accept that then you will come off the waiting list and need re-referred'. I didn't get the message as guess where I was = yes, another JC interview / driving so phone not accessible.

I wonder what it costs to send a letter telling the OP off for being 3 mins late? In terms of £ resources?

I think (from remembered experience) that one of the worst things about being unemployed is the level of disrespect you're often treated with, and the assumptions made about you and your life. Presumably whoever told the OP off assumed that there was no good reason, and the OP simply hadn't made the effort to be on time. I'd be very surprised if they would make a similar assumption about a colleague running three minutes behind schedule as a one-off - they'd assume there were legitimate reasons for that. Really frustrating for you, OP.

In future, every time they make you wait, point it out. Ask for an apology and a commitment to a more professional approach the next time you meet. Accept no excuses. That's only fair, seeing as they accept no excuses from you.

Do it!

Have people watched I, Daniel Blake? Sounds just like that.

Of course if everyone is 3 minutes late it causes problems but shit happens and occasionally people are late - they should be more understanding.

I'm the first appointment, how can surgery be 20 minutes late?
Maybe because the doctor had to deal with an emergency? Do you think they actually keep you waiting for the fun of it?

onthettcbus it could happen to any of us so i wouldn't be so quick to be smug it does happen to everybody, but I have never been treated like shit because I am not behaving like a spoil brat, and an aggressive one.

So, yes, it's annoying, but when you read the staff being describe as powertrip playing arseholes, you wonder why they might not be the most friendly workers.

You dont think that the people who can sanction 100% of your income (more power than any magistrates court) and will often sanction for any spurious reason they can think of arent powertrip playing arseholes?

So I was acting like a spoilt brat for wanting to be seen on time and not 30 minutes late? Right. You clearly have no idea and have never been unfortunate enough to have shit happen and be down on your luck. You are being goady now so I won't be engaging with you any more. It is attitudes like yours that are part of the problem.