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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to wonder how you live with yourself if you work in a JobCentre?

182 replies

stinky81 · 31/01/2018 20:24

Really, just that. Sanctioning people for whatever reason you can think of to meet your targets. Expecting people to attend twenty minutes early for appointments then being forty minutes late seeing them. 'Signposting' people to foodbanks whilst refusing to acknowledge that you're referring people there because the state has failed them.
I understand that people need to earn a living, but to do that off the back of people more vulnerable than yourself? Sounds like bullying to me.
I don't claim benefits, and hopefully never will.

OP posts:
NotTheMrMenAgain · 31/01/2018 20:34

Erm, perhaps because it's a job they need to keep a roof over their head? You could ask the same about any profession which you personally find distasteful - debt collector, defence barrister etc.
The folks at the job centre are just cogs in the machine. You paint a very simplistic, naive attitude.

SilentBob · 31/01/2018 20:35

I’d have worked there in a heartbeat when I lost my job and accommodation. That doesn’t mean I’d have been getting to my desk in the am going ‘I’ll sanction Susan today I think...’ it means I’d have been doing as I had been told. By my bosses. Silly post, IMO, OP.

Hogtini · 31/01/2018 20:35

You really think that at the pay grade of front line staff they make those decisions? Pfft.

PerfectlyDone · 31/01/2018 20:35

Do JobCentre staff have targets? Genuine question.

Op, your ire is misdirected - classic case of shooting the messenger.
Get angry at the fucked up system and society we live in.

HelenaDove · 31/01/2018 20:35

Re. the abattoir job...............perhaps they would be sanctioned if they refused.

Daisydaisygivemeyouranswer · 31/01/2018 20:36

Would you say to an overstretched teacher or a nurse they are a bully because they are part of a system trying to provide a service but because of governments cuts, profit and figures are prioritised over people. But that would hardly make the nurse or teacher a bully would it. Just a person trying their best in the system.
What utter rubbish. Don’t scapegoat job centre staff.

Youcouldbemysilversprings · 31/01/2018 20:36

What an extremely weird post? Do you blame traffic wardens or the police for following the law/rules as well? At the end of the day they aren’t the ones making the decision and god forbid they have a reliable job. I agree with pp who says that some of the job seekers themselves (not all but some) are probably complete wasters and it’s probab a job that makes you very disillusioned, it’s easy to get sidetracked by that and not see the people who are genuine.
Not a nice post at all OP.

ShastaTrinity · 31/01/2018 20:37

I am trying to think about what jobs I would really look down at. Rogue salesmen, conning old and vulnerable people is one... I can't think of many more.

HelenaDove · 31/01/2018 20:37

Its not the fault of the people who work in Job Centres Some of them will have a choice of this or no job at all.

Doctordid · 31/01/2018 20:37

I have a friend who has worked in the job centre for years. She hates this government and their policies, she's gone above and beyond numerous times and gone above her position to make sure that a family or Mum has walked away with access to food and help.
She figures if she can be the person they deal with rather than an arse hole who thinks they are dole scum then that is better.

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 31/01/2018 20:38

"I'm sure some people who work in job centres are cruel. Just like anywhere else, but that's life."

That shouldn't be life. These people are jobless. Theyre not criminals. Without these people who you think it's okay to be cruel to. Your mates at the JC wouldn't have a job

chipscheeseandcurrysauce · 31/01/2018 20:39

It's part of the job, if people don't stick to their claimant commitment that they agreed to at their initial meeting then they risk being sanctioned...

Honestly, the work coaches are not bad people- they need money to support themselves and their families just like we do.

RunningOutOfCharge · 31/01/2018 20:39

what a daft post!

NewYearNewMe18 · 31/01/2018 20:41

I found the staff in the job centre couldn't be more helpful the one time I needed their help.

HelenaDove · 31/01/2018 20:42

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42860387

Samewitches · 31/01/2018 20:42

I agree with you OP, they're all a bunch of jobsworth cunts. So I've been told, never been there myself.
Also, did you know SS take people's children away just to meet adoption targets? I haven't had any interaction with them myself, I know a woman who says she's a great mum and she had it happen to her.
Also, did you know the police don't even come out if you've been murdered anymore? I haven't been murdered but I read it in the media and then my neighbour who has been murdered told me.
Country's going to shit.

Originalfoogirl · 31/01/2018 20:43

Oh the irony. how can people at the job centre live with themselves, having a job and all that......

People there do not make the rules, they are paid to follow them, and if they don't, they lose their jobs.

They deserve to go to work and not be afraid of being attacked, spat at, screamed at. They cannot change the situation. I'll bet you hate traffic wardens too.

nNina22 · 31/01/2018 20:44
Biscuit
mumznet · 31/01/2018 20:44

they are just doing their job

MarthaArthur · 31/01/2018 20:44

I see both sides. Some people are doing a job and trying their best. But when i was on benefits it was just as you described OP. I was treated appauling talked yo like shit. Called the wrong name everytime and threatened to be sanctioned if i didnt reply to my name being called even though it was like Ava/Abigail. If i didnt respond to abigail (not my name) i was marked as late. I was sanctioned the week before christmas for doing exactly as i was told the week before then was told they had changed the rules and my work search wasnt up to the new standard implimemted that day. I tried to appeal and the man on the phone didnt listen to me he just kept talking over me reading the same script again and again then hung up on me. So i lost 4 weeks of money and had to live off parents hand outs. They demanded i apply for unsuitable jobs like teaching when i dont have a pgce. Or body guard when i am tiny and have no training. They also told a man who had got out of prison the week before to apply to be a body guard as well or they would sanction him.. he had his license removed for violence which he went to prison for. There was no way he could get the job back but they made him apply. They made me apply to all unsuitable jobs i never got anf made me go to the job center twice a week just to be belittled and spoken to like shit when i did everything they told me to. I met one nice advisor who was stunned that i had applied to 50 jobs in less than a week and couldnt understand why i was being dragged in twice a week and belittled. They told me they would reemburse my money after i travelled to interviews. I went to an interview an hour away and they then refused to reemburse my train fare which was over £20 i couldnt afford as they changed the rules to suit them. They made me attend a course an hour away where my safety was threatened as i was on a week long course with violent criminals who didnt take to my accent. One ran off with a gang to "bottle" someone. I refused the call center job and was sanctioned even though my safety was at risk. I was also asked to leave an interview for no reason. Finally i found myself a temp job and had to phone and cancel an interview. I was snottily shouted at on the phone for cancelling. No well done on finding a job.

Nasreen · 31/01/2018 20:44

The work coaches are doing their job. They are civil servants, trying to earn a living like the rest of the world. Some of the claimants will be sanctioned justifiably and others not. Where have you sourced your information if you are not a claimant? What about HMRC? Income recovery officers? Debt collectors and enforcement officers? All there trying to earn a living!! Some jobs are not pretty and neither are some people. I work for CAB and can see how the sanctions often arise. There are relaxed work coaches and not so relaxed work coaches. They are under pressure for sure. The Government doesn't want people on benefits, even if they are entitled to them. Think PIP AND THE LATEST NEWS REPORT on that. The job centre are at the mercy of the government but bills and mortgages need to be paid.

ShastaTrinity · 31/01/2018 20:44

Without these people who you think it's okay to be cruel to. Your mates at the JC wouldn't have a job

I don't think the post meant that it was ok to be cruel, but that you find cruel people in all jobs. You don't judge an entire profession based on the behaviour of a few individuals.

Originalfoogirl · 31/01/2018 20:44

Samewitches

GrinGrinGrin

ForeverBubblegum · 31/01/2018 20:45

What do you think would happen if everyone quit?

Are the government going to say "well we don't have the staff to process your application but we'll take your word for it, hears some money"?Hmm

or are more people going to suffer a cases are delayed and waits for payment get longer?

Seriously, I would not wan't to do there job, but I can see it needs to be done and have nothing but respect for the individuals who have to put up with crap from both sides. They aren't choosing to implement new rules and sanctions, and there stuck as the focal point of clients (often understandable) frustration.

LightDrizzle · 31/01/2018 20:46

In my last job I often liaised with Job Centre advisors and they were supportive of their clients in the main, and would listen to reasons why they should not be sanctioned due to special circumstances.
They also have to put up with a lot of abuse and complaints from a minority of clients.

Unless you are going to accept people’s say-so as proof they are actively looking for work before giving them a state benefit provided for those circumstances, then someone has to do it.
It’s a job, a draining job.

I think you are being a bit picky about them not accompanying their helpful signposting to food banks with a political rant. That would be pretty fuckng patronising.