UC sanctions should be temporarily lifted

[Needachangee]

NC as been discussing with a friend who uses MN

I am on UC currently but have been sanctioned for missing appointments as my mum was in hospital. I had a single piece of toast yesterday, I just started my period, it’s 30 degrees and I have 3 potatoes and half a tin of beans to last until Monday. That’s when I can apply for a hardship payment that I might not even receive and if I do it won’t come through till Tuesday.

AIBU to think sanctions should be lifted temporarily with the cost of living crisis. I understand that there has to be consequences and incentives to make people attend the job centre but the alternative is people like myself are close to starving. The only positive outlook I have is I’m starting work in September. Food banks are scarce as everyone is struggling to buy their own shops let alone donate.

The country is on its knees so I know there can’t be an increase in UC and as I say I will be earning myself soon enough but as I’ve been sanctioned the most I will get is £100 if I’m accepted for a hardship payment to see me through till payday in September. I think sanctions should be banned temporarily as a help to people like the increase during lockdown.

Universal Credit don't expect people to apply for a set number of jobs. You have to meet commitments.l as agreed with your job coach.
Failure to meet commitments without good reason leads to a sanction of a maximim of £11 a day.

Actually in most jobs if you just don't turn up for a day you will be sacked.

And I have briefly been on JSA due to illness, so don't assume.

All of your posts are coming across as very rude and condescending!

@girlfriend44 I Daniel Blake is a piece of leftist propaganda. It's not even well made.

Stick to the rules, give DWP notice, and you won't be sanctioned. Just like the adult world of work.

you still havent conveniently mentioned either that the sanction was overturned on appeal so how does that leave the advisor who sanctioned he/she wasnt right was he/she?

Should be fined themselves. No apologies either.

It’s almost as though you have never actually held down a proper job at all. Are you still at school perhaps?

Yes, of course you can sack people on the spot. During the first two years of employment you can be sacked for any reason (other than the protected characteristics) or none at all, and be immediately escorted from the premises. You are entitled to be paid pay for your notice period, and for accrued holidays, but that comes after you’re gone.

Why, given your total lack of understanding of the law, are you trying to pretend that you know how it works?

Of course you can be sacked on the spot for being late at a new job! You have v few rights if you haven’t been employed for more than two years.

google people who have died through sanctions.

No need to tell me how to claim or get a job i am not on any benefits but i do know alot about it and what happens to people, which is more than can be said for some of the ill informed replies on here.

Yes, they can. Why do people have this idea that everyone is allowed to claim. I can’t, I will never be able to.

Upset that they have to turn up for half an hour once per fortnight. And be on time. Upset that they have to show that they have applied for jobs. It is utterly pathetic, they seem to resent having to do anything at all other than lie in bed and have other workers taxed to provide them with cash.

And that's why people on benefits can start to get a bad rep. It's not hard to do those things in exchange for money. The same way that I have to do things at work in order to be paid.

www.gov.uk/universal-credit/eligibility

You may be able to get Universal Credit if you’re on a low income or need help with your living costs. You could be:

out of work
working (including self-employed or part time)
unable to work, for example because of a health condition
To claim you must:

live in the UK
be aged 18 or over (there are some exceptions if you’re 16 to 17)
be under State Pension age
have £16,000 or less in money, savings and investments
You can use a benefits calculator to check what benefits you could get.

I recommend EntitledTo as the calculator to use.

You can have easements applied to your claim for caring responsibilities, mental health, bereavement etc. These reduce the commitments and should therefore prevent sanctions. UC can work well, or it can be terrible. Human error is definitely a factor (work coaches and decision makers). If MH problems prevent you from keeping a job, you should be supplying fit notes and carrying out a capability for work assessment. These are longer term solutions. I hope you find a church, charity or similar in the meantime to tide you over

For anyone else who wants to be educated the DWP can also do the following.

They can set people up with an interview for a job.
After the interview the DWP can ask the employer for feedback on the interview.
If the interviewer reports that the claimant didnt try hard enough to get a job then the DWP can sanction the person.

Baring in mind there is no evidence, no CCTV, no voice recording its all on the word of the interviewer.
You can lose your money on the word of someone else with no proof.
This is how desperate they are to get people off the register of signing.

@girlfriend44 an employer absolutely can fire someone on the spot within the first 2 years of employment. They wouldn't need a reason but an employee going awol for multiple shifts would definitely be a good reason to sack someone. It might even count as gross misconduct in which case the employer wouldn't even need to pay a notice period.

It’s almost as though you have never actually held down a proper job at all. Are you still at school perhaps?

Do schoolgirls go on mumsnet?
You know I am not at school.
I am a damsight more educated on how the government treats the poor and sick and disabled than you are though.

How do you know I havent worked for the DWP so many assumptions.

I have never heard of or experienced this and have been told directly by my work coach that they can't apply or request job interviews on my behalf.

I'd be very interested to see proof of this happening.

Don't you pay NI ?

If you do you can claim contributions based JSA for up to 6 months, regardless of savings etc, its the same as UC for a single person or very similar.

I stand corrected then. I am not up to scratch on employment laws etc but I do know its hard to just sack someone today. I thought they had to have written warnings etc!

@Gilead because expecting something for nothing to the detriment of society is something that should be discourage

You are writing as though there is something wrong with this. There is a real problem with people making sure that they don’t find a job by messing up the interview on purpose. Once this is suspected it’s absolutely right that it’s checked out.

Posters like you are one of the reasons the Conservatives keep getting elected. You have no right to money from the state if you do not want to work. Normal, decent people do not want to be taxed so that others can get money without fulfilling their commitments.

@ImWell Your attitude to someone who is really vulnerable right now is vile. She has mental health issues, some people with mental health issues do struggle holding down jobs, how dare you judge them.

It has happened, just because you didnt know about it dosent mean it didnt happen?

DWP have tie ups with some employers, they are in it together, the advisor will ask how the interview went to the company. Its usually the crappy jobs nobody wants.

if the company says they didnt try hard enough or give out the right body language etc then you can be sanctioned?

The main reason is that your writing would tend to exclude you from that sort of job.

And yes, it’s the summer holidays, the site is plagued by silly children trying to be shy by making ludicrous posts.

Some people are unable to work through no fault of their own! If they don't have a spouse or family they can live with how are they supposed to survive?

And yet you provide no evidence beyond your say so...

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