To this is absolutely insane! Universal Credit Sanction

[ThisIsInsane]

Adult DD has had an absolute nightmare trying to get a job since she was fired just before Christmas,

She wasn’t happy in the role previous to that so applied for another, got it, gave her resignation. Three days into the new role, she was told, she wasn’t a good fit and immediately fired. She did absolutely nothing wrong btw.

This has massively affected her mental health. She’s never been fired before or been unemployed.

She has literally applied for over 1500 jobs since then, only got two interviews which she wasn’t successful at.

She missed a UC appointment in June. Not sure what exactly happened but she has evidence of her job search. At every appointment they tell her she’s applying for a lot of jobs and there’s noting they can do to help.

They have sanctioned her UC so she has only got £7!

According to the letter she has been sanctioned for 30 days for a first offence of missing one appointment after 6 months in which they have not helped her find a job!

She has an appointment later today and I’m planning to go with her to complain as she isn’t in the right head space to. I just think it’s totally disgusting! She lives at home luckily but can’t pay her phone bill even!

Imagine if she was living on her own and had no support!

AIBU to think this is extreme and unjustifiable punishment?

Lovely!

Yes little hitlers.
It takes a special type to be cruel, and put people forward for starvation in a jobcentre.

Remember I Daniel Blake.

I HAVE BOWEL ISSUES I CANT SHIT TO ANY TIMETABLE INCLUDING THEIRS IT WOUUDNT BE ON PURPOSE little miss ableist

Yes. Son was told to go to a food bank . Asked about his gas and electricity. They said not their problem. They disgusting

Complaints about staff attitude or not responded to either

It's degrading and humiliating, and some of the people working at the centres are callous and unhelpful.
Being unemployed is dreadful for mental health.
I suggest that you encourage her to do some voluntary work which will help to provide a reason to get up and a sense of purpose and daily human contact. I know someone who stated working as a volunteer and it led to a paid position.

You can wear adult incontinence underwear for that. Which I’m sure you do for activities which you want to attend. I worked with the elderly in my previous job, and it’s what they did if they had bowel issues. But UC do actually have contingencies for people with disabilities so they would also work around that.

OP’s daughter doesn’t have these issues though. She agreed to the terms when accepting UC. She needs to attend the meetings rather than lying in bed.

You have been given a lot of advice.
In my opinion, your focus should be on your daughter's mental health. Asleep for that length of time is a huge red flag. She has experienced two traumatic events and been faced with some brutal life lessons . She may need to be on some kind of medication, or have it increased . I fully understand how YOU feel. Most people feel really angry when the are first confronted by 'the system '. As others have said, she needs to be able to deal with it, and comply. However to do that,her mental health needs to be stable. G.p. and some kind of counselling should be her go to. I.m.o.
Best wishes to you both.

Good for her. Calling that out can't have been easy. It sounds like she dodged a bullet.

I wish her all the best in securing a role that will let her put this year behind her. It's out there.

I am assuming she is within working age and possibly works from home. I can't imagine her wanting to wear incontinence pants to an appointment that could be rescheduled. Her health matters more.

Right, so if it’s a 7 day sanction, they don’t agree she had a good reason for missing the appointment, and that’s her punishment. One week without money.

The rest of the days are the time it’s taken her to rebook the appointment. If she’d gone to it for any time within that first week, she’d not have had any additional sanction. She’d only have lost a weeks work.

She can’t really argue that she wasn’t able to go to the appointment for MH reasons because that would imply she’s also not well enough to go to work or interviews, and then she’s not capable of meeting her agreed commitments.

Agree wonder how they like their son or daughter to be treated like that?

And again… disabilities are taken into account. That poster just wants to stir.

The OP’s daughter doesn’t have any issues. She got felt up on the tube (find me a woman who hasn’t been felt up) and she lost a job (again, plenty people have lost a job). It’s not a reason to say she can’t attend her appointments. And she obviously left it for several weeks before contacting them as the sanction is 45 days.

Well she continued to go to work for the next 6 months while she looked for another job and worked out her notice period. Didn't seek help for the SA or report it, as far as we know (OP hasn't mentioned it). Didn't take time off sick as far as we know (OP didn't mention it). Didn't instantly quit because she couldn't face getting on the train again.

So is it relevant to job hunting and difficulty with dealing with UC about a year later after a long unemployment?

If her MH has been on a slow decline then the issue is not one of "UC are awful" but one of "DD needs MH help and signing off sick".

TBH when it comes to benefits, it's my opinion that if you weren't depressed before you started jobseeking and claiming, you soon will be. The system causes so much stress. So I personally don't the situation has all that much to do with the SA.

As an aside OP, DD shouldn't go around telling people she was let go because she "wasn't a good fit". It's basically code for "has a massive attitude problem and lacks interpersonal skills". If she's putting that on her applications as reason for leaving last job, it's no wonder she's not getting interviews.

They have toilets in job centres.

I've had a video appointment before when I had a health issue and couldn't go in.

1500 applications in 6 months? What has she been applying for. It sounds like she's been just throwing standard CVs out at random. Properly applying for work takes a good bit of effort.

Have the DWP decided she's taking the mickey and not trying?

Do you live somewhere there are agencies that she sign up for?

TBH I don't know why she's on UC she lives at home and has no children. I am going to have to say it she doesn't need UC she needs to get a job. My 17 and 19 year olds both have jobs. Pickers can't be choosers she needs to get a job. I also live in the Southeast of England in a town. I think she is looking for a fancy job. Op needs to kick her ass out the door and find some work.

There's probably not one woman who's ever used crowded public transport in London for a few years who HASN'T been sexually assaulted on the train. It's awful and unacceptable but avoiding public transport because of it isn't the answer.

My very first job in HR ironically, I got the sack. Was so fed up with the lecherous head of HR I complained at lunch to the MDs secretary. Was fired the next morning.

Principles are important but so is being employed and I don't think you should be validating your daughter's behaviour at work. It was a silly act of self sabotage and she needs to learn from it.

Sanctioning welfare is one of the worst things this pisspot country has done to its own people. Hope she's ok OP.

Not really. Have you ever worked somewhere where it's clear within a few weeks that the person you employed is a total waste of space? I have, I work in a school. It's happened more than once. One person was actually absent more than she was in! Her employment was terminated as it was during her probation. She had the gall to request a reference when she applied for a job. Some people are just total idiots and think life owes them a living. Organisations like schools are already strapped for cash, they can't be paying people a salary for not turning up to work.

I've met other people through life too, always in a new job, always complaining that their previous manager was a bully or whatever. Mate, if this is always happening to you, then maybe it's YOU who is the problem.

Employers need rights too, against these complaining, work-shy idiots.

If you'd read all of OP's posts you'd know the answers to your questions.

OP told us in her third post about her DD's previous role in London:
"She was commuting to London working in a corporate role. Had an incident where she was threatened with a knife walking to the underground station (in the financial district!) and another just before that where she was sexually assaulted on a packed train. She decided she didn’t want to travel into London anymore so was looking for local jobs she can just drive to."

and about the job she was let go from after just three days:
"She hadn’t met the MD in new job until starting. It turned out he was a letch and he made a comment about the HR lady getting fatter and more ugly as she walked out of a meeting, and DD said that was really rude. The next morning DD was called in her manager’s office and told she wasn’t a good fit. They gave her a months salary as severance." In other words, she was fired in retribution for calling out the MD's outrageous behaviour.

I'm really surprised that she can't pick up a job in a care home or pub/restaurant to tide her over.