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?

It would be unreasonable if they didn’t make this clear in advance and just decided that’s what they were doing. But they do make it clear, and your daughter agreed to it as part of her commitments.

If you want to receive state funds then you have to go by their rules, no matter how stupid you think they are. She didn’t attend and didn’t have a good reason for that (or they wouldn’t have sanctioned). So she got sanctioned; those are the rules.

What is she doing in bed for 16 hours a day? Tell her to get up and sort herself out.

I actually don’t think most of them exist which are agency advertised so she’s only applying for employer advertised roles now
She shouldn't have waited so long, but cross fingers she'll start getting more responses and interviews now.

The lowest-level sanction usually lasts until you attend a rescheduled interview so, unfortunately, it sounds like OP's DD didn't contact the DWP to explain her absence and reschedule the appt (OP posted that it was an appt in June that her DD missed).

How old is she? I know she’s an adult but are we talking 20 or 45?

What was she supposed to do. Only her and him left in the room.

Laugh and agree?

She was shocked.

She clearly needs help with writing a decent job application. Does the king’s trust offer any support in your area? www.kingstrust.org.uk/ They offer support with moving into employment etc. There will be other things available if not.

Thanks for the insight into the rules, I’m definitely not familiar with UC and how easy/hard they are. To be honest, if she’s apparently applying for 50 jobs a week, attending a couple of interviews etc, she could’ve phoned the DWP to sort this out.

What did she do her degree in? Unfortunately, a lot of students are struggling to find jobs and having to retrain. Would she be interested in teaching or nursing? The state needs teachers and nurses, so won't be too hard to find a job. In meantime, she can do agency work to meet people at network - this is for teaching. If her degree is in shortage subject, then she can get a bursary too.

Courses start in September, so there's still some time!

So what about ppl who have to miss work to attend a UC appointment.

What did she do her degree in? Unfortunately, a lot of students are struggling to find jobs and having to retrain. Would she be interested in teaching or nursing? The state needs teachers and nurses, so won't be too hard to find a job. In meantime, she can do agency work to meet people at network - this is for teaching. If her degree is in shortage subject, then she can get a bursary too.
Courses start in September, so there's still some time!

Sorry idk why that posted twice!

I think the sanctioning system is cruel, but @ThisIsInsane I really don't think you should be going to the appointment with her.

Help her work out what to say beforehand, but don't go in with her unless as pp said she has some sort of extra needs.

Is sanctioning her so she hasn’t got enough even for basic living requirements, for ONE missed appointment, not extreme though?
£7 for a whole month.

Are you sure that’s all she’s missed, have you seen her journal? My DS missed one appointment once and wasn’t so heavily sanctioned so I’m thinking there may possibly be more to this.

By the way, if she asks and has evidence of an interview, the job centre can help with the travel costs.

1500 applications and only 2 interviews? I find that hard to believe but if it is the case, then I’d suggest she asks for an appointment with a job coach the next time she is at the job centre.

She should have ignored the comment, and then plan an exit strategy. Calling your boss out on your first meeting is really not a good career move.

Do nothing. If she had to say something, a generic “oh right” or “oh ok. Well it was lovely to meet you…” and change the subject.

Having the courage of your convictions is all well and good but it doesn’t put food in your stomach (or in her case, pay her phone bill). I think she was mad to put a target on herself like that.

Call UC for hardship payment (it is recoverable but will come out in small amounts from her future payments).. and ask them when she can have another hardship payment (in case her next payment is small too).
Also consider Discretionary assistance fund, a sanction is a good reason

Brush over it and change the subject. She could've made a mental note then kept a log to raise with HR if it was an ongoing issue. But if she thinks it's smart to call her boss rude from the off, then they're right, she's not going to fit in.

Applications-wise, applying to zillions on Indeed is not going to have much impact. She needs to be more strategic. Network, volunteer, develop contacts, do an extra qualification (which would also help with the gap on the CV). There are better ways to use your energy than having a go at the job centre staff, when the bottom line is she broke the rules, and does live at home so isn't up shit creek.

I claim due to low wages, I've never been asked to go for one.

Can she do any addition courses or find volunteer work to show what she is spending her time doing outside of job hunting? Might make her more attractive. Is she asking for feedback on unsuccessful interviews?

id also consider finding a career coach or similar to give specific advice on the cv, the job centre are not likely to be best placed to advise on specific corporate roles. It will be very generic advice they are giving.

has she seen a doctor regarding her mental health? She really should and probably get some support for it. Finding meaningful ways to spend her days, giving herself a routine and reminding herself that this can and will change will really help.

OP it's a horrible system. These "sanctions" are inhumane and quite apart from being unfairly punitive relative to the "breach" (a fifteen minute lapse is not worth a month of anyone's money) are absolutely counter-productive in practical terms - if a person is already struggling to do the things they need to do, like go to appointments, throwing them into absolute poverty with no resource at all is only going to deepen and prolong their difficulties. All this "claimant commitment" language is bullshit - claiming benefits is not the same as being in employment, there is no mutually beneficial bargain or reciprocity here - it's just a way of dressing up being really fucking nasty to people who are already at the bottom of the pile.

With UC you have a journal which you can message your work coach. If she was to message her work coach before the appointment explaining why she couldn't make it, she wouldn't have been sanctioned. They would have rearranged her app. They always text 24hours before the appointment as well to remind so there's no excuse really.
It's strict for a reason.

You are wasting your time going there with her either all guns blazing or politely, unless you have familiarised yourself with the law regarding good cause to miss an appointment, and the level of sanction that can be applied, and are sure that the law has not been properly implemented. Good cause is defined and doesnt include forgetting. Sanction rates and length are also set out. Its all on the gov website. Check its all in order and if it is, your DDs only option is a hardship payment. This will need to be repaid from her UC, but will enable her to buy essentials.

I don't think some people realise how challenging the job market is at the moment. Not many young people have the foresight to research what sectors have the most vacancies at age 17 when you apply for UCAS/make FE/post-education decisions and plan their education pathways accordingly. We are sold the lemon that if you are academic and work hard and gain a degree you will get a job, and many now are finding this is not the case.

AI and digital technology is eradicating thousands of entry-level roles in the UK and worldwide. It is possible that soon most entry-level admin roles in the NHS (the UK's biggest employer) will be gone. Even highly skilled roles are hard to find. People using AI on their applications mean that employers receive thousands of 'perfect' CV's for every role. How are you supposed to pick the best candidate out of all of that, or even read every application? They use AI to filter down the AI!

I find the 'just retrain' comments so narrow-minded. Going back to school costs a lot of money and sectors such as teaching or nursing or tech are not for everyone. Such is the economy at the moment that even skilled posts are very hard to find. Soon, up to 30,000 people who worked in NHSE/ICB's will all be on the job market; people who were previously highly-taxed earners. What will this do to the economy?

I know this is straying from the point OP was making but I absolutely have sympathy for this young person who is trying desperately to find a job.