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?

Well, if it isn't the consequence of her own actions! Sanctions aren't a secret that are sprung on unexpecting claimants. It is clear that if you cannot attend an appointment, you need to notify the Jobcentre in advance. It's also clear that if you miss an appointment, you need to provide a good reason and rebook the appointment as soon as possible. If you don't, you will be sanctioned. If she's been sanctioned for 30 days, of which 7 days is the fixed period, that means it took 23 days for her to bother to rearrange the appointment she missed. You can complain all you like, but it won't be reconsidered unless she has a good reason for missing it (which it doesn't sound like she does).

She had one job, turn up to an appointment. That's it. If she needed the money badly enough then she wouldn't dream of missing that appointment.

As for her mother tagging along to give the employees a telling off, they'll either tell you it's none of your business or just laugh about it when you leave. What do you actually intend to achieve?

None of this paints your daughter as a good job candidate.

You have almost no rights within the first two years in a job. And employment cases are stressful AF in themselves, nothing more likely to help her spiral, especially as it wasn't even her battle she stepped into. Much better to spend her energy on positive steps forward and forget about that particular fuck up.

I'm glad people are saying that as I'm currently job hunting and there's no way I could apply for that many jobs, there's not that many available that I could actually do.

Ive hears this before but isnt It strange that you have no rights at all within the first two years of the job, then after two years, you magically get rights.

@ThisIsInsane did your DD report it to the transport police

Of course he shouldn’t be saying those things, 100% agree.

It was a glimpse into what her daughter could expect in that workplace, so she’s probably better off out of it. But biding her time, looking for a new job whilst employed and leaving quietly and with a reference would’ve been far better than having 7 quid in your bank.

It doesn’t make what the MD said acceptable, but I think when you rely on the person to employ you, you need to know when to be quiet.

Missing the appt and getting sanctioned will help her see that sleeping for up to 16 hours a day is not helpful
saying her mental health is shot means that it is even more important that she gets into a good routine -
how else is her mental health going to improve ? There is no magic wand,
she needs to get up,
self care
get to the appointments
get some daylight
eat decent
sleep hygiene
etc

dont enable helpless behaviour
many young adults struggle to get employment in something they enjoy -
need to be able to weather this stage of life

OP has she had any support or counselling following the knife incident and the sexual assault? If she's sleeping that much and isn't able to attend a UC appointment when her time is free, is she really fit to work at this point? Maybe she should apply for fewer jobs and seek MH support otherwise she might find a job and not be able to sustain it. She's been through two traumatic incidents in a short space of time and then been fired. It's no surprise her MH is on the floor.

I am not criticising your daughter as im sure we would all love to call our managers rude when they are being rude.

Just in this era when jobs are scarce, you need to have self preservation too.

Welcome to modern Britain

It’s not correct that you have no rights within the first two years of employment.
https://www.springhouselaw.com/knowledge-hub/employment-contracts-and-staff-handbooks/when-do-employment-rights-start-r

Re-read OP's opening post. She told us "She (her DD) missed a UC appointment in June", but she doesn't tell us the exact date. She also told us "According to the letter she has been sanctioned for 30 days for a first offence of missing one appointment after 6 months ..." and "She has an appointment later today." Today is 23rd July, so it seems to me that her DD left it a very long time before contacting the DWP to explain why she was a no-show for her appt in June and reschedule it for today and this is why the sanction is for 30 days. Had OP's DD contacted the DWP promptly, the sanction wouldn't be this long.

Honestly, in this situation, yes. She could have mentioned it to HR later. It's unfortunate but she needs to learn to play office politics until she's in a position where she doesn't need the job.

When you sign your agreement to accept JSA or UC you agree to abide by the rules and you agree to accept the sanctions if you break the rules.

I'd suggest that your daughter goes to the GP to get some anti depressants

And perhaps she could consider taking care with her words if she wants to keep her job. However unfair she feels the situation was at her last place of work, she's the one who has lost out

If they do sanction him he can request a mandatory reconsideration providing evidence of his GP appt. 81% of UC sanction appeals are successful. 😊

I think you need to refocus your upset with the UC protocols and rules, to helping your DD get over this emotional hurdle she is facing. Not easy especially as none of this is her fault. (except missing the meeting)

Her situation reflects the dilemma that many others are also facing. But at least she has you as a buffer to make it slightly easier.
Get her a doctor's appointment as a starter in case she is getting depressed and help her refresh her cv. Reassure her that things will get better but that she has to stay as positive as possible. And as alert as possible to anything new in the area if only for a few hours a week.
Tell her you are always there to support her and you are in this blip together and will keep working at it with her until she gets the lucky break. Tell her everybody goes through hard times like this and it’s how positively she can handle it that will help her in the end.
Raise her spirits in any way you can. And try to encourage her to keep to working hours and to make use of all free exercise facilities. Voluntary work is a good idea and sometimes leads to contacts to something else which is paid. Give her tasks at home.
Encourage something new …baking, wfh ideas, taking a risk to start a new short course, keeping a diary or creative writing, work in the community, helping out at local groups etc etc.

Accompany her to her meeting by all means but don’t speak for her. Demonstrate to her how to approach it with positivity, genuine regret, a willingness to learn and with a smile rather than with any bad attitude.
Practise beforehand how best to handle it so that she can show she regrets missing the other meeting and that she is willing to conform to the system. Encourage her to ask for more help with her cv and with her interview technique.

Don’t expect magic results OP. It will all take time to build her up and get her resilience going again. And for the job market to change which is out of everybody’s control.
Hang on in there alongside her and help with her emotional development rather than aiming to change the UC credit system.

Good luck to you being able to help. It’s so so hard for youngsters these days.

I’m afraid you’re going to have to play the game I’m afraid. They won’t give a toss about her mental health. Neither are they likely to be much help. On the one occasion I had to sign on (in order to get my redundancy insurance pay out), I actually had to help the job centre person to start their own computer and navigate their software. Utterly crap and chaotic.

My advice, go in with her and calmly explain the situation, but I’d be surprised if you get anywhere.

Do you really think women can't be sexist and misogynistic?

Users upload their details to the site, so "applying" for jobs on sites like Indeed just involves clicking a button to "apply" - it's not an actual application process most of the time, unless the company has specifically requested an application form. Click, click, click, I've applied for three jobs (none are suitable, but I've applied. Why do I never get interviews waaaaahhhh).

If you read all of OP's posts you'll know why her DD was fired after three days - retribution by the MD.

Well I didn't say you had no rights at all, and it makes sense to me that there has to be a line somewhere, so you can get rid of people without too much hassle if they're revealed to be the wrong fit rather then being stuck with them.

Ffs. Of course they can. But its not the point of what i was saying was it.

We were talking about rude managers in general and how to handle them.

You either talk to them in a professional way,

Or If you want to do something, You dont just say to them "you are rude" .

You keep a diary of their rude remarks with times and dates.

What is she applying for? She needs to apply for anything and everything, she can't expect the state to fund her while she finds a 'career' job. I struggle to believe she couldn't find something like a housekeeper, barmaid or shop job. Anything is better than lying in bed all day. At the very least she could have spent some of that time that she has been in bed doing something worthwhile like volunteering. Then could get a reference from someone at her volunteer position rather than the 7 month career gap she currently has.
No one is going to drag her out of bed and fix this for her, she needs to get out and find something.

Not the point of the thread but...Your daughter will obviously need to work with the job centre so as to not lose her UC. She might get a temporary job of some sort to get her an income and out of bed. However the job centre will be unable to give really focused advice on securing a corporate job - She needs help with this from a different source. Also I think all the drama around the number of job applications and the reasons for leaving the two previous jobs might be a bit light on truth.