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?

That’s universal credit for you, exactly the same as Jobseeker’s Allowance was before it. They’ll cut you off for less and they really don’t give a toss if you can’t eat.

Thats it, that’s the reality don’t let any idiot tell you otherwise.

Im sorry this has happened to your daughter, it’s awful, especially after rejection when trying so hard. Thankfully she has you for support and I’m sure you’ll help her pay whatever bills she needs and eat.

I wouldn’t bother complaining, they do not care, not one bit.

They are fair.

When claiming UC whilst unemployed, your job is to look for a job, part of which includes attending appointments . You are paid by them on the basis that you do that work.

Thank God things have changed. I hope they continue to.

I am absolutely astounded at the negative judgement and unkindness of some of the PP 😞

OP, the sanction CAN absolutely be challenged. Your DD is a victim of a SA and very understandably this has had an adverse impact on her mental health.

The Public Law Project is an excellent resource for information on UC sanctions https://publiclawproject.org.uk/

I suggest you contact your local CAB, they will have a direct contact with a DWP partnership manager to raise concerns with senior staff about your DD. You can search for your nearest CAB online or other advice providers at www.advicelocal.net

If you go to the Jobcentre, ask to speak to the work coach manager and ask for a private room. Your DD is absolutely entitled to do this as no one should be asked to discuss information about SA in an open plan environment. Your DD needs to ask for her circumstances to be recorded in detail on her UC claim and she should also request the sanction be reconsidered urgently.

I also suggest you support your DD to speak ASAP with your local SA referral centre https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/sexual-health/help-after-rape-and-sexual-assault/ and also her GP if she can as agree a fitnote should be requested to take some pressure off - also ask if this can be backdated as it sounds like your DD has been struggling for a considerable time.

I am so very sorry she is enduring this, there is excellent advice and support out there, its about finding the right human being to look at her case and make a decent decision.

I hope the links here are helpful. Thinking of you and your DD 💐

It's part of her commitments though isn't it?

Plus it's not really a job centre anymore. They don't find you jobs.

The fact she didn't let you go along with her suggests there's more to it than she's letting on. I don't know if she can apply for an advance or some sort of hardship payment. Or maybe you can help.

I agree with you, this is why I went back to uni and retrained. I'm not risking it just to be made redundant. Nurses/teachers will never be made redundant! I didn't earn that much anyway. The salaries are very low in corporate unless in investment banking or finance. Or some areas of law.

Oh, fair! nvm!

I was thinking this. I can spend a whole day doing 1 application to make sure it's specific to the job, clearly demonstrates how I meet the job spec and why I'm the best candidate.
Have you looked at the applications she does and cross referenced then to the roles? Does she meet the person specification for each one?
I look at applications for various roles and it's very clear who is just applying to tick the 'I'm applying for jobs for fulfill the UC criteria' to who really wants it and has taken the time. If you know anyone in management ask them to have a look at her applications and ask then objectively 'would you hire based on this application'?

The rules are the rules and they have to be there, you have to jump through the hoops to get paid.

As a side note though, either she hasn’t applied for 1500 jobs, or she’s not putting anywhere near enough thought and effort into her applications.

Thatcherism continues to be savaged, even by those who weren't around at the time. Yet benefits were fair and ample.

I don't think Indeed is used for much more than data harvesting. I work for a council, helping people to find work and I see loads of people applying for loads of Indeed jobs every week and never getting anything. I would approach the local council to find out if they offer any kind of employment/into work services as they can often provide training, CV checking/writing, mentoring etc. Would also ask if they have a volunteering service as it can be quite tricky to find relevant voluntary posts otherwise but this is a good way to add to your CV. Also would definitely recommend contacting Careers England as they have a lot of advice and info. Apologies if this has already been said, I haven't read every post.

Yes, and to achieve that you need to have been a member of an unemployment insurance fund for at least 12 months and meet work-related conditions. OP's daughter had been in work for a couple of days, or if she had been insured via her previous employer only six months, so it's unclear whether she would have qualified for that.
https://arbetsformedlingen.se/other-languages/english-engelska/unemployed---what-happens-now/unemployment-benefit

It’s good she’s gone alone. If she can take on the MD she can handle the job centre by herself.

She needs to get volunteering while she’s job hunting, it’ll give her routine, purpose, a reason to get out of bed every day, go to sleep at a decent time at night. You seem to think it’s okay she’s in bed 16 hours a day, it’s not. She needs to go back to the basics of eating well, fresh air, exercise. If she got a job she’d have to do all of that so if she’s genuinely job seeking she needs to get herself in the best shape to take a job and make the best of it.

It’s awful she’s had some bad experiences but find me anyone who hasn’t. She’s got to just crack on with her life, careful tailored quality applications, healthy lifestyle, seeing friends etc.

What’s the alternative? Hiding from life in bed wasting energy resenting the system that’s currently funding her costs, missing appointments and having less money, resenting it more, wallowing.

After six months I would recommend a 2 tier job hunt. The jobs she actually wants, she should be taking her time and really putting the effort into the application. In the meantime, she just needs to find something. A zero hours contract kind of job that leaves her free to work or not work so she can interview would be ideal. It will be NMW, but I will be work.

She got felt up on the tube. Yes, awful. Terrible thing. But it’s just getting felt up on the tube. It’s no reason at all to be unable to attend her UC appointment.

If he was so bad, she'd have other examples to cite after a few weeks, which would have been the wiser strategy rather than reacting like that out the gate. Or she could've asked the apparently lovely HR woman how she dealt with the guy, coming at it that way. There's no world in which she needed to say 'MD says you're fat and ugly', that would be about as smart as telling the MD he's rude.

I agree it is totally worth it if it means you get to do something you are passionate about. It kind of depends on your circumstances, though. What if someone was made redundant from a skilled job salaried at £60k and there was no longer a demand for that role, how would they cover their mortgage and childcare costs and the £10k it costs to go and retrain as something like a teacher for a year to earn £32k the other side? Especially if they don't want to retrain but have to because it's one of the only places with vacancies.

Also re: the 'just take out another student loan' mentality - I have spent almost 20 years paying off a student loan (paid ~ >£200 per month from my salary) and still have £10k+ left to pay, why would I want to add to that debt to take a lower-paid job?

I think my point is that reskilling/retraining is a good option for some, but shouldn't be the go-to. People are happy to tell others to retrain until it is a job in their field that has been made redundant by AI.

No, "we" are suggesting it because OP said her DD's MH is "on the floor" (and it seems to be for good reason). No-one with good MH sleeps for 14-16hrs a day.

Just to my 2 pence in....i have applied for 350 jobs ATLEAST in the last month up to a 30 mile commute away. (And I'm not talking about to be a rocket scientist. Just retail/bar work/cleaning)

A work coach has agreed there is nothing wrong with my c.v. I've been offered 2 interviews.

One of which asked me 'if you were a cocktail...which one would you be and why?
WTAF????????

I didn't get the job💁

What about a childcare apprenticeship?

The sexist MD has arrived!! Thankfully the Transport Police wouldnt agree with you. The OPS DD was the victim of a crime. What an appalling attitude and i bet you wouldnt be saying the same if OPs DD wasnt claiming benefits Poorer women and girls are seen as fair game

She should have smiled politely at his "joke" and stayed silent, then left the room and avoided him as much as possible from then on, whilst immediately starting looking for a new job. He's an arsehole, he tested her to see if he could push her around. She failed the test so she's out. It's life.

Regards UC. Don't think of it as an organisation that helps you. That's how they advertise themselves, in reality they're only there to monitor you. It's just hoops you have to jump through to continue getting the money. It's very black and white, you either jump through the hoops or you don't get the money. Your outrage is misplaced and unhelpful to DD. She broke the rules, the sanction is justified.

You believed the hype, that's understandable if you don't move in circles where people have experience of these systems, but now you know the truth it's time to adjust your mindset and face reality - you can't fight the system. It's bigger than you, stronger than you and it holds all the power. So even if you're in the right, unless you're minted and can afford to take people to court to force them to do their jobs properly as a point of principal, you won't win.

I agree with the poster who said don't try to fight DD battles with UC but do focus on supporting her/kicking her butt (as applicable) to improve her MH. Sleeping all day she's either in need of medical intervention or she's wallowing in self pity. Even if she does need a trip to the GP, she's still going to need to do self help measures to recover.

Beggars can't be choosers I am afraid. If she doesn't like the rules that apply to claiming benefits, time to try harder at finding a job. I'm always skeptical of how much effort and time has been put into an application when someone has applied to 1500 roles. Hitting "apply" with generic CV isn't good enough anymore

When my stepson was on UC he was sanctioned for being late for his appointment even though he was the in office waiting for his appointment because they were running late.

Just to clarify @Womanofcustard, do you mean the modern Britain where lots of us get up, deal with our crap and go out to work to fund young adults to spend most of their day in bed because they can't handle being sacked, OR the modern Britain where the whole system is so cruel that it won't pay people to lay around in bed all day without taking some of that money away if they lay around in bed all day?

She was absolutely meant to laugh it off. If she did, she would still be employed. Sometimes you don’t have the luxury of morals.