to think my brothers abusing the system

[bhgnrpusbpilates]

or is he entitled to do this.

I will cut a long story short my brother late 30s, volunteered redundancy end of last year ( completely voluntary, so chose to be unemployed) and went travelling for a bit, he came back recently and i overheard him telling someone now its the new tax year he is going to claim new JSA as he can for 6 months as its not means tested (ie redundancy payment wont be taken into account), and probably just go off travelling again.

We have always been raised in a household where you work end of , and my mum is first to call anyone else for abusing the system ( my brother is the favourite so perhaps i'm being a bit bitter)

but i don't agree with this at all, I wasn't massively happy with him for making himself redundant from a decent job just because he felt like it ( i too have a decent job but the R word terrifies me ) I think decent jobs are hard to come by these days , and its not like hes in his 50s, he graduated during the credit crunch so took him a while to get such a good opportunity.

My parents are annoying me by saying oh well good for him hes entitled to it etc etc but I just know if it was me doing it they would be going mad

sorry rant over and feel free to tell me i should get my head out my #### and live a little.

I was on it for a few months and had to go into their offices every other week, and show evidence that I was applying for jobs. Unless it’s changed you can’t just go travelling and claim it. I think he may be in for a bit of a shock! They expect you to go to interviews and be available.

You can't claim JSA if you're out of the country and he'll be expected to have weekly or fortnightly appointments so I suspect this won't actually work out how he's hoping.

Once he signs on at the job centre he will have to go there every 2 weeks to sign on and tell them what jobs he's applied for. If he doesn't apply for any jobs or fails to go and sign on he'll lose the benefit, won't get the NI credits. Traveling is going to be out with those commitments.

He can only qualify for the non mean-tested JSA if he’s put in for a certain number of years. You can’t keep doing it as it’s impossible to put in enough without long periods of work. And you also have to demonstrate that you’re seeking work during that time to keep claiming it, so he can’t possibly use it to go travelling. You have regular face to face appts where you demonstrate applications and interviews etc

But it's not your place to worry about his job prospects, unless he is likely to ask you to support him financially when the redundancy money runs out.
Voluntary redundancy package is usually offered when there are more staff at risk than available posts after the restructure. Possibly your brother was thinking of those of his colleagues who have dependents and were really worried about their future employment, as well as the favourable package, when he volunteered.

Take your advice and live your own life, like you say.

Let him worry about it and sort himself out. Doesn't sound like it will work out as he's hoping, anyway.

He can’t go travelling on JSA, it’s a full time job in itself! He’ll need to apply for jobs everyday, attend meetings and interviews and probably do voluntary work (although that may be after 6 months).

People are only offered voluntary redundancy if their job is at risk, it’s not really as voluntary as it sounds.

I have just taken VR as the package was a better option, there were no other jobs that would suit my skill set in the new world and I needed all the help I could get if I was going to be made redundant anyway. Your words on the subject about choosing to leave is why I voted YABU and I don't think your being very nice at all.

I assume your parents are feeding and housing him currently?

Could you respond to pp pointing out that he'd have to remain in the country and show evidence that he's applying for jobs, OP?

Being on JSA is not as simple as it sounds. You have to show you’re making an effort to seek work, prove you’re applying via their job site, it records the applications made & attend any interviews offered. Plus meetings every few weeks to discuss progress, they could hand you a job offer at any time as well. I applied straight after uni and less than a months later they had arranged a trial shift at a bar for me. I took the job for a few weeks till something better materialised.
He can’t just sign on and sit around doing nothing for 6 months, basically. They’ve cracked down on that. It’ll be more trouble that’s it’s worth.

I wasn't massively happy with him for making himself redundant

It has literally nothing to do with you, why do you think you get to have any say in anything he does work wise?

If his role wasn’t redundant, he wouldn’t have been selected for voluntary redundancy. He just saved himself the time of it becoming a compulsory redundancy.

You werent happy with him taking redundancy? Wtf?!? He is an adult who presumably doesnt live/isnt dependant on you? Is he required to run all decisions past you to ensure you are happy with them? You sound weirdly controlling and a bit unpleasant I'm afraid..

Why don't you do the same if you are so desperate to get your hands on £80 a week?
I mean, for all the things to get jealous and controlling over, this has got to be the silliest.
Live a little

My son was on JSA for six months after his freelance role came to an end. I was surprised as there was no pressure at all on him finding a job. I felt this was wrong as its tax payers money.

I’ve been on means tested JSA. I still had to go in for meetings every 2 weeks.

This has not been my experience at all. Was he living at home? Maybe they go a bit easier on younger adults? Our JC had mandatory appointments every other week and you had to evidence you’d spent the whole day applying for jobs everyday. If you weren’t successful after so many months you had to do unpaid work for experience.

Voluntary redundancy = he jumped before he was pushed. Got a better deal for it too. Who can blame him?

Contributions based JSA just means that any money he has is not taken into account. It is not means tested. He will still have to attend JC appointments and prove he is looking for work.

How does any of this affect you exactly?

I understand you but YABU

Unless you’ve ever had to deal with redundancy talks, you have no idea how stressful it is.

When my company was going through redundancies we were offered voluntary redundancy.
A couple of people took it and most people wished they had done the same.
The rest of us had months of not knowing what was happening, reapply and re-interviewing for our jobs and then the wait for half of the staff to be told they don’t have a job.
Many people got ill purely because of the unknown and stress it caused.

I think he made the right choice for himself and good for him to go travelling.
When else you do get that chance.

His idea to not get a job and go travelling for 6 months is very naive though.
He’ll be getting paid less than £100 a week and will need to have in-person meetings at the job centre.

He may be naive or he may be embarrassed about having to sign on/not be able to find a job and so is making out like it’s some great plan of his.

Exactly. And if you wait it out for compulsory redundancy the pay out is much lower.

He’s not abusing any system yet. Taking voluntary redundancy is often the most sensible approach if it’s offered to you and it is more than likely that you will be made compulsorily redundant eventually. I think your own fears about redundancy and being without a job are colouring your response to your brother’s situation.

As others have already said, he may find that he can’t claim benefits and then go travelling, but I’d just leave him to that and he’ll find out for himself.

Ffs, life’s too short. He’s your brother.
I took redundancy at a similar age, had a year out and travelled lots. It was the first time I had properly been off during the week in more than 15 years, it was a revelation
I had no trouble finding another job in the same field and have no regrets

It’s hardly anything, you have to frequently sign on and prove you are job hunting nearly full time, barely covers enough for travel to interviews which they will start setting up for you if you don’t!