Jobseekers Allowance Advice:

This is a must read guide for those who wish to claim Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) even though may also be used to those already claiming.  This specific article focuses on the Jobseekers Agreement (JSAg) an agreement that binds you to your legal rights and responsibilities which is instrumental in making sure you are treated fairly.

1. Playing the system

It may be seen as this article and the others on this site is to enable you to play the system. In fact, this is true – the difference is you are NOT executing any guidance on this site into action to gain money by deception (or “benefit fraud”). The problem with the benefit system is claimants like you or those like you who may wish to claim are not aware of the full rules and the Jobcentre takes advantage of this and impose unlawful sanctions, deductions in payments or terminate your claim.

You can theoretically Appeal – in the first instance to an Decision Maker who generally are very biased. You can also if they fail to change their decision, take it to a tribunal – it is at this stage before this happens they normally decide to send out Giros (Even if you are normally paid in to the bank) as they know they will lose to a Tribunal.

Two comments to be made are:

1. If you keep Appealing and are undeterred by their discouragement you will typically get all money you are legally owed with 3 major issues: 1) this payment can be up to 6 months late, 2) sanctions, deductions and termination at the time means hardship for most claimants (i.e. your bills don’t stop just because your JSA does) and 3) typically costs for Appeal i.e. travel to Jobcentre, postage for appeal correspondence and telephone bill for costs to the Benefit Delivery Centre (0845 numbers are free to some people though) this is all obviously without receiving payment at the time.
2. Why and how would most people Appeal? If you don’t know the law most people would accept their decision as made with authority “the law says we cannot pay you” or “Secretary of State gives powers to…” – they will obviously think the law was wrong but not see a defence because they are not sure they have one.  Your appeal will not get far if your reason is “I would like to appeal because I have a right to” or “I would like to appeal because the whole benefit system is wrong and unfair”

2. Threat of Sanctions

You will constantly be threatened or otherwise advised that you risk getting a 26 week sanction or you are subject up to a 26 week sanction. This is not right. Fixed sanctions work on this increasing scale: 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 26 weeks. If there were an issue regarding your claim the maximum fixed sanction they can give you is 2 weeks for your first offence and not 6 months as most Employment Officers would like you to believe.

3. Don’t be too keen

So, you are unemployed, you may not be fussy with the types of work you will do or the hours you can work and you can apply to your own hearts content to various jobs that match this, however, don’t tell the Jobcentre this. Under law you are only required to disclose various information including but not limited to change of circumstances, details of capital and whether you have done any work prior to when you sign labour market declarations (“sign on”).

4. Benefit sanctions are always lurking around the corner

Sanctions, deductions and termination always await around the corner – whether this is an error by their part or you have allegedly not carried out a Jobseeker Direction or been dismissed from a training course – it is possible. You shouldn’t take it from the aspect that you being genuine is enough and you abiding by the rules will enable you to never experience this.

5. Jobseekers Agreement (JSAg)

Be confident, assertive but not abusive. You are just a number to them they don’t care so you need to make sure that the agreement is to your approval and recommendation, after all this holds a lot of weight in deciding your claim whether with an adviser or for the use of a Decision Maker.

The agreement:

Types of work you are looking for

You will need to choose 3 types of job to apply for. You must remember if for example you stuck down cleaner, that you will have problems if they refer you to a cleaning vacancy and they find out you didn’t apply. If you have past experience of working then normally you should list the job types you already have experience with.

Willing to start work

Most people stick “immediately” down. I would advise suggesting after 48 hours and carry the argument that employers will generally give you a weeks notice prior to starting. In an interview you should never say immediately, if they ask when you can start, however if for some reason it gets back to the Jobcentre that you said for example “3 days” when your JSAg says “immediately” you will be sanctioned.

If you are offered a job in the morning on the condition you start this afternoon, then by all means take it. You need to select this as the maximum time scale and not the minimum. I would advise that if they cause a stink over this, negotiate to 24 hours. Avoid immediately if you can.

Limit days and hours

Choose no unless you have a specific reason such as caring responsibility.

I am available for these days and these hours

Regardless of what you select above, the worst mistake you can make is playing the flexible card  and declaring pretty much that you can work almost any hours a day. I will explain later.

If your long term job goal is in Office Work/Administration then the hours are pretty much 9am to 5.30 Monday to Friday: I would suggest not putting any period longer than 8am to 6 pm. This agreement is solely between you and the Jobcentre. Employers don’t get to see it nor are you legally limited to do what’s contained within the Jobseekers Agreement therefore you can remain flexible to your own discretion.

The proposed time-scales are for the bare minimum you can work, whereas the associated maximum hours is the maximum you can work. The worst mistake you can make is to be persuaded to disclose the maximum possible ranges of time you can start and end each working day. Also, remember, you will need to travel up to 1 hour (this later increases to 1.5 hours) to work and back a day – even though you may squeeze by with 30 minutes to begin with especially if you have access to a car – so you need to work backwards…

If you were silly enough to state 6am start time for each day, you will need to take an hour off for travel, that’s 5am – if you use public transport be advised that many services (if not all) wont run that early or if they do not so frequently – but of course you will need to wake up first, allowing time to wake up/get out of bed, shower/bath, get dressed, eat breakfast etc. so you are looking at at least 40 minutes or an hour – you would have to get up at 4am!  The Jobcentre wouldn’t allow you to revise a reason for this and would say you are in breach of the Jobseekers Agreement (JSAg) and yes that means a sanction or termination.

It is similar if you stated finish time of 11pm… add an hour for travel back home, shower/bath, maybe watch some TV for an hour, you are looking at going to bed at after 1 am – leaving you with 3 hours sleep before getting up in the morning. Obviously you wouldn’t do this but you would be obligated to on the condition if you ever was likely to claim Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) again. You never know what is around the corner.

This is for a BIG reason: an example is as follows. You start work doing pretty much a 9-5 job. Your employment contract states that your employer must give prior notice to work overtime and that any overtime is paid at normal rate. Tonight you have very important plans and your employers hasn’t notified you of any intention of working that night. Your employer was late to delegate you some work with a deadline of tonight when you should have been given it 2 weeks ago. Your employer requests at quarter to 5, that he wants you to work until 10pm tonight. You decline because you have plans beginning at 7pm that you can’t reschedule. You are later sacked. You claim Jobseekers Allowance again, however, are sanctioned because your last Jobseekers Agreement (JSAg) stated you could work between 6am and 11pm everyday. Working from 9am to 10pm is well in these time-scales.

You are in a better position not to be imposed with a discretionary sanction of up to 26 weeks (in this case the 2 weeks fixed sanction for first offence doesn’t apply) if your Jobseekers Agreement said you weren’t available to work that late – as unfortuntely any genuine reason you could give would generally not be justifiable and sanctions will remain imposed.

Other agreed restrictions

Without going over the top as their isn’t much space I would advise you to list any disabilities, medical conditions or other reasonable issues which are a factor for you in to employment.

If you suffer from Hay Fever or other allergies which may likely be present at a potential workplace you should include this. If you have disabilities then you should request something along the lines of “The workplace must be DDA compliant and willing to aid me by adaptations where necessary” on your Jobseekers Agreement. If you aim to work at a very small employer with a few staff they are NOT required under law to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act thus you can’t presume everywhere will be DDA compliant. It is also worth noting they can easily get rid of you during your probation period and claim that you were unable to do the work instead of realising you could if the employer supported you by making minor adaptations.

Again, sanctions or termination will be imposed for an alleged offence and you will have to Appeal to get round it. It is far better to take these steps to prevent that happening to begin with rather then having to make an long Appeal.

If you have a religion and there are certain days you can’t work you must disclose them here.

If you use public transport then you might be inclined to stick a condition of availability of public transport. A train travelling between cities is likely to be fast and quite frequent. A rural bus service traveling you only several miles as the crow flies but carrying out a long winding bus route could take longer for less distance, be subject to any traffic jams and could be limited to a frequency of between every 1-2 hours.

What I will do to find work

Don’t be too over optimistic with the figures – they are NOT asking you the average or the most likely number on a good week… this is the MINIMUM for EVERY WEEK. Fail this by just one you will receive sanctions or have your claim terminated.

Write: The number agreed here is the number of employers you write to (speculative applications etc.) a week.  Even though not intended, this also includes any postal job applications sent off and also those done electronically.

Phone: The number agreed here is the number of employers you have contacted by phone. Most application forms for postal applications are obtained via the phone.

Visit: Sometimes it is always best to visit in person whether to request an advertised job or enquire about any vacancies. Please be aware that this will give them a lasting impression: make sure it is a good one! The agreed number is the minimum visits you will do a week.

Contact Jobseeker Direct: They obviously log your calls and any job they suggest gets recorded regardless of the suitability which are Jobseeker Directions – failure to comply results in… yes you guessed it!  I personally would opt out of this, they have the same pool of jobs as the Jobcentre Website and Jobpoints. I only recommend this route if you don’t use the Jobpoints and don’t have internet access. The number is for the minimum number of calls a week.

Ask family and friends: They can’t really check up on this one, you might as well say yes

Newspapers: I personally find are better than the Jobcentre Plus jobs database which contains too many jobs that don’t even exist, are jobs set up to track to see whether you would apply and of course agencies.

Employment Officers, the staff who will do this Jobseekers Agreement will always suggest optimistic targets – they think because you are unemployed (regardless if it has only been for 2 weeks) you are lowlife scum who is lazy and not doing enough to find work and they intend of kicking you up the backside so-to-speak to get you to search for jobs.

These are NOT aims but requirements. If you don’t think you can achieve what they suggest then you must tell them.

The economic climate at the moment doesn’t help this situation. A big NO is deciding to apply for any job to match over optimistic targets and either apply for it without effort, make it so bad you have no chance of getting the job or apply as you would normally do but decline a job offer or interview, deliberately come across as bad at an interview or start the job but later decide to quit or get sacked. The Jobcentre doesn’t take this lightly and discretionary sanctions of 26 weeks have been known to be imposed for this (first offence too).

Other activities

What else will you do to look for work? This is equally as important as the above section. Do not include anything just for the sake of it.  These typically include searching the jobcentre website and jobpoints. These are conditional factors too.

Disclaimer on opposite side

When you sign you are agreeing with all that is said on the otherside. It also tells you your responsibilities. The part under My Rights that states you can appeal to a independent tribunal is utter bullshit. You first have to appeal to the Decision Maker to reconsider their decision… this can alone add up to 2-6 months, it is the Jobcentre for to refer it to an independent tribunal (please feel free to notify me if you know of any different).

It also states you can change the Jobseekers Agreement (JSAg) at anytime – you can’t if you are signing on – only if you have an interview like with a New Deal Personal Adviser or a back to work interview can you change it.

6. Reasons for doing this

The Jobseeker Agreement (JSAg) has two main purposes:

1. To serve as the document which slightly tweaks the law while you receive Jobseekers Allowance (JSA)
2. As evidence for future claims, should you be dismissed or quit, determines whether you are able to claim

Many people do not recognise the significance of the second reason. You may be likely to find employment very soon but can you guarantee that you will never claim JSA again? While doing your Jobseekers Agreement (JSAg) you should consider the uncertainty about the future, it is no ones intention to ever go back on benefits but its a lifeline if you need it. Simply, don’t lose that lifeline by making a mistake withotu knowing it.

7. Benefit fraud

Under law, the Jobseeker has equal ability and rights to create, negotiate, change or amend the Jobseeker Agreement as any Employment Officer working for the Jobcentre has. The only difference is the Employment Officer has the authority (delegated from Secretary of State) to be able to reject certain changes if they feel it isn’t doing enough to search for work. If they have a big problem with any reasonable changes you suggest you are in your rights to request a supervisor or a manager to come over and talk to you about it. Timescales should never become a factor – it is better to be there an hour rather than 20 minutes if your rights can be respected and that the agreement is equal and fair. The supervisor or manager is likely to be their boss, it is however not yours, so don’t take no for an answer.Generally, there isn’t signficant time slots for them to be able to argue with you.

This can be known as “playing the system” – it is however not fiddling the system or being fraudulent in anyway. All you are doing is being aware of your rights and the law – and applying such as it should be. If you match the responsibilities for Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) including having no income or job, looking for work and being available for work then you are perfectly legit with following this guide. I hope it helps!