hia chaps im currently on JSA and for a few months (july) now have been treated horrendously by my advisor. 18-24 get treated terribly now it appears.
ive drafted a letter of complaint, just wondering if anyone would be willing to take a read and give advice anyone who has been in a similar situation, any advice for me?
thanks
edit: i know it a big read, but any advice would be greatly appreciated.
ive drafted a letter of complaint, just wondering if anyone would be willing to take a read and give advice anyone who has been in a similar situation, any advice for me?
thanks
edit: i know it a big read, but any advice would be greatly appreciated.
14/11/2013
Jobcentre Plus
Siemans Way
Swansea
United Kingdom
SA80 8AD
Employment and Support Allowance
Benefit Centre
Dear sir/madam,
I am writing to make a formal complaint against my advisor, xxx, who works in xxx and am requesting to simply have a new advisor who is interested in helping me.
I have been on JSA since July (after rapid reclaim) but since the last 3 months or so have had a sanction put in place due to me not meeting JSA agreement. When I first attended I was given a piece of paper and told “this is for your job search, however we are looking to get people on to UJM and document their entire search on there”.
Since then I did my search on UJM no problem, however on one occasion I documented my job search on both UJM and a piece of paper. This was due to me not having internet access due to a faulty router that needed replacing. I was told this wasn’t good enough as the entire search had to be on UJM and am now on a sanction till 12/12. I felt very hard done by this but accepted it. I then applied for a hardship which I am currently not receiving due to a suspension that has been in place for 8 weeks.
It was around this time that I informed my “advisor” that I was attending college again to convert my HNC into a HND. This is a part time course consisting of 4 units, at 7.5-10 hours, depending on work load. I was given part time form to be signed by my tutor to confirm the hours and that the course is part time, as anything above 16 is classed as fulltime. Once this is handed the suspension on me receiving hardship that had been put in place could be removed. I competed this form and handed it in within two weeks of receiving the form. I filled the form in and wrote down that the course was 10 hours (which has been confirmed by my tutor via email to my advisor) but due to my lacklustre handwriting the 0 looked similar to a 6, so I went over the initial 0 again to avoid any confusion, as 16 hours is classed at fulltime and would affect my benefit. She said this wasn’t true and 16 was initially written down not 10. How she could know that is beyond me and I think she is just trying to prolong me getting any sort of benefit.
Having told my advisor that I was topping up to a HND, she took it upon herself to look on pembs college website and seen that the HND on the website is classed as fulltime and 3 days a week.
Having seen this she then decided to ring the college and speak to my course tutor and ask whether the HND is full or part time, without even giving my name. At the last minute my course tutor told her that he has one student studying part time. Sharen didn’t bother to ask what the part time student’s name was or DOB for example which could have sorted the issue out there and then. She is aware that I am not doing a traditional HND as the last two years I have studied a HNC which covers around two thirds of the HND, so to not give my name, given the circumstances relating to me and the HND module seemed to be redundant and I feel she was looking for the ammunition to say to me “I’ve confirmed you’re doing a full time course so you are not entitled to JSA”. I asked my advisor then to contact him and give my name and ask for confirmation about my course details. She said she would email and ask even though I said that would be a waste of time and take forever as he is a busy man and takes forever to reply.
At this point I had forgotten that I had handed in the paperwork confirming all the information she was trying to acquire via email from my tutor. I recently asked her why the form I handed in wasn’t sufficient and she claimed that the time of the course had been initially written down as 16 and ha been amended to 10. I told her what I mentioned above about my handwriting but she said “no it had been amended from 16 to 10”, which is complete nonsense. She told me this at end of October, start of November, from me asking her about the form. She would have made that decision weeks ago but had decided not to tell me for a reason I can’t give. I asked her several times to contact my course tutor to resolve the issue, I even give his personal mobile number and she said “if I have two minutes during the day I would ring him”. This was during an appointment with me and I found it hard to understand how she would need to find two minutes to ring him when her time was allocated to me at that moment, and why she didn’t ring him there and then. This continued for 6 weeks and I was told “if I get time, I’m busy with lots of people” etc. so basically she refused to ring him when it meant that I would get money but was quite happy to pick phone up and ring my tutor when she thought she was going to get confirmation that I was in full time education and would remove me from JSA benefit. It has been 8 weeks and this issue still isn’t resolved, which I find appalling as the suspension on my hardship claim is still in place.
She is now trying to sanction me again because after looking at my UJM documented searched (which shows 29 steps for the previous two weeks, agreement states at least 13, and 3 job application done, currently 6 in pipeline while writing this) that I hadn’t been on jobs growth wales (haven’t been on there in ages) as my previous searches were deemed fine without me going onto jobs growth wales. She is threating that my JSA sanction will be extended past the 12/12, probs end of December, early Jan. I fail to understand how this can happen. My agreement is a job seekers agreement. I haven’t been receiving JSA for months so why am I expected to meet every criteria of the agreement? If I meet the criteria I don’t get anything, if I don’t meet the criteria I don’t anything. The only reason I do an in-depth job search is to receive hardship, which I haven’t received in 8 weeks, so to have my sanction extended on my JSA claim for simply not going onto a specific website is insane. I have now started going onto JGW again and noticed 2 jobs have been put up in last week and I have applied for them. She is also trying to sanction me because I forgot to show up for an appointment on a Tuesday, when I signed on the previous Thurs. This was a genuine mistake and first appointment that I haven’t attended without contacting them. I usually go weekly, Thurs to Thurs but on this occasion it was Thurs then Tues and I didn’t remember till 12 am that night, which is when I promptly contacted sharen apologising via email and also rang her first thing in the morning to apologise.
I feel my current advisor is more interested in grinding me down and making me say “you know what this isn’t worth the hassle” and stop claiming JSA, rather than helping me get into employment. I have had 36 pound in last 2-3 months which I feel is appalling, given I could be receiving hardship ages ago if she was willing to pick up phone and contact my course tutor.
If I’m successful in one of my job applications, how am I supposed to travel to there and back?? I’ve applied for a job in asda which is 7-8 miles away. How can I pay for bus to do my shift every day if I have no money? Just 2 hardship payment would cover that till I get first wage but I can’t even get that at this minute.
She has been no help to me whatsoever and when I ask for genuine help it’s in non-existent. I find it hard to believe she couldn’t find 2 mins over a 6 week period to pick up the phone, as mentioned above.
All I ask is to have a different advisor in my local job centre that can be of an assistance. I will accept a sanction on my JSA till the 12/12 but I do fear it will be made much longer which if does occur is scandalous.
I’ve spoken to people my age recently who have a completely different JSA agreement that is extremely lenient compared to mine and I feel that I am being treated unfairly. Theirs is a combination of UJM and written search but one individual hadn’t log into UJM since 17/10!!!! He also stated he checks every couple of days and just writes it down on piece of paper and that suffices. I know we all have different agreements but when I’m doing so much more than him and he’s getting JSA and I’ve got a suspension on a hardship payment, I can’t help but feel mistreated.
At the end of the day I want a job but currently feel that my chances are being reduced due to aggressive tactics imposed by my advisor. I hope you do consider my proposal and help me move on from this fiasco.
Thank you for your time and sorry for rambling on
Yours sincerely
Jobcentre Plus
Siemans Way
Swansea
United Kingdom
SA80 8AD
Employment and Support Allowance
Benefit Centre
Dear sir/madam,
I am writing to make a formal complaint against my advisor, xxx, who works in xxx and am requesting to simply have a new advisor who is interested in helping me.
I have been on JSA since July (after rapid reclaim) but since the last 3 months or so have had a sanction put in place due to me not meeting JSA agreement. When I first attended I was given a piece of paper and told “this is for your job search, however we are looking to get people on to UJM and document their entire search on there”.
Since then I did my search on UJM no problem, however on one occasion I documented my job search on both UJM and a piece of paper. This was due to me not having internet access due to a faulty router that needed replacing. I was told this wasn’t good enough as the entire search had to be on UJM and am now on a sanction till 12/12. I felt very hard done by this but accepted it. I then applied for a hardship which I am currently not receiving due to a suspension that has been in place for 8 weeks.
It was around this time that I informed my “advisor” that I was attending college again to convert my HNC into a HND. This is a part time course consisting of 4 units, at 7.5-10 hours, depending on work load. I was given part time form to be signed by my tutor to confirm the hours and that the course is part time, as anything above 16 is classed as fulltime. Once this is handed the suspension on me receiving hardship that had been put in place could be removed. I competed this form and handed it in within two weeks of receiving the form. I filled the form in and wrote down that the course was 10 hours (which has been confirmed by my tutor via email to my advisor) but due to my lacklustre handwriting the 0 looked similar to a 6, so I went over the initial 0 again to avoid any confusion, as 16 hours is classed at fulltime and would affect my benefit. She said this wasn’t true and 16 was initially written down not 10. How she could know that is beyond me and I think she is just trying to prolong me getting any sort of benefit.
Having told my advisor that I was topping up to a HND, she took it upon herself to look on pembs college website and seen that the HND on the website is classed as fulltime and 3 days a week.
Having seen this she then decided to ring the college and speak to my course tutor and ask whether the HND is full or part time, without even giving my name. At the last minute my course tutor told her that he has one student studying part time. Sharen didn’t bother to ask what the part time student’s name was or DOB for example which could have sorted the issue out there and then. She is aware that I am not doing a traditional HND as the last two years I have studied a HNC which covers around two thirds of the HND, so to not give my name, given the circumstances relating to me and the HND module seemed to be redundant and I feel she was looking for the ammunition to say to me “I’ve confirmed you’re doing a full time course so you are not entitled to JSA”. I asked my advisor then to contact him and give my name and ask for confirmation about my course details. She said she would email and ask even though I said that would be a waste of time and take forever as he is a busy man and takes forever to reply.
At this point I had forgotten that I had handed in the paperwork confirming all the information she was trying to acquire via email from my tutor. I recently asked her why the form I handed in wasn’t sufficient and she claimed that the time of the course had been initially written down as 16 and ha been amended to 10. I told her what I mentioned above about my handwriting but she said “no it had been amended from 16 to 10”, which is complete nonsense. She told me this at end of October, start of November, from me asking her about the form. She would have made that decision weeks ago but had decided not to tell me for a reason I can’t give. I asked her several times to contact my course tutor to resolve the issue, I even give his personal mobile number and she said “if I have two minutes during the day I would ring him”. This was during an appointment with me and I found it hard to understand how she would need to find two minutes to ring him when her time was allocated to me at that moment, and why she didn’t ring him there and then. This continued for 6 weeks and I was told “if I get time, I’m busy with lots of people” etc. so basically she refused to ring him when it meant that I would get money but was quite happy to pick phone up and ring my tutor when she thought she was going to get confirmation that I was in full time education and would remove me from JSA benefit. It has been 8 weeks and this issue still isn’t resolved, which I find appalling as the suspension on my hardship claim is still in place.
She is now trying to sanction me again because after looking at my UJM documented searched (which shows 29 steps for the previous two weeks, agreement states at least 13, and 3 job application done, currently 6 in pipeline while writing this) that I hadn’t been on jobs growth wales (haven’t been on there in ages) as my previous searches were deemed fine without me going onto jobs growth wales. She is threating that my JSA sanction will be extended past the 12/12, probs end of December, early Jan. I fail to understand how this can happen. My agreement is a job seekers agreement. I haven’t been receiving JSA for months so why am I expected to meet every criteria of the agreement? If I meet the criteria I don’t get anything, if I don’t meet the criteria I don’t anything. The only reason I do an in-depth job search is to receive hardship, which I haven’t received in 8 weeks, so to have my sanction extended on my JSA claim for simply not going onto a specific website is insane. I have now started going onto JGW again and noticed 2 jobs have been put up in last week and I have applied for them. She is also trying to sanction me because I forgot to show up for an appointment on a Tuesday, when I signed on the previous Thurs. This was a genuine mistake and first appointment that I haven’t attended without contacting them. I usually go weekly, Thurs to Thurs but on this occasion it was Thurs then Tues and I didn’t remember till 12 am that night, which is when I promptly contacted sharen apologising via email and also rang her first thing in the morning to apologise.
I feel my current advisor is more interested in grinding me down and making me say “you know what this isn’t worth the hassle” and stop claiming JSA, rather than helping me get into employment. I have had 36 pound in last 2-3 months which I feel is appalling, given I could be receiving hardship ages ago if she was willing to pick up phone and contact my course tutor.
If I’m successful in one of my job applications, how am I supposed to travel to there and back?? I’ve applied for a job in asda which is 7-8 miles away. How can I pay for bus to do my shift every day if I have no money? Just 2 hardship payment would cover that till I get first wage but I can’t even get that at this minute.
She has been no help to me whatsoever and when I ask for genuine help it’s in non-existent. I find it hard to believe she couldn’t find 2 mins over a 6 week period to pick up the phone, as mentioned above.
All I ask is to have a different advisor in my local job centre that can be of an assistance. I will accept a sanction on my JSA till the 12/12 but I do fear it will be made much longer which if does occur is scandalous.
I’ve spoken to people my age recently who have a completely different JSA agreement that is extremely lenient compared to mine and I feel that I am being treated unfairly. Theirs is a combination of UJM and written search but one individual hadn’t log into UJM since 17/10!!!! He also stated he checks every couple of days and just writes it down on piece of paper and that suffices. I know we all have different agreements but when I’m doing so much more than him and he’s getting JSA and I’ve got a suspension on a hardship payment, I can’t help but feel mistreated.
At the end of the day I want a job but currently feel that my chances are being reduced due to aggressive tactics imposed by my advisor. I hope you do consider my proposal and help me move on from this fiasco.
Thank you for your time and sorry for rambling on
Yours sincerely
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