Jsa Sanction & Not My Fault What Can I Do

[Borabora2014]

I completed the forms online for JSA on 3/1/14 and received a text message on 6/1/14 to advise I had an appointment at the job centre on 8/1/14 which I attended. I then had to sign on every other week commencing 16/1/14. I then received a letter saying my claim would possibly be sanctioned as I failed to attend an Avanta appointment on 7/1/14, taking into account I hadn't even been to the job centre to initially sign for my claim nor had I received any letter from Avanta. I wrote and advised them of this and just now received a letter saying I won't be receiving any further payments as my benefits have been sanctioned for a month as I haven't complied. I have since just received my first letter saying my appointment with Avanta is on 26/2/14. This surely cannot be right that they can do this, I have done nothing wrong, surely looking at it someone in the jobcentre should have noticed that the supposed appointment with Avanta was before I was due to sign for the first time. It makes me wonder what sort of people they employ in these places, they cause stress and havoc with people's lives when most are at their lowest times ever, I'm distraught over this as I don't know how on earth I'm going to manage for a month with no money, it simply is not my fault at all. Does anyone have any help for me please ?

[factor-fiction]

I realise it's worrying and annoying but if you speak to them next time you sign on and show them your Avanta letter it'll probably be sorted out quite easily

[patsyann]

Happens all the time. Both of my hard working daughters were made redundant at the same time. They signed on for JSA and both of them were made to feel like scum of the earth and both had money stopped because they were given wrong dates for appointments. Luckily they soon found jobs but actually had to attend lectures on how to apply and behave when seeking employment by young teenagers. They are aged 48 and 50 and have worked since leaving school apart from when their children were small. I felt very angry.Sorry i cant be of any help thats how it is i am afraid.

[factor-fiction]

I've had a few spells on JSA, patsyann. I found the Job Centre staff were fine, although they did nothing to help me find work. I certainly didn't "feel like scum of the earth". But it wasn't a pleasant experience and I too had to sit through a mediocre training session on job seeking from someone who clearly knew less about the subject than I did

[SonnyCrockett]

Job centres deliberately behave this way to pi$$ you off so you can get into work. I actually believe the staff are trained this way

[douglas9401]

When it's all sorted you'll receive any money due as a result of the mix up but yes, it's stressful enough looking for a job without these problems.
I was made redundant a couple of years ago, just before Christmas and was met with a certain coolness by Jobcentre staff until I informed them that I was starting in a new job in early January. It all got very cheery from then on.

[Borabora2014]

I can't believe that they twice haven't noticed the dates though, how could they expect me to go to Avanta when I had yet to start signing. The amount of money these people get paid they should not be making these errors. Even when my reason for not attending the supposed appointment was sent in it still hasn't made them click. If this is an insight as to how incompetent the staff are in the Jobcentre then I hold no hope what-so-ever of them being any help in finding me employment, I will probably do better on my own. Thank you everyone though for your input x

[THECORBYLOON]

Couple of questions, Avanta is one of the Work Programme Providers so was this your first ever claim for JSA and if no, were you on the Work Programme previously?

[Borabora2014]

Hi there, this is the first time I have made a claim for over a year and previous or that I never attended Avanta as I found work before I was referred.

[DaisyNonna]

When I was made redundant I quickly came to the conclusion that no one was interested in helping me to find a job, only in ticking boxes. Only suggestion made was that I attended a course on how to write a CV. As I had been teaching teenagers this for X number of years In was slightly confused. Yes, I was up to date on what was required. Spent a pleasant morning helping others on the course understand what they had to do. So called teacher was useless.

[factor-fiction]

>"how could they expect me to go to Avanta when I had yet to start signing."

if you were asked to go you should have gone, or at least spoken to them, rather than just not go. it does seem odd to send you so early but it is probably because you've been on JSA before and it was your turn to go.

[jim360]

Bear in mind that the primary job of the staff is to follow the policy from above, really. There is a lot of administrative work and in my experience it's tedium in absurdum. Current JSA guidelines place a lot of emphasis on the claimant finding work, signing on to various agencies such as Reed Employment and making regular job searches and applications. Usually the only thing that someone at a Jobcentre adds is that they perform these searches for you, but if you are competent around a computer and the internet, there is little or nothing they can add to the process. This isn't really their fault, but in a way the job-searching stage isn't all that difficult. Find something in your area that you can travel to, for which you have the right experience and qualifications. It's the rest of it that's tough, and yet there are also plenty of CV-writing guides out there, too.

When I was on JSA last Summer, virtually the only thing I needed to go to the Jobcentre for was to sign on. If you know what you are doing then the advisors there do become redundant -- but that's not really their fault.

As to your specific problem, it depends on the timing I guess. If you were not made aware of the Avanta appointment before you missed it then you have reasonable grounds to challenge the decision but hopefully it can be sorted out rather easier than an Appeals process. Show them the letter and all will be well, I hope.

Being on JSA is a headache, I'm afraid, so hopefully it won't be too long before you find a new job and you can get off it.

[THECORBYLOON]

When folk are put on the Work Programme (WP) it's for a two-year period. This means that if you're on and off JSA during the two years, you go back on when a new claim is made. Each time a new claim is made or following a disallowance of JSA because the claimant's not been looking for work for example, the claimant MUST be given a form called a WP05 which explains the obligation to participate in the WP and sanctions that may be applied for any failure to participate. If a WP05 wasn't given then you were not correctly notified and a sanction cannot be imposed.

The Jobcentre would not have been involved in the sanction process, the Provider notifies the DWP that the claimant's not attended and someone from a Labour Market team sends out a letter to the claimant asking why. If a good reason is not given, a Labour Market Decision Maker imposes a sanction. The letter notifying the sanction will explain you have the right to ask for the decision to be looked at again as part of the Mandatory Reconsideration process.

[Borabora2014]

Factor-Fiction as I said in my original post I did not attend the job centre until the 8th January and I had not received any letter from Avanta before this date telling me I needed to attend on the 7th January (this date is before I had even attended to sign) so how was I supposed to go to something I knew nothing about. When I did attend the job centre to sign it was mentioned then that in the course of the next few weeks I would receive a letter from Avanta. I have no problem attending these places, I wouldn't just not turn up ! Since all this has happened I have now got a letter from Avanta stating that I have not missed any appointments and my first appointment isn't until the 26th of this month. If this is how the job centre and Avanta work then I hold no hope of them being of any help at all. Due to their incompetence and lack of communication with each other I am the one suffering by being sanctioned until they sort their mistakes out ! They should be ashamed of themselves !

[Borabora2014]

Thank you everyone for your input. After kicking up a bit of a stink I have today received a call to advise that there has been an error and that they have lifted the sanction. They couldn't tell me when I would receive my money that is now over a week late nor did I receive an apology of any kind from them. One thing for sure I will not be signing on anymore as the whole experience has been a complete nightmare, it's just made me more determined to find work on my own without having to go to them and I can't even say go to them for help because I don't think they know the meaning of the word.

[THECORBYLOON]

Can I just say again that the folk at the Jobcentre did not impose the sanction, it would have been done by a Labour Market Decision Maker so you should not blame the Jobcentre.