Sanctions- Discretion Work Coach

[kenjonbro]

Being new to JSA , I mistook a day and missed an appointment.I got sanctioned for this.However, going on other Job courses I have been sent to by the Job Centres I am shocked at how other claimants claim they are not going to attend any further sessions-they seem totally unaware of sanctions. On another course 6 failed to turn up.Expensive mistake.
So how much discretion does a Work Coach have ?, if any ? ultimately they are the first to know of any potential failure to comply ? Is it a process beyond their control ? Or , is it , as it seems to me that some Work coaches are very lenient on their clients and some like mine are very strict.
Please note I am not on about Decision makers, mandatory blah blah , tribunals etc

[DaisyNonna]

Work Coaches? You are joking, surely.

[Mamyalynne]

They do indeed exist.

I am not sure what leniency they have but surely there must be a paper trail of those who attend courses.


https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/positive-change-for-work-coaches-and-claimants

[DaisyNonna]

A one size fits all coach for claimants?

[Mamyalynne]

One would need to research the job title and description more within the DWP or Gov.Uk pages to find that out.

That was the first link I came across,and a bit late to research.

[Mamyalynne]

Good luck kenjonbro.

Night.

[Cloverjo]

As far as I know, it is the Work Coach's job to get people off benefits and into work, not to advise them about sanctions. Maybe some of them feel they are doing their job better by informing those higher up about who turned up and who didn't, while others are prepared to turn a blind eye.
It's a lot stricter than when I briefly claimed unemployment benefit years ago.

[EDDIE51]

Work coach's are required to submit a list of those who attend courses.
They do not 'sanction' claimants they just list who attended.
If a particular person does not turn up they will not be marked as having attended and are liable to be sanctioned. But it is not the coaches decision it is up to the job center.
If you are due to attend a course and have a valid reason why you can not go, it is up to you to inform the job center before hand,no good telling the coach they can only say if you attended or not.

[murraymints]

Eddie is correct..a roll of persons booked onto courses is sent to provider..the provider then annotates daily attendance and returns to office of submission who then take any necessary steps...payment of travelling expences etc is also monitored..I once, when doing an audit, discovered a provider was claiming travelling expenses for ghost attendees...quite a large sum of money was involved going back several years...the previous auditors had not cross checked names on the different paperwork....

[kenjonbro]

When I went to sign on my work coach was aware of my non attendance. I explained the reason. She was the one who started the process in my prescence .She did not say whether she was duty bound to do so.

[EDDIE51]

The work coach just reports the non attendance to their superior , they personally do not make the decision on sanctions .

[EDDIE51]

Just to add ,the rules on JSA claims are being made a lot tougher.
They do not let you get away with anything now.

[kenjonbro]

Eddie - I know "that they personally do not make the decision on sanctions" -that's why mentioned the people who do -Decision makers.
We need to keep things strictly separate - Do work coaches have reporting discretion?