Claiming JSA when job secured.

[dot.haukes]

Is it ok to continue to claim JSA even though I have accepted an offer of a job but it only starts on October 1st? My department closed on August 8th and the jobcentreplus person said I could claim from the 9th even though my notice finished on the 19th August, and I will be paid my notice and redundancy end of August , so I have done. I have to sign on the 27th August and then I am due to sign twice more before i start work. Is that how it works? And if I have a job toi start, what do I do about actually seeking employment, how does that work? Do I sign to say I am looking for work or do I sign to say i have a job but I haven't started it yet?

[barry1010]

You could find temporary work to fill in to the 1st October, it is still over a month away, so yes,you are still looking for work.

[dot.haukes]

good point!!! thanks, should I tell the job centre person that I have already found a job do you think or will they nor be interested as long as I have filled in that little grey booklet? (which I filled up completely in 3 days by the way!!)

[barry1010]

Best to be truthful. Stress you are still willing to work between now and the new job.

[dot.haukes]

Right, thanks for that, so does that mean that if I tell them I have accepted the job and will not need to look now, they would not pay me any money for the 5 weeks from this week til I start work?

[carrot99]

I finished one job in June and started the next in September, I claimed the JSA that everyone who has worked is entitled to i.e National Insurance based JSA. It's not means tested and you are entitled to it for 6 months. I told them I had a job to go to and there was no problem signing on.

You've paid the NI contributions Dot, you are entitled to this short term benefit.

If you are claiming the means tested JSA, as Barry says you are still looking for work until your new start date!

[dot.haukes]

Oh right yes I get it, there are two sorts as you say and I certainly do get the contributions based. i wonder if I can actually go on holiday abroard now then, if i have a job to go to, they said I couldn't if i was signing on, but if i go in a week that i don;t have to sign and i donl;t have to look for a job surely i can go then. Anyway, I don't se why you can't go abroard and still do a job search, they have the internet all over the world don't they?

[ABerrant]

Technically, no you can't holiday abroad when on JSA. You can holiday in the UK for a limited period of time, but there are regulations surrounding this.

Two weeks per year can be given as "deemed availability" for people to go away from home in the UK and not be available for interview/work. This can be used for things such as holidays and funerals.

It is conceivable that you could need to go abroad for interview (or for exceptional circumstances, such as taking a child abroad to receive medical treatment not available in the UK) but proof of this would be required to prevent JSA being stopped.

[carrot99]

If you're only going for a week, go and plead ignorance if you're ever found out - Dot, you've worked all your life, you're not a social security scrounger - they are only giving you back a tiny amount of what you've already paid in and will continue to pay once you're back at work.

[ABerrant]

Why chance your good name with a possible charge for fraud over a week's JSA?

[Buenchico]

Hi Dot

I once made the mistake of telling a Jobcentre Plus employee that I was going on a day trip abroad. She very sternly pointed out that I was required to sign off JSA for that one day and then sign on again (and go through the tedious interview procedures which were in place at that time) on the day after I returned. The fact that I was going away for the day on a Sunday (when there was even less chance of me finding any casual work than normal) was completely irrelevant.

So, if you leave the country to go on holiday (or, indeed, for any other reason) your entitlement to JSA automatically ends. (However you can still sign back on, if there's a gap before your new employment starts, as soon as you return. If you do, make sure that you use the words 'rapid reclaim', which will mean your JSA start date will be two days earlier than the normal process, and there will be fewer formalities to go through).

With regard to your original question:
If you've got employment starting on 1st October, you're fully entitled to claim JSA from the end of your current employment up until then (except when you're abroad). Jobcentre Plus are fully aware that I will start a new job (even though it's on a 'semi-casual' basis) on 7th September. I'm still receiving JSA until then, on the basis that I'll accept any casual work which comes up in the meantime.

Chris