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Loading ...As from today the New Deal Scandal network will be also promoting the abolishment of the Jobseekers Agreement (JSAg), an proposed act of Welfare Reform
1. Jobseekers Allowance and the law
The main statutory legislation is the Jobseekers Act 1995, as amended, and tweaked by Statutory Instruments (Regulations and Orders etc.) a law that all claimants of Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) have to follow.
A snippet is as follows:
Part I
The Jobseeker’s AllowanceEntitlement
1 The jobseeker’s allowance
(1) An allowance, to be known as a jobseeker’s allowance, shall be payable in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, a claimant is entitled to a jobseeker’s allowance if he—
(a) is available for employment;
(b) has entered into a jobseeker’s agreement which remains in force;
(c) is actively seeking employment;
(d) satisfies either—
(i) the conditions set out in section 2; or
(ii) the conditions set out in section 3;
(e) is not engaged in remunerative work;
(f) is capable of work;
(g) is not receiving relevant education;
(h) is under pensionable age; and
(i) is in Great Britain.
(3) A jobseeker’s allowance is payable in respect of a week.
(4) In this Act—
“a contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance” means a jobseeker’s allowance entitlement to which is based on the claimant’s satisfying conditions which include those set out in section 2; and
“an income-based jobseeker’s allowance” means a jobseeker’s allowance entitlement to which is based on the claimant’s satisfying conditions which include those set out in section 3.
Section 2 refers to contribution based Jobseekers Allowance and Section 3 refers to income based Jobseekers Allowance.
Now, everyone is bound to the clauses in the Jobseekers Act 1995, but everybody’s Jobseekers Agreement (JSAg) varies…
2. Jobseekers Agreement
At a stage where everything is about equality and equal opportunities why are Jobseekers forced into a contractual agreement which content can completely vary from one person to the next and determine how statutory legislation is applied?
(Of course there are clauses in the statutory legislation giving great powers to the Jobseekers Agreement and any other written contract made up and signed wont be able to do the same of tweaking the unemployment benefit law)
I don’t disagree in principle of an agreement highlighting the responsibilities of the Jobseekers and summarising the law into easier understandable chunks but at current, the Jobseekers Agreement allows either party to change the definitions of sections and subsections in the Jobseekers Act 1995 (and related legislation) – such as (including but not limited to):
- Availability for work:Some peoples Jobseeker Agreement will state Mon-Fri 9am-5pm while others will say Mon-Sun 6am-10pm for the same type of work. Some will state available “immediately” to begin work while others state “72 hours”.
- Agreed restrictions:Most people will happily take National Minimum Wage, however, some people are able to manage to negotiate their wage they are willing to accept and thus are not obligated to apply for jobs below this amount.
- Activities done to look for work:Some people have the bare minimum of 3 actions they recommend while others have to do several.
- Travel arrangements:Some people have 30 minutes while others have to travel up to 2 hours and can’t turn down a job because its around 150 miles away.
3. Proposed changes
I feel that the elements in the Jobseekers Agreement (JSAg) such as the few examples above, should be set by legislation for a fairer system and not by negotiation or the mood of the Employment Officer.
Such legislation should be the same for everyone that is in the same circumstances (other than being unemployed):
- Take in to account carers or those with another genuine reason that can delay their start time and availability
- Set everyone having to do 3 things a week to look for work, and increase this in 3 monthy periods depending on the length of the claim (e.g. 3, 4, 5, 6)
- Set the times of availability around the type of job: office work is more likely to be around 8am-6pm so there is no need for the time ranges to be longer. Obviously if you find a job outside these you can still apply.
- Change the not available for work criteria to a period of 5 days consecutively (excluding one holiday a year) as turning up late to an sign on appointment or spending a night in the cells doesn’t make you unavailable for work – the procedure for applying for jobs, from the typical 2 week wait until the deadline/closing date, short listing and the interviews adding a week to that, you are unlikely to be able to commence work until 3 weeks time – and even then most job start dates are not immediately.
The list can go on, generally apart from period of claim and the amount you receive due to age bracket it means:
- NO post code lottery
- NO Employment Officer discretion
- NO discrimination on race, gender, appearence and incompatible personalities etc.
- NO being bullied into applying for very unsuitable vacancies
- NO unfair sanctions imposed by exploiting the Jobseekers Agreement
You are welcome to contribute ideas: would love to hear your views.
The Jobseeker’s Allowance
Entitlement
1
The jobseeker’s allowance
(1)
An allowance, to be known as a jobseeker’s allowance, shall be payable in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
(2)
Subject to the provisions of this Act, a claimant is entitled to a jobseeker’s allowance if he—
(a)
is available for employment;
(b)
has entered into a jobseeker’s agreement which remains in force;
(c)
is actively seeking employment;
(d)
satisfies either—
(i)
the conditions set out in section 2; or
(ii)
the conditions set out in section 3;
(e)
is not engaged in remunerative work;
(f)
is capable of work;
(g)
is not receiving relevant education;
(h)
is under pensionable age; and
(i)
is in Great Britain.
(3)
A jobseeker’s allowance is payable in respect of a week.
(4)
In this Act—
“a contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance” means a jobseeker’s allowance entitlement to which is based on the claimant’s satisfying conditions which include those set out in section 2; and
“an income-based jobseeker’s allowance” means a jobseeker’s allowance entitlement to which is based on the claimant’s satisfying conditions which include those set out in section 3.
I have apposed the Job Seekers Act (and agreement) since the day it was announced in 1995 by the Major government (no wonder they were called the nasty party!). My main opposition to the act is that it treats all unemployed people as the lowest common denominator, that everyone claiming benefits is a lazy scrounger who doesn’t want to work. I accept that there is probably a small minority who will do anything to avoid work because they simply don’t want to work. I do not include people caught in the poverty trap, or who suffer from genuine ill-health. I believe that most unemployed people do want to work, as work gives people a purpose in life and a sense of contributing to society (if that still exists after Thatcher said there was no such thing). Let’s face it, who wants to attend the Joke Centre once a fortnight having to justify themselves to a brainless bureaucrat, or worse still attend (expensive) rubbish like the New Deal. What is needed is job creation on a massive scale.
When I talk of job creation, I am not talking about pointless jobs such as Lifestyle Facilitators or Equality and Diversity Officers, but jobs that actually need doing, such as putting conductors back on buses on busy routes and repairing roads, houses and buildings for a start. Companies should also be stopped from exporting jobs to third-world countries. The rule should be that if a company wants to sell their products in Britain, they must employ British workers in British factories. Companies that won’t agree to this should have their products blocked at the ports. Britons work the longest hours in Europe, so the first thing that needs to happen is a reduction in the working week and making it more expensive for employers to have existing staff working longer hours, rather than recruiting extra staff. Also needed is a halt to any further immigration (including from the EU) except where staff genuinely cannot be recruited in this country. I do not include low-skilled jobs as difficult to fill. I realise this may upset the liberal-left, but I don’t care. What is needed is a large dose of realism. Mass unemployment has been used to control the unions for the last 30 years by successive Thatcherite governments, but it is counter-productive actually costing a lot more in benefits than it would have cost due to lost work-days because of strikes.
So as you think about which party to vote for at the next general election, which one is going to give you this? That is for you to decide, but you can certainly exclude Labour or the Conservatives. Labour have lost all credibility and treat socialism as an unwelcome relic of the past, whilst the Conservatives will say and do anything to get back in (anyone else noticed how they always avoid talking about Thatcher or Thatcherism, which is strange as they thought she so wonderful at the time). When the parties ask for your support, ask them for a commitment to repeal the Job Seekers Act, get rid of the New Deal and create the jobs that are needed. If they ask how it will be paid for, tell them by getting rid of Job Centre staff, closing down training centres such as the much maligned Dencora House and others like it (MBW Training in Blackpool) and getting rid of unnecessary bureaucracy for a start. If they start to waffle, walk away and tell them you will not be voting for them.
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Thanks for the great comment.
I will only pick up on one point due to time constraints but like you mention there needs to be some regulatory element implemented if they are serious about “full employment”.
Reducing the hours you can work (as applied in most European countries anyway) is a good start it will then allow a full time position and a part time position making up the difference. Current system is unfair.
I would say capping hours to 40 a week (with exceptions for like self-employed people and bosses) would be the first positive step.
The worst part about the “Joke Centre” is the staff moaning about doing overtime while the people who go in there are looking for work.
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