Jobseekers question

[Neil]

My wife was laid off from her temp Xmas job from Asda on 2/1/13
signs for Jobseekers online on 8/1/13 going for the interview at the local jobcentre on 18/1/13.
My wife has been going for a few interviews in the meantime as her usual job is a head housekeeper.
She gets offered a job today BUT the purpose built Nursing home is still being built and her start date for her is 4/3/13 ( 7 weeks time)
Question I am asking is can she still claim Jobseekers allowance if she has got a job that starts in 7 weeks time, or will she have to keep looking for work for those 7 weeks??
If no then what benefit can she claim

 

[Kumquat]

Surely she's entitled to the JSA until she "starts" work? I'm presuming it's a firm offer.

 

[Nibble]

They will still expect her to look for work and will expect her to take interviews. If I was her I wouldn't even bother telling them about the job, 7 weeks is only 3 signing days. On the last signing before she starts the job just sign off. Telling them about the job starting in 7 weeks won't make any difference to her obligation to find work but it will complicate paperwork immensly and if they think they can stall until she starts work they will, believe me.

 

[Djmiles]

They will still expect her to look for work and will expect her to take interviews. If I was her I wouldn't even bother telling them about the job, 7 weeks is only 3 signing days.

Yup I would tend to agree. Tell the Job Centre what they want to hear, and just before you're meant to start tell them you had an interview and got offered the job.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Yes she'll have to "look" for work but given you can put almost anything on the form and only produce the odd email as proof I'd not worry too much about it. She should apply for jobs that she knows she can't get ( not too wildly away from what she normally does though ! ).

 

[Pinkie Brown]

They will still expect her to look for work and will expect her to take interviews. If I was her I wouldn't even bother telling them about the job, 7 weeks is only 3 signing days. On the last signing before she starts the job just sign off. Telling them about the job starting in 7 weeks won't make any difference to her obligation to find work but it will complicate paperwork immensly and if they think they can stall until she starts work they will, believe me.

Agree with the above. No point complicating things. Nothing of course to stop her making a note of the job in the diary she has to keep of efforts she has made to find work. She could note that she has applied for the position & is waiting to hear back. Information you give to Job Centre staff is best kept to a 'need to know' basis.

They may suggest jobs to her. If she has to go through the motions of applying for a job, fine. At the end of the day, if somebody doesn't want to work, messing up a job interview is one of life's simpler tasks.

 

[SingitLoud]

She is not working at the moment and that is all that matters. When she signs on the second time all she has to do is complete her work search diary, ie read the Argus, looked online, read the Friday Ad and nothing suitable etc. The start date for the Nursing home may change if it is not ready for opening! Once she has started employment then that is the time to advise them of a change of circumstances. Even two days into the job would be ok { she may not like it! }Trust me this should be good advice.

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

Keep doing the job search but let them know she will be starting work - will still get the money that way.

 

[Djmiles]

Keep doing the job search but let them know she will be starting work - will still get the money that way.

I wouldn't. The Government are tight bastards and will find a way to get out of paying someone a few weeks dole money.

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

I wouldn't. The Government are tight bastards and will find a way to get out of paying someone a few weeks dole money.

Personal experience at my end !! If you don't do a job search, they won't pay anything. Still doing it just complies with the agreement - as long as you do that, they must pay you.

 

[8ace]

You can't sign off more than a week in advance anyway.

 

[Djmiles]

Personal experience at my end !! If you don't do a job search, they won't pay anything. Still doing it just complies with the agreement - as long as you do that, they must pay you.

But if you have a job secured, you're not looking for a job are you

I had 6 months of going to the Job Centre and I wouldn't put it past them to screw his wife out of some dole money.

 

[Nibble]

Personal experience at my end !! If you don't do a job search, they won't pay anything. Still doing it just complies with the agreement - as long as you do that, they must pay you.

No-one has suggested she doesn't do the job search, we are suggesting she doesn't bother telling them about the job until just before she starts it. There is a distinct possibility they will stall on the money and avoid paying her.

 

[8ace]

No-one has suggested she doesn't do the job search, we are suggesting she doesn't bother telling them about the job until just before she starts it. There is a distinct possibility they will stall on the money and avoid paying her.

I was in a similar position and I told them about, got paid my money no problem.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

I say don't tell them til nearerr the time, to not complicate things, and if somehiing happens to the job offer in the meantime, then you need to change nothing. You're not trying to screw anybody.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

No need to tell them unless she has posted on Facebook about her new job.

 

[clippedgull]

They will still expect her to look for work and will expect her to take interviews. If I was her I wouldn't even bother telling them about the job, 7 weeks is only 3 signing days. On the last signing before she starts the job just sign off. Telling them about the job starting in 7 weeks won't make any difference to her obligation to find work but it will complicate paperwork immensly and if they think they can stall until she starts work they will, believe me.

Best advice. They will look for any way to delay payment. As said somewhere else, tell the job centre monkeys as little as possible, they are trained to catch you out!

 

[METALMICKY]

My experience at Eastbourne Job Centre was that they accepted that you just need to be seen to be going through the job search motions.

I was offered and accepted a job on Aug 16th but did not start till 25 Sept because it took that long for enhanced CRB to go through. My adviser said that strictly speaking I should be seen to be looking for jobs by still filling in the 3 evidences. However, she admitted that they will not be looking too closely as they know I have a confirmed position. There was certainly NO absurd suggestion that I should actually still apply for jobs and then deliberately f*** up any interview. Neither was there any suggestion that they would stop or delay my JSA payments.

 

[Acker79]

She might be eligible for a grant to cover the period between signing off and starting her new job.