£1 an hour

[Anonymous]

you sound almost giddy at the prospect.

When you get someone to admit that they have been happily married for the entire 10 years that they have been claiming as a lone parent in their maiden name for the entire period, or when you prove that someone that has been stealing our taxes for 8 years while working full time, you do get a piece of satisfaction.
The downside is when you know that some poor sod is likely to be prosecuted for not declaring the money that their mother left her because if her husband knew about it he would waste it in the bookies and the boozer, or the lone parent that took a months work in a shop to pay for her kids christmas presents, so there are some very rewarding aspects and some hard parts to it as well.

i honestly can't imagine people declaring what they have done to someone who works at the jobcentre, so i'm pretty sure you are one of those chaps that wonders around with a camera filming near retirement age old men playing golf

but i guess satisfaction is satisfaction. i get by on a pizza, or a wank.

 

[TheMightyQuinn]

Can I just clarify something here?

If you want to do voluntary work for a charitable organisation or something that lends itself to some kind of community service then that is usually OK.

If you want to work unpaid for an employer that may be using you then that isn't. Unless it has been agreed through the Jobcentre beforehand and it is a Work Trial.

You can't expect a Government Department to condone unpaid labour. The employers out there would have a field day if that was the case. There are laws in place to protect the individual.

As for Jobcentre staff being shitty....yes some of them are. Just like any place of work really. We need to get rid of them though.

30 years service and I have seen it all.

Indeed, I've met people in the JC who are helpful and polite and I'm always nice as pie in return. It's being spoke down to that rubs me the wrong way and brings out the worst in me.

The job is to help people find work but most some to just want to abuse people they see as inferior due to not having current employment.

To be fair, Job Centre or not, if I've had to correct your spelling a number of times in the past 5 minutes and you're telling me that I need verification of my reading and writing abilities then you have to expect a slightly sarcastic response.

She also offended me on the 1st day when she changed my signing time from 2pm to 9.45am and told me 'you won't be able to have a lie in now' with a snide smile.

All I wanted to was to sign on and be left to get on with finding a job but from day 1 they did nothing but belittle me, accuse me of all sorts and attempt to fill my days with meaningless and demeaning tasks which would only prevent me from attending interviews or actively seeking employment during office hours.

 

[charliebigspuds]

the problem is it won't be the lazy gits who won't work who get put into this scheme as they know how to play the system its the people who want to work but are unable to get a job that will get dragged into this, taking jobs that they could do and get a decent wage for. I know of one person in particular who claims disability due to suffering from Agoraphopia, he drives a car without having a full licence and spends most of his time fishing (you would think this is not the sort of thing someone with Agoraphobia would do), can anyone really tell me that this person will end up working for £1 ph? not a chance, he'll manipulate the system and carry on!

 

[tueartsboots]

Several years ago i was unemployed, I organised doing voluntary work as an administrator and told the jc, I was informed that I couldn't do it as I was due to go on New Deal. I told the organisation that I was to volunteer for and said I would arrange a placement with them.
Started New Deal, told the provider what I had already had in place, fuck all got done, three months of spending 30 hrs a week staring at a wall nearly sent me insane, my doctor signed me off for the remaining 3 months.

I moved towns and became an administrator for a New Deal provider, it's shocking some of the practices that happen. Voluntary work is frowned upon as they won't get a job result and therefore no payment.
Companies can give a 3/4 week job trial at no cost to them, they use this and at the end of the trial say "No", 3/4 weeks free labour.

 

[Indestructable]

Sooner we bring this in the better. There are too many taking the mick while the rest of us work our butts off.

 

[mackenzie]

Indeed, I've met people in the JC who are helpful and polite and I'm always nice as pie in return. It's being spoke down to that rubs me the wrong way and brings out the worst in me.

The job is to help people find work but most some to just want to abuse people they see as inferior due to not having current employment.

To be fair, Job Centre or not, if I've had to correct your spelling a number of times in the past 5 minutes and you're telling me that I need verification of my reading and writing abilities then you have to expect a slightly sarcastic response.

She also offended me on the 1st day when she changed my signing time from 2pm to 9.45am and told me 'you won't be able to have a lie in now' with a snide smile.

All I wanted to was to sign on and be left to get on with finding a job but from day 1 they did nothing but belittle me, accuse me of all sorts and attempt to fill my days with meaningless and demeaning tasks which would only prevent me from attending interviews or actively seeking employment during office hours.

That attitude is shit.

Most of us aren't like that at all.

Believe it or not all I want is to help others try and find a job.

 

[Chrisja1000]

Indeed, I've met people in the JC who are helpful and polite and I'm always nice as pie in return. It's being spoke down to that rubs me the wrong way and brings out the worst in me.

The job is to help people find work but most some to just want to abuse people they see as inferior due to not having current employment.

To be fair, Job Centre or not, if I've had to correct your spelling a number of times in the past 5 minutes and you're telling me that I need verification of my reading and writing abilities then you have to expect a slightly sarcastic response.

She also offended me on the 1st day when she changed my signing time from 2pm to 9.45am and told me 'you won't be able to have a lie in now' with a snide smile.

All I wanted to was to sign on and be left to get on with finding a job but from day 1 they did nothing but belittle me, accuse me of all sorts and attempt to fill my days with meaningless and demeaning tasks which would only prevent me from attending interviews or actively seeking employment during office hours.

That attitude is shit.

Most of us aren't like that at all.

Believe it or not all I want is to help others try and find a job.

This is true , I can guarantee all my staff treat customers with respect in the jobcentre. I have signed on before myself and got treated like a piece of crap and tell my staff to treat customers like they would like to be treated themselves.

To be fair I honestly feel this will flush of the lazy sods which if they have been signing for over 18 months they should be looking at themselves. It's been trialed in the US and worked well in certain states.

 

[schtipps]

I know people who will quite blatantly boast about the amount of benefits they recieve by deceit. They are quite proud of themselves and consider themselves to be clever by manipulation of the system.

I think that the system was originally setup to help people who were stuck between jobs and although not great, can help families get by in hard times.

Unfortunately, the system is not perfect and is subject to abuse for those who know their way around it. This means that normal hard working people who do happen to find themselves between jobs and dont know how to manipulate the system find it hard whilst those lay abouts who have never contibuted anything can cash in because they do.

Something needs to be done to get the people who can contribute to get off their backsides and do some work regardless whether they think that work beneath them. In alot of other countries they would be screwed.

 

[skyblues4ever]

I've been treated ok at my local JC. I was only pissed off last time I signed on as despite 20 years working, and having lots of qualifications, I still had to take a reading and writing test which was so basic it was for young kids.

I hate signing on, as I want to work and get some real money.
At least the City victory today cheered me up! :)
WP guys.

As for working for very little or losing benefits, the cheeky millionaires that devised that idea should be forced to do the same.

 

[TheMightyQuinn]

Indeed, I've met people in the JC who are helpful and polite and I'm always nice as pie in return. It's being spoke down to that rubs me the wrong way and brings out the worst in me.

The job is to help people find work but most some to just want to abuse people they see as inferior due to not having current employment.

To be fair, Job Centre or not, if I've had to correct your spelling a number of times in the past 5 minutes and you're telling me that I need verification of my reading and writing abilities then you have to expect a slightly sarcastic response.

She also offended me on the 1st day when she changed my signing time from 2pm to 9.45am and told me 'you won't be able to have a lie in now' with a snide smile.

All I wanted to was to sign on and be left to get on with finding a job but from day 1 they did nothing but belittle me, accuse me of all sorts and attempt to fill my days with meaningless and demeaning tasks which would only prevent me from attending interviews or actively seeking employment during office hours.

That attitude is shit.

Most of us aren't like that at all.

Believe it or not all I want is to help others try and find a job.

I don't doubt it. I was signing on years back and the women I was dealing with at the time was really helpful and there were no problems whatsoever.

I'm not a confrontational person really and it takes a lot for me to even make a comment but a lot of the job centre staff I've encountered tend to manage it.