having to sign on in Glasto week

[amfy]

Don't say chickenpox - it will leave you unavailable for work for a fortnight and they'll make you sign off and clam as sick!

I actually caught chickenpox at my first ever Glastonbury and couldn't believe it when they stopped my money and made me make a new claim! (mind you - that was 23 years ago so maybe it's changed!)

[podge52]

I got laid off 3 months ago and in MY OWN personal expirence the people and the rules that govern them in the jobcentre plus are so unflexible it is unreal. They are a bunch of jobs worth twats who show no empathy or understanding of what its like to be out of work. It's an i'm alright so who cares what your problems are situation.

Personally i sign on Tuesdays so i'm ok in that sense, but i covered the fact i may not sign on for holidays etc by asking a friend who is a director at a local company to firstly write me a letter saying i had an interview time,date ,place etc and with his number so if they rang it would all be kosher. Not had to use this favour yet but will when the time arises. This favour has cost or will cost if it happens a couple of pints but it would be worth it and a whole lot more just so i can put 2 fingers up to all the jobs worth w*nkers at the job centre. f*** you job centre people.

[MJMilz14]

I got laid off 3 months ago and in MY OWN personal expirence the people and the rules that govern them in the jobcentre plus are so unflexible it is unreal. They are a bunch of jobs worth twats who show no empathy or understanding of what its like to be out of work. It's an i'm alright so who cares what your problems are situation.

Personally i sign on Tuesdays so i'm ok in that sense, but i covered the fact i may not sign on for holidays etc by asking a friend who is a director at a local company to firstly write me a letter saying i had an interview time,date ,place etc and with his number so if they rang it would all be kosher. Not had to use this favour yet but will when the time arises. This favour has cost or will cost if it happens a couple of pints but it would be worth it and a whole lot more just so i can put 2 fingers up to all the jobs worth w*nkers at the job centre. f*** you job centre people.

[grandadcollective]

Low level civil servants with an over inflated sense of self worth and a low opinion of those they are EMPLOYED TO HELP and who are ultimately the reason THEY HAVE A JOB. To be honest they don't employ thinkers.

Perhaps mention that you have the opportunity to look for work elsewhere, perhaps seasonal work in a coastal town and have a lift with others doing the same. That way you will be actively seeking work.

If that doesn't work photocopy your face and hire a body double. Put them together and what have you got?

That's right, jail time. Still, a small price to pay.

[Saturday Boy]

... (every 13 weeks they have a supposedly more "in depth" appointment, though the one I had was a load of shite)

[SmileySmile]

Best bet is to go for the actively seeking work - make sure you get a local paper - you could also say you were hoping to get some casual work - seeing as there will be a big local festival!

Failing that - family funeral down South?

[stoneroses19]

I'd ask the person you see in advance, is it okay to sign on tuesday that week instead.

Can't see a problem with that, if your job centre is as bad as mine then you're normally only in for 5 minutes.

I changed my date once last year, because it was the day after my graduation, and the guy said he was sure i'd have hangover and wouldn't want to come in, so i just went a day later that week.

[ninjatrout]

having been made redundant 3 months ago im signing on every other Thursday which happens to fall on Glasto Thursday. Anybody else in this situaiton? What do you reckon - take a holiday and loose the money - ask them to change the date for that week to say Tuesday or leave the north west straight after at 11.30. ideas people please?

[scaryclaireyfairy]

to be fair, jobcentre/jsa staff are incredibly poorly paid, completely under/untrained and a lot of them are temps who they keep for a year then let go cos that's the cheapest option so there's no committment to the job. i was a temp, and when my contract ended i had to sign on in the same jobcentre i'd been working in, dealing with the next temp who took over my job. humiliating. they wouldn't even allow me to sign on in a different centre. the permanent staff are indeed generally unsympathetic and incompetent. otherwise they'd be able to get a better paid job themselves. the longer they've been working there, the more power-trippy they get 'cos being hard on claimants is the only way to feel like their job is in any way useful.

to OP, as long as you phone in sick you should be in the clear though. most folks just don't turn up, their claim gets suspended and it causes a paperwork nightmare. so by phoning you look responsible and truthful, you've made someone's job easier and beyond that they don't care. turn up at 9am on the tuesday, probably looking rough anyway, and i'd bet no-one asks a thing. your payment will be late but that should be the end of it.

[sdaveak47]

having been made redundant 3 months ago im signing on every other Thursday which happens to fall on Glasto Thursday. Anybody else in this situaiton? What do you reckon - take a holiday and loose the money - ask them to change the date for that week to say Tuesday or leave the north west straight after at 11.30. ideas people please?

Edited May 28, 2009 by sdaveak47

[krispy]

It is quite amusing - they don't even read the peiece of paper that they make you fill in!!

They have given up suggesting jobs with me - they more often than not don't have any of offer me things 70 miles away at £15k less than what I was earning! It will happen just taking time - chin up eneryone (me included!) At least we all have Glasto to look forward to

[TalkShow Bob]

this is a real predicament, i had no idea about these appointment things, cant believe its so inflexable

[st00ka]

Ah the joys of signing on...some time since I did...I was told I needed to go to a CV session where my CV that had been compiled by my university careers centre was slowly dismantled into something resembling a steaming turd...another time they tried to send me on a CLAIT course (basic wordprocessing that sort of thing) and didn't seem to understand that there was no point because I held a masters degree software engineering...eighteen months stuck in no experience no chance of getting experience hell...

Anyway just phone in sick or better still get somebody else to do it for you then nobody will hear the main stage.

[daveinafield]

cheers all....think ive sorted it tho...apparantly you can have up to two weeks holiday in this country. i was worried cos i went abroad (booked when i was working) and they stop your payments for that but not if you dont leave the country. So as Glasto is my usual annual holiday ill just book it as that. cheers for all the post guy

[BobCarolgees]

another time they tried to send me on a CLAIT course (basic wordprocessing that sort of thing) and didn't seem to understand that there was no point because I held a masters degree software engineering...

[BobCarolgees]

Loved my 13-weeker a few years back. Luckily I had found a job that started a few weeks later, but they still made me do the meeting. The guy waffled on for quite a while giving me (terrible) advice on how to get a job. Every so often I would remind him I had already found a job, but it didn't seem to sink in. He just kept on ...

[daveinafield]

Get a job you layabout, then you wouldn't have to sign on !!!

[staggerlee]

Get a job you layabout, then you wouldn't have to sign on !!!