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  • EADD Moderators: Pissed_and_messed | Shinji Ikari

Universal Credit - Anyone on it yet?

F.U.B.A.R.

F.U.B.A.R.

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Laughing at the laughing stock of the world
As a 'lazy, thieving, scrounging, junky scumbag', I've just been checking out some info for the imminent Universal Credit http://www.crisis.org.uk/data/files/publications/1210%20Universal%20Credit%20-%20FAQs.pdf

And it's bloody scary I can tell ya! Particularly regarding the sanctions imposed on claimants if they refuse a job offer:

Refuse one job - lose 100% of benefits for 3 months
Refuse a second job (within a year of refusing the first) - lose 100% of benefits for 6 months
Refuse a third job (within a year of refusing the 2nd) - lose 100% of benefits for THREE FUCKIN' YEARS!!!


This is just obscene IMO. There doesn't seem to be any exceptions either - refuse a job, no dosh. Full stop!

I predict massive increases in financial and medical problems, as well as crime. People that have become used to receiving some benefits weekly (e.g. child tax credit) suddenly finding themselves having to budget for a whole month are going to suffer major problems. Also, housing benefit is going to be paid straight to YOU instead of your landlord. How many people are going to get into difficulties with this FFS? I appreciate that the government are trying to simplify the benefits system - and not before time either. But as ever, it has been badly though through by people that just do not live in the real world!!

Is anyone on here currently on Universal Credit? If so, how are you finding it?



Edit: The aforementioned sanctions are also to run consecutively, not concurrently! What the hell are people going to live on for a potential maximum of 3 years 9 months???? :X
 
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Not on it and hope (in vain :\) it doesn't come my way anytime soon. It's the HB bit that's gonna screw me - and a great many other folk too. There's damn good reason most of us elect to have HB paid directly to the landlords: cos losing your home cos you fukked up your budgeting is no joke. It will happen to me and it will happen to a great many others. Is gonna be a shitstorm and no mistake. And cost an absolute fortune in terms of both cashmoney and social ills cleaning that mess up.

As for the sanctions for turning down job offers, shouldn't affect me as am on the sick. I can see why they're doing it - the slavering masses are regularly whipped up into a frenzy of frothing vitriol over "benefits cheats" and the like (despite the actual amount of benefits lost to such chancers being vanishingly small in the grand scheme) and such measures do look to be "doing something". Am somewhat ambivalent on the matter myself. Has been so long since I was in that position I kinda forget how it is really. In "most" circumstances I'm guessing paid employment is preferable to benefits. However, in reality that's not always the case. People turn down paid work for perfectly legit reasons sometimes and I do worry how the definition of "job" will work out in practice.
 
The major problem is that due to schemes like 'The Work Program' et al, people are being forced to apply for jobs that they otherwise wouldn't poke with a shitty stick, just to get their quota so that they don't lose any benefits! I personally have applied for loads of jobs that realistically I couldn't accept even if I was offered one - due to location, or pay etc. I have to apply for 3 jobs a week - whether there are any or not. This means that I'm applying for jobs way out of the area because there are fuck all near where I live. That cunt that recently said he could easily live on benefit payments should be made to actually do it for a while - then stop his payments and see how he fuckin gets on then, THE BASTARD!! :X
 
Have wondered what I would do in similar circumstances. Even the local NobCentre here are very candid about the fact that they know damn well there simply are no jobs in tiny rural towns/villages like mine. So I would probably also end up having to just make up the numbers by applying for totally unsuitable jobs. But, let's face it, is hardly difficult to throw an interview if needs must. Not blatantly, obviously. But even with things like excessive travel - what employer is gonna choose a candidate who has to travel 2h each way everyday over one who's 10m up the road? Especially when we're talking about stacking shelves or flipping burgers which - in truth - is as good as it gets in terms of employment opportunities for many.
 
F.U.B.A.R. said:
The major problem is that due to schemes like 'The Work Program' et al, people are being forced to apply for jobs that they otherwise wouldn't poke with a shitty stick, just to get their quota so that they don't lose any benefits! I personally have applied for loads of jobs that realistically I couldn't accept even if I was offered one - due to location, or pay etc. I have to apply for 3 jobs a week - whether there are any or not. This means that I'm applying for jobs way out of the area because there are fuck all near where I live. That cunt that recently said he could easily live on benefit payments should be made to actually do it for a while - then stop his payments and see how he fuckin gets on then, THE BASTARD!! :X
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So, you're forced into applying for jobs you wouldn't want to do, that are impossible to get to, and probably wouldn't provide the income you hope for.?

If you don't apply for them your benefits will be sanctioned?

If you refuse to accept one of these jobs you've been forced to apply for, even for purely practical reasons, again, your benefits are sanctioned?

Would you not at the job interview highlight to the prospective employer that you'd be unlikely to ever make it into work on time for practical reasons, and so dodge getting an offer?

EDIT>>>>sorry replied to your post without seeing Shambles reply properly, yeah, as he says it's pretty easy to throw an interview especially if the job is so far from your home.
 
I think if you try acting the cunt at the interview the employer will put that on your report card to the DHSS and they'll question you about it. Otherwise everyone would just turn up to the interview in their skivvies.

The employer won't actually be paying you anything so I wonder how much he'll care. All you are to him is a slave, it's not like he's taking on a real employee.
 
Apparently, coming onto the interviewer regardless of gender is a big no-no, probably an excellent way of not getting offered the job... & I doubt the interviewer would make any note of that!
 
Gawwwd, that all looks very hard. Some people won court cases against the government over the "Work Programme", which is apparently unlawful.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/pol...pite-court-ruling-that-they-are-unlawful.html

I'm lucky enough to have never been on benefits, so I don't know what it's like. I'd guess (I'd like to think) that most people on benefits would work even if it wasn't a great job, if they felt like it was somehow worthwhile -- a bit more money or doing something useful-if-not-great. The stuff they have on this work program thing though.... unpaid shifts in poundland or you lose your benefits. What a horrible fucked up choice - definitely can see that trying to flunk the interviews would be the best bet.

wanker said:
“The short, sharp shock is usually enough to get the work-shy back into employment so the plan is to extend the practice, not retreat in the wake of this odd court decision.”
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So. Global recession. Companies going bust all over. 2.5 million unemployed. These facts obviously add up to lazy work shy benefits scroungers, right? Since everyone's just enjoying the free ride, there'll be much less unemployment now that the government are cracking down. Arrgh! Seems like we accept paying for pensioners, healthcare, education... but welfare is somehow outside the scope of basic social responsibility, and we should resent paying towards it. Let's make all the unemployed homeless, wooo! Nice "big society" there!! Let's also fuck up the NHS and school system and make all the old people homeless too! Getting there....

Iain Duncan Smith, the guy who said he could live on £53 a week, apparently earns £134,000 a year. Nice Daily Fail rant:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...th-53-week-challenge-I-wont-lessons-Left.html

Probably a bit suped up for added nazi effect, but still. Apparently he had to live on a bedsit! And had to job hunt for 3 months once! My heart bleeds. I've lived in a bedsit and hunted for jobs a couple of months, maybe I should get on my high horse too.
 
WithMyLife said:
if they felt like it was somehow worthwhile -- a bit more money or doing something useful-if-not-great.
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Was talking to friend the other day who has a kid and has recently lost his part time job (redundancy) - he basically said if he did manage to get a job now they would cut his benefit by about the same amount as he would be earning. That kind of thing makes people feel like they're working for nothing. "What's the point in getting a job if I get exactly the same amount of money but far less free time" he said to me, and I completely agree!
 
hx_ said:
"What's the point in getting a job if I get exactly the same amount of money but far less free time" he said to me, and I completely agree!
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I think the theory is you work for the self-respect and that "work is it's own reward". But that only works if you arn't getting up at 5am in the pissing rain to some peice of shit job you hate paying peanuts.
 
Fucking economic situation as a whole is woe really, pretty much every house I've looked at buying recently has been a repossession and it's sad as hell. Bloke telling us yesterday how he was dealing with some guy who lost his job so his wife left him and shortly after his house got taken. Fucking horrible, especially when there's kids involved n all. Somehow this is the first time I've heard about Universal Credit tho, and it looks utterly bastardy, as yeah ok some people are just not gonna wanna work but there are a lot of people who wanna work but can't travel, or have some other legitimate concern. It's fucking the people who are genuinely in need to get at the few doing over the system and that's no way to work it. Hopefully they'll take stuff like that into account buuuuut yeah.
 
True, unless you can set up your own arse-tickling business things are bleak.
 
Indeed -- makes sense!
I suppose that's the problem the government is trying to solve with these cuts. Make life on benefits worse so more people will work. It's annoying that a lot of people (media and actual people people) have latched on to this idea of it being about something other than common sense or inability to get a job. There's been this "benefit scrounger" thing for a while, but it seems lately to have spread to "being unemployed is bad" period.
I enjoy my job, a lot, and it does keep me on the straight and narrow somewhat and give me focus and satisfaction. That said, I would not do it for free! And that's a job I like -- I don't think many people would really choose a shit job over no job when it came down to it, with money taken out of the equation.

Since there are apparently 45 job applicants per unskilled vacancy (http://www.randstad.com/the-world-of-work/uk-unskilled-job-vacancies-attracting-45-applicants-each) I still think either I missed something obvious, or this doesn't really make sense. Unless all 45 applicants were smelly flirty interview flunkers.

Only way it makes sense is if benefits payments are actually enough to lead a cushy life. £350 a week would be like a £20k gross salary. Compared to the £225 after tax you'd get from a 40 hour a week minimum wage job (£13k gross).... yeh.... I think that in reality those two numbers would be closer together. So.... where are the people on minimum wage getting all the money for flatscreens and blackberries?? OMG they must all be drug dealers!
 
thing is, everyones got their own story of woe havent they? the attitude of universal entitlement is the problem. it would be lovely to be able to house/feed the world, but at some point you have to confront the cold face of reality. when i applied for a council house i was told i wasnt a priority, despite being destitute and living on the streets at the time - i was turned away in my hour of need, so its not like we're crossing some idealogically-sacrosanct rubicon here. eventually managed to get my ass into a filthy shithole of a hostel, but i survived


this simply cant be done without causing heartache to many, but its better for it to be enacted in an orderly manner so that the most vulnerable can be protected. in principle i agree with the move to try ensure those who can stay in the family home a little longer - do. obviously there will be a lot who cannot, but what is the alternative? the disgusting refusal (by all parties) to build affordable housing has finally come to an ugly head
 
Si Ingwe said:
Apparently, coming onto the interviewer regardless of gender is a big no-no, probably an excellent way of not getting offered the job... & I doubt the interviewer would make any note of that!
Click to expand...


Just stare at the tits all the time. 8o
Or Just get a pair of reading glasses, break them, tape them up ala Douglas in Falling down. Walk in and apologise for your appearance, mention something about hating poofters or the EDL league rally you went to, or the recent brawl/non league football holliganism you were involved in.
Tell them you cant travel abroad for work under conditions of your caution etc

Any combination of the above would be fine. I doubt you get the job and there really isnt anything they could tell the jobcentre apart from the fact that you were not suitable.

Or you could always do some whizz and tell them yo utake pleasure in other peoples leisure.
 
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