JSA sanction ...

Hmmmm ... Long day and I may be being stupid but ...
Have a cl who JCP have stated left his job because of misconduct. I have appealed decision on the basis that the employer altered the terms and conditions of his employment from the date of the interview to when he started, waiting for decision.

Cl has tried to claim a hardship payment but this has been refused because JCP are stating cl. was sanctioned because he failed at least one of the jobseeking conditions and has also failed to prove he will suffer hardship.

Cl has partner who is 4 months pregnant and have 2 dependant children living with them.

Looking at CPAG pages 434, 484, it appears to state that the jobseeking conditions are :

a person must be available for work.
a person must be actively seeking work.
a person must have a active jobseekers agreement with JCP.

Cl has jobseekers agreement, is carrying out first two jobseekers directions and is continuing to sign on.

I feel JCP have refused JSA hardship payment incorrectly and I’m looking to appeal this but can a person be refused hardship payments if they have been dismissed for misconduct, and even if i can successfully appeal hardship decision would it be easier for cl. partner to claim JSA instead.

Hiya,

EDITED AS ORIGINAL POST SUGGESTED NO RIGHT OF APPEAL- THAT WRONG

1. There is a right of appeal against a refusal of hardship payments- however in view of the long delays in bringing appeals you might want to either threaten to judicially review such a decision and/or ask for appeal to be expedited. (CPAG can potentially deal with such a case via the public law advice we do- email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))

2. The DWP are incorrect-

a) This claimant is in a vulnerable group due to wife’s pregnancy (Reg 140(1)(c)(i) JSA Regs).

b) The rule that hardship payments cannot be made where the claimant has failed to meet the jobseeking conditions does not apply where the claimant is in a vulnerable group- see Reg 141(4) read with Reg 140(1) which provides they can be made in this circumstance.

c) There is another rules which states that where JSA not payable due to a sanction under section 19 then jobseeking conditions must be met to get hardship payments (see reg 141(6)). However, as you say, the claimant does not fail to meet the JSA labour market conditions in this case.

Trying to read and understand the hardship regs is a bit of a nightmare.

I would advise the partner to claim JSA.  If they are responsible for a child then they will not have to claim as a joint claim couple.  What was the act of misconduct, what steps did he try to stay in the employment and how long was the sanction period?

Nevip….partner to claim JSA…. that is a brilliant piece of advice. Sorry I missed it.

As ever, your responses are most helpful and I will advise cl accordingly asap, thank you !

re : cl misconduct.

Cl has stated that he left the job because after he started the employment his employer wasn’t happy with his childcare responsibilties every other weekend even though he had mentioned this at the interview, and it had been agreed that the employer and cl would work round this.

Also, cl believed he would be working 40 - 50 hours per week yet when the employment started he was working much less.

Finally, cl has stated JCP did not write to him to enquire why his employment ended before applying the sanction.

I have raised all of these issues in the appeal, ie : employer altered terms of conditions of employment agreed at interview etc and JCP did not contact cl to obtain info. as to why he left the job.

Once more, thank you !

PS : Nevip, you wrote that cl partner does not have to claim JSA as a couple ... very odd !?

A joint claim for JSA is a very specific thing and is not the same as a single claimant claiming in respect of a partner.  Furthermore, he has not been sanctioned for misconduct but leaving a job without just cause.  Therefore the sanctioion period would expected to be shorter than one for gross misconduct.  However, he would be expected to show that he tried to work things out with his employer and left only as a last resort.  If the sanction remains and his partner finally cannot be available for work then if his sanction period has ended then they merely switch the claim over to him

Hmmm… don’t they save up the sanction for later? “Here’s one we made earlier”...

I think at minimum he has to keep signing for credits for his sanction to run.

Not checked it though.

The sanction begins immediately and remains unbroken until the period expires naturally.  There is no requirement to keep signing on for credits.

Unfortunately cl took no steps to resolve issue and sanction is for 9 weeks, thank you Nevip and Martin once more ...