From this month hapless Iain Duncan Smith has warned that unemployed claimants who refuse to sign up for the DWP’s Universal Jobmatch website may face having benefits sanctioned.
This is contrary to the information given late last year when the DWP confirmed that signing up to the site is not mandatory. It’s almost as if the DWP is trying to catch people out in order to trick people off benefits.
Already the website has been plagued by fake jobs, spam, sex work and scammers. The lax verification procedures for employers wishing to advertise vacancies leaves users at risk of having their personal details accessible to any old crook or pervert. Many people have reported problems registering or even logging into the site, meaning even those who want to use it could find themselves unable to. If the number of google referrals to this blog from people searching phrases such as ‘Universal Jobmatch can’t log in’ is anything to go by then it seems the sites technical problems are far from over.
When Universal Credit is introduced next year millions more people will be expected to prove to the DWP that they are seeking ‘more or better paid’ work. Part time workers, disabled people, parents and self-employed workers on low incomes will all be placed under ‘work related activity’ conditions which now only apply to those on Jobseeker’s Allowance. Those who Jobcentre staff decide aren’t trying hard enough to find work could face workfare or sanctions.
With the Jobcentres all running at full capacity – and no signs of any large scale recruitment on the horizon – then the only way this can be policed is by forcing claimants to use the Government’s own shit job search website. The DWP are attempting to bully claimants on the cheap.
Luckily however there is no legal way that the Jobcentre can force you to allow them to access to monitor your activity on the site. When claimants are asked to register with the site they are given the option of ticking a box which provides consent for Jobcentre snoops to monitor their use of the website.
It is vital that all claimants are made aware that they do not have to tick this box. This means a concerted effort on behalf of everyone concerned about the endless abuse of those on benefits to inform everybody of their rights. Spread the word to every Jobcentre in the UK.
There is also no legal requirement for claimants to accept cookies (the small computer programmes which allow the DWP to track usage of the site) on their own home computers. If people don’t accept cookies then Universal Jobmatch won’t work. This means that if you have a PC at home you cannot be forced to use it to look for jobs on the new website.
If enough people refuse to allow the Jobcentre to snoop on their accounts then the ‘work related activity’ that underpins Universal Credit won’t work.
Whilst IDS has threatened to haul claimants into the Jobcentre everyday if they refuse give the DWP access to their accounts, this is little more than an empty threat. Harassing claimants face to face costs money., which is one thing the DWP don’t have
It is possible to use the site to look for jobs without logging in or even having an account for those who wish to. The truth is there are far better places to look for work then Universal Jobmatch where the vast majority of jobs are self-employed sales jobs, employment agencies trawling for CVs,or zero hour contracts.
It is a shocking state of affairs that Iain Duncan Smith is forcing claimants to waste their time looking for jobs on a crap website with barely any vacancies just because he’s too arrogant to admit he just spent nearly £20 million quid on a piece of shit.
Once again welfare reform is not being driven by trying to genuinely help people find work. In fact quite the opposite is happening. Iain Duncan Smith is so obsessed with benefit claimants jumping through the endless hoops he sets that he no longer seems to care whether any of it will help people find a job. This is all about one arrogant man who has decided that he knows better than anyone else how unemployed people should look for work.
If that means benefit claimants pointlessly clicking away at a website just to meet the conditions for claiming benefits – when they could be out looking for work properly – then Iain Duncan Smith will consider his job well done. All he cares about is that people do what he tells them to. It would be embarrassing if it were a boss, teacher or parent acting that way, for a Secretary of State it’s little more than pathetic.
UPDATE: via @refuted on twitter – Registering for Universal Jobmatch is not yet mandatory according to DWP. Despite this stories persist of sanctions and threats of sanctions, print out this FOI request and take it with you next time you sign up if you are concerned about being forced to register: http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/140693/response/347764/attach/html/3/FOI%204776%20Response%20PDF.pdf.html
In case of sanctions/threats of sanctions the PCS Union advise claimants to speak to Jobcentre Managers and if you can find out who they are, PCS reps.
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The Void
