In its most recent update on the DWP’s heavily criticised Universal Jobmatch service, the Public and Commercial Services Union revealed that, under current regulations, Jobcentre Plus cannot force job seekers to sign up to this service by issuing a Jobseeker Direction:
Jobseeker Directions and Mandatory Use of UJ
PCS was aware that, despite assurances otherwise from the UJ project of DWP, management in some jobcentre districts were instructing advisers to tell claimants that UJ is mandatory and access must given to the DWP.
As a result of legal challenges and negative press attention, DWP have revised the guidance on UJ to make it clear that this cannot be done. The UJ Jobmatch toolkit chapter 3, paragraph 50, states: “You cannot issue a Jobseeker’s Direction to either require a claimant to create a profile and CV in Universal Jobmatch or to mandate a claimant to give us access to their account – this is their decision not ours.” Paragraph 52 also states that “We cannot specify to a JSA claimant how they provide us with records of their jobsearch activity and Universal Jobmatch will not change this.”
PCS is awaiting clarification from DWP management on the status of the many Jobseeker Directions that were incorrectly issued to claimants before the guidance was clarified. PCS members should contact their local representative to challenge any instruction to inform claimants that the use of UJ or access to it is mandatory.
However, in the last few hours, the Ministry has been provided with clear evidence that this guidance may be being ignored by some Jobcentres, with claimants being directed to sign up to Universal Jobmatch or risk losing their benefit for a minimum of four weeks.
The letter we’ve obtained was issued on 21 February 2013 during a scheduled interview with Jobcentre adviser, with the claimant being told that that new rules had come into effect on 18 February and that signing up to Universal Jobmatch was now mandatory. The letter also instructs the claimant to attend a second interview with their adviser, set for this week, and ‘present their details’ to their adviser as proof that they’ve signed up to the system.
Jobseeker Directions and Mandatory Use of UJ
PCS was aware that, despite assurances otherwise from the UJ project of DWP, management in some jobcentre districts were instructing advisers to tell claimants that UJ is mandatory and access must given to the DWP.
As a result of legal challenges and negative press attention, DWP have revised the guidance on UJ to make it clear that this cannot be done. The UJ Jobmatch toolkit chapter 3, paragraph 50, states: “You cannot issue a Jobseeker’s Direction to either require a claimant to create a profile and CV in Universal Jobmatch or to mandate a claimant to give us access to their account – this is their decision not ours.” Paragraph 52 also states that “We cannot specify to a JSA claimant how they provide us with records of their jobsearch activity and Universal Jobmatch will not change this.”
PCS is awaiting clarification from DWP management on the status of the many Jobseeker Directions that were incorrectly issued to claimants before the guidance was clarified. PCS members should contact their local representative to challenge any instruction to inform claimants that the use of UJ or access to it is mandatory.
However, in the last few hours, the Ministry has been provided with clear evidence that this guidance may be being ignored by some Jobcentres, with claimants being directed to sign up to Universal Jobmatch or risk losing their benefit for a minimum of four weeks.
The letter we’ve obtained was issued on 21 February 2013 during a scheduled interview with Jobcentre adviser, with the claimant being told that that new rules had come into effect on 18 February and that signing up to Universal Jobmatch was now mandatory. The letter also instructs the claimant to attend a second interview with their adviser, set for this week, and ‘present their details’ to their adviser as proof that they’ve signed up to the system.
