Originally Posted by radiodad:
“Agreed, i'm just sharing my experiences. The two that were hired worked like a normal member of staff putting in 100% effort even though on workfare, i have to wonder how many of the people on workfare don't ? The other 2 didn't hence why they didn't get hired, quite stupid really as they were all told there may be some positions available.”
I think the very nature of workfare means that potential jobs are dangled in front of faces like cash-flavoured carrots.
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“The other thing i have seen recently is people complaining about the workfare program due to having to work full time for only job seekers. This certainly wasn't true in the people who did their workfare at my place of work. They did a 20 hour week that was just Mon - Fri.”
The government have always been eager to push the notion about workfare being short-term and short hours and for young people. The reality is the, for some people, it's been a rolling programme at the same place, often for much longer hours. This is one of issues that appears to have 'helped' the Wilkinson's chain withdraw from the programme. People were coming forward saying how they'd been on the same placements for many months and working 40+ hours and still having to look for work, attend the job centre. The Universal Credit/Jobsearch issue is going to place everyone in a similar bind: full time workfare and having to spend 30 or so hours a week looking for work, attending Job Centre &c.
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“I see, my employer thankfully then works in a different way not just exploiting people for free work. I completely agree that people on benefits should be made to work but only the amount that the JSA is, i remember reading its £70 ? If thats the case then 15 hours should be the max allowed for them to work.”
You might be interested to know that UKIP's welfare policy includes complete phase out of housing benefit and council tax benefit for people in private rented housing and replaced with a workfare system where they perform workfare for that money. Note, that 90+% of all new housing benefit claimants are actually in work. They want people already in work, to work extra hours for free to make up the shortfall between low wages and extortionate private rents. All social housing tenants aside from the very elderly and those too ill to do any work at all (keep in mind ATOS have just judged a woman with mental age of 3-years-old 'fit for work') will also have to perform workfare. You're talking about, literally, millions of people doing workfare. It doesn't take a genius to see as to how this will impact the paid employment market.
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“Extremely shocked to hear that pound world didn't take on for a Christmas job, surely that would be a perfect opportunity to get someone who knows the job, no training required so no cost in hours in training to cover what is undoubtabley the biggest event in the retail calendar.”
There's absolutely no rhyme or reason to workfare and no real argument for it either.