Bastard Job Fairs

I swear, one of the staff at my local Jobcentre must be a f-ing jobsfairaholic.

I have been issued with yet another f-ing jobseekers direction to attend yet another f-ing jobsfair. I get f-ing "directed" to report for duty at one every few f-ing months. Am I living in the Truman Show? Do I even exist as a sentient being anymore? Fuck knows.


I feel a teeny tiny bit better already for getting that out of my system.

My question for the learned members of the forum is this. The "your employment dreams could come true" jobsfair is being held, as on previous occasions, at a local venue where a condition of entry is consent to a bag search.
Would it be sanctionable if I attended but refused to consent to a bag search and was thus refused entry?

Or should i just stuff my bag with a dismembered corpse, attend, smile at security and willingly offer up my bag for a search?

If there are any survivors of psychological abuse by jobsfair on the forum, please, please tell me I will learn to live again.

I've been offered to go on a job fair at the end of this month i've not been mandated to go on it yet but it looks like I will the next time I go to the jobcentre. If I have to attend I don't think any employers will offer me anything because of my lack of work history etc, etc.

There was mention of a job fair in the local rag, but when I turned up to the group session to sign on, not a single word was mentioned about it.

If I was told to go, I'd have turned up looking like a dismal scruff. I've been to job fairs before and it's just full of employers wanking themselves off.

#Ignatius "where a condition of entry is consent to a bag search."...‍



Why the security checkpoint? Has a Mandated Claimant finally flipped there lid, and gone on a rampage at a jobs fair....🤨. Still if you did make a 'scene' it would be difficult to say you didn't attend.... On the plus side, the idea of any potential employer, seeing you as a 'red flag' from the baggage check debarkal....

As to all of the Job fairs I've attended ... I was wondering, if to pull the punter's in. Are they going to get an Pantomime/Former Soap Opera TV star of the past, to give a celebrity endorsement to the FUN Jobs Fair.

I feel for you Ignatius. When these morons know there is nothing else they can possibly do to make peoples life any worse out comes the invite sheet to joke fairs.Same old companies will be there i bet.

Turn up, grab a few leaflets and leave as soon as you can. I also hate these joke fairs, as that's exactly what they are for many in the 50+ group.Full of deliveroo bike peddling gig economy 'opportunities'. A bloody joke for sure.

Intincroi wrote:There was mention of a job fair in the local rag, but when I turned up to the group session to sign on, not a single word was mentioned about it.

If I was told to go, I'd have turned up looking like a dismal scruff.  I've been to job fairs before and it's just full of employers wanking themselves off.

Group sessions are voluntary!!!!
How many times do I have to tell you!!!
No wonder my brain hurts !




The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in the United Kingdom issues Jobseeker's Directions to individuals receiving Jobseeker's Allowance or Universal Credit. A Jobseeker's Direction is a formal instruction that requires a claimant to take specific actions to improve their prospects of finding employment. The actions specified in a Jobseeker's Direction are meant to align with the individual's responsibilities as a jobseeker.

Typically, a Jobseeker's Direction may include requirements such as:

Job Search Activities: Claimants may be directed to actively seek and apply for a certain number of jobs each week.
We won that one, a year ago. only one item a week

Training or Education: The DWP may direct claimants to participate in training or educational programs to enhance their skills and employability. (your mam says stop working so hard. No legislation!)

Attending Job Interviews or Work-related Appointments: Claimants may be required to attend interviews, meetings, or other appointments related to job-seeking activities. WHERE IS THE LEGISLATION?

Creating or Updating a CV: Individuals may be directed to create or update their Curriculum Vitae (CV) to present to potential employers. I laugh at this. What if you are the employee??>?

Registering with Employment Agencies: Claimants may be instructed to register with employment agencies to broaden their job-seeking opportunities. (what happened to these parasitic fucks?)

Participating in Work-related Programs: Some individuals may be directed to participate in specific government-sponsored work-related programs or initiatives.

It's important to note that failure to comply with a Jobseeker's Direction without good reason could result in sanctions, including a reduction in benefits. However, individuals have the right to appeal decisions and can provide reasons for non-compliance.

Please be aware  It is recommended to check with the latest DWP guidelines or consult their official website for the most current information on Jobseeker's Directions and related processes.
attendance at job fairs was not explicitly mentioned as a standard requirement in Jobseeker's Directions issued by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in the United Kingdom. However, the specific requirements outlined in a Jobseeker's Direction can vary, and it is possible that attending a job fair could be included as part of the directives in certain cases. ( WHAT FUCKING CASES )

The DWP has the authority to set conditions for individuals receiving benefits, and these conditions are typically aimed at improving the individual's employability and encouraging active job-seeking efforts. While attending a job fair may be encouraged as a proactive job-seeking activity, it is important to check the specific details of the Jobseeker's Direction issued to you.

If you have concerns or questions about the requirements outlined in your Jobseeker's Direction, it is advisable to discuss them with your work coach or adviser at the Jobcentre. They can provide clarification on the expectations and, if necessary, you may have the right to appeal certain decisions or requirements.

Keep in mind it's recommended to check the latest information from the DWP or consult their official resources for the most current details regarding Jobseeker's Directions and related obligations.

Is this in-correct? I'm sure you will help me. If it's not, thanks.



http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/a11-0101.pdf

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/identifying_jobseekers_direction/response/615353/attach/html/4/Annex%201.pdf.html

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/identifying_jobseekers_direction/response/615353/attach/html/5/Annex%202.pdf.html

Good info in them links Oneman

oneman wrote:Group sessions are voluntary!!!!
How many times do I have to tell you!!!
No wonder my brain hurts !
...

I have responded to you about this previously, but you may have missed my post amongst the rest of the thread:-
https://respectfulbenefits.forumotion.com/t4937-trouble-at-dwp-mill-can-t-cope-apparently#18862

Thanks again for letting know though.  This is a case of "better the devil you know" rather than obeying orders.

Thank you for all your replies. I'm feeling the pain of everyone else who gets directed to attend these damned things. I must go to about 5 of the things a year. They are my actual social life these days. Do lap of hall, take leaflets, go all Jobsearch Pauline and grab free pens and then leave as quickly as possible.

The bag search requirements are very much the venues rules. It's a leisure/entertainment venue so I understand the purpose of them for those events but for a bastard job fair?? We don't have to empty pockets/bags (yet) to enter a jobcentre so why should we for a bastard job fair?

Think I'm going to attend, tell security they can't search my bag but I'm chill with a strip search. That should scare any would be employers off, and doubtless make for an interesting decision for a Decision Maker to make. I mean, I turned up, I was willing to attend/participate but they wouldn't let me. How could they lawfully sanction me in such entertaining circumstances?

#Ignatius "but I'm chill with a strip"...
Talking of 'entertaining circumstances". If you record the procedure, I dare you could make some money on some site????

Does Only Fans affect JSA entitlement ?Asking for a friend.

You would image so ... With monitoring Claimants bank accounts etc... Mind you it would be interesting at the tribunal, when they produce the evidence from the OF account 🥸....

Ignatius wrote:Does Only Fans affect JSA entitlement ?Asking for a friend.

Any change in income will affect JSA entitlement it will also be classed as a change in circumstance and you will be passed over to UC.
I had an entitlement check in the new year and was asked for PayPal account details. I had a few transfers from an online survey study site and they questioned this. I have not had a reply yet.

''I had a few transfers from an online survey study site and they questioned this. I have not had a reply yet.''

Thats interesting Oneman. Look forward to their response, as i bet there are a few on here which use Pay-pal for this and that. I bet if you sold a bloody sock as a transaction, they'd think its a criminal offence under one of their bullshit rules and unleash a fraud investigation.

Yeah, they regard Pay Pal as no different to a bank account and are something else they are allowed to poke their noses in.

A friend of mine has got a self-assessment tax return due to using Prolific studies.and how much they make from them.

https://www.envisagesecuritystaff.co.uk/bag-searches/

The only people with the power to forcibly search someone if they have reasonable suspicion that the person is involved or likely to be involved in a crime are the police. Event or door staff have no right in law to forcibly search anyone’s bag.

However, as an event organiser, you can make it a ‘condition of entry’ that bags are searched prior to someone being let in. If they refuse, they will be refused entry.

As well as displaying an easy to read list of prohibited items, event organisers are encouraged to make this information available to guests and attendees before they arrive for the event.

The sign must clearly tell people;
o Their bags will be searched on entry
o It is a condition of attending the event – refusal means no entry!
o What happens if people are found with prohibited items – in most cases, this means the police will be called

Your "good reason" for not attending is that the bag search on entry requires your consent. The DWP cannot legally force you to give that consent. It's a simple as that. It's exactly why the DWP cannot legally force anyone to sign provider paperwork.

Any venue owner can create a "condition of entry" as it's private property, but if that condition was that in order to enter you have to allow the venue owner to have sex with you or you don't get in, you have every right to refuse. It's an unenforceable "condition of entry" and all venue owners know it. Forcing it would be against the law. The same goes for a bag search or a mask or a jab. The person entering the event has to consent to the "condition of entry". You only need to get over to the work coach that their JSD is invalid . You cannot enter without giving your consent, you do not give your consent and the JCP can't make you.  

The work coach who gave you the JSD likely doesn't know about the "condition of entry" or that the JCP cannot force your consent to any condition of entry to a jobs fair, ever. There shouldn't even be a "condition of entry" to a jobs fair. When was the last time any violent event or drugs bust or knifing happened at a jobs fair? Not a single one as far as I know.

As a job seeker, under JSA rules, you are only expected to pursue job opportunities that are accessible. In this case they are only accessible following you giving consent to a bag search, which is a barrier that has been created, not by the employers, but by the venue owner. If those employers are concerned enough to allow the venue owner to impose a bag search onto job seekers at the door (the JCP doesn't do it and they are far more likely to be knifed by a job seeker), why not simply switch to video conferencing if face to face is so potentially dangerous? It would save them a lot of money too.

I would go back to my work coach and tell them what I have told you. They may simply be too stupid to realise that no DM can sanction you for failing to give your consent to a "conditions of entry" rule for a jobs fair. It's exactly the same as pretending that they can force a signature on provider paperwork.

Last week I went to the jobsfair, politely declined a bag search and the bored looking door person regretfully informed me I would not be allowed entry so back home I skipped.

Nothing has been said by the jobcentre, and as they don't bother taking a register, I doubt it ever will be.

Ignatius wrote:Last week I went to the jobsfair, politely declined a bag search and the bored looking door person regretfully informed me I would not be allowed entry so back home I skipped.

Nothing has been said by the jobcentre, and as they don't bother taking a register, I doubt it ever will be.

Bag search what this some fucking airport security for a bastard job fair.
Please tell me not one of those goons from G4stupid without the security badge on display report them.

Security is provided by the venue's own laidback staff, very different to the G4S jobcentre gorillas. To be fair, the place where the bastard jobfair was held is by night more a leisure/entertainment venue (not a disco dancing venue, I should add) so having bag checks makes sense but lord knows why they insist on it for jobsfairs. Still, it provided me with a legitimate reason for not participating.

My RA has basically told me to turn up to one, I only have a choice of what time...are they mandatory?

JaybeeInRB wrote:My RA has basically told me to turn up to one, I only have a choice of what time...are they mandatory?

Just turn up looking worse for wear. If there's a register of some sort, give your name to cover your back. Either way, you get to hoover up some free (cheap and nasty) pens while wasting the time of companies that are of no interest to you.

JaybeeInRB wrote:My RA has basically told me to turn up to one, I only have a choice of what time...are they mandatory?

It is classed as a group information session, so it is not mandatory unless mandated by a Jobseeker Direction. You also need to check that it is not included in your Claimant Commitment.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/restart-provider-guidance/restart-scheme-provider-guidance#chapter-4c-mandating-a-participant-to-attend-a-meeting-or-participate-in-an-activity