Tales of unpaid toil: Sanctioned by the Samaritans

Posted: August 9th, 2016 | Author: boycottworkfare |

Though the Samaritans don’t appear on the recently released lists of workfare exploiters from 2012, we’ve had a report of a Mandatory Work Activity placement in their shop in Hove in 2014. Recently, another claimant has contacted us about Community Work Placements at a Samaritans charity shop in May 2016. Our correspondent writes: “I would like to point out that, even though I wasn’t placed at the Samaritans, other people sent by Interserve were.”
Like some other claimants who told the truth when questioned about health considerations during an interview and were not taken on, this individual has been sanctioned.
So a claimant who replies honestly about a health condition is alleged to be ‘negative’? Given that the upcoming Work & Health Programme targets claimants with disabilities and long-term health issues, we’ll greet this with a shudder and then get very, very angry.

Sanctioned by the Samaritans

I was sent for a Community Work Program (CWP) placement interview at a Samaritans charity shop. Due to my health issues, the store manager decided that I wasn’t suitable. On returning to Interserve I was removed from the CWP program and ended up with a four-week sanction.

I complained and tried to appeal but the provider Interserve and later the Jobcentre claimed that I had been very negative during the interview and refused to do the placement. This was a lie! The store manager had asked me early in the interview if I had health problems and I had only told her the truth.

The manager at Interserve admitted that it only had placements at charity shops and it knew I was unsuitable for these types of placement. Interserve had already received money for me being put on the program initially. The manager implied that because they didn’t think they could get me a suitable placement, the company wouldn’t be getting a second lot of money from the government – so it was looking for any excuse to force me off the programme. No one cared that this would put me on sanctions.

read more: http://www.boycottworkfare.org/?p=6781