job centre and interviews
 

To cut a long story short, can they force you to take a job (UK)?

I’ve been applying for about 4/5 jobs a day recently and got a phonecall to an interview tomorrow for one company. The advert was very vague but after some research and reading employee reviews it turns out the job is basically door-to-door sales on commission and the company has a less than positive attitude towards its employees.

Last time I tried door-to-door a few years ago as a Summer job I hated it so much I quit after 10 days, not even making enough to cover my travel home. I forced myself to smile through the long working day then cried myself to sleep every night, ate very little and started harming again after almost a year free. The escalation in terms of negative feeling and harming over the past year in particular means that I am worried about what I would end up doing if I had to take this job (by the sounds of it they offer it to everyone because staff turnover is so high). I know it would be bad for my happiness/health to take it and I seriously don’t want to. You have no idea how much I don’t want to do door-to-door again and I wouldn’t have applied if I’d known.

I was just not going to go but apparently you can get taken to court by the people in charge of the job centre for not going to an interview. I was not going to say I’d even applied (you only have to do 3 things to find a job each week and I’m doing that every day), let alone got an interview but apparently that’s also not allowed and I could end up in serious trouble if they find out. But if I go, it sounds likely they’ll offer the job and then what if I’d be forced to take it by the Job Centre?

Don’t know what to do. I know I don’t want to go, at all and if I have to take the job I don’t even want to think about the consequences. They would be bad judging on past form and current feelings but in the end it would only be me I’m hurting and what right do I have to be so selfish as to say I don’t want this job. I know I should go because I really, really don’t want to get into trouble with the Job people or worse. Its not even like I could go and mess the meeting up as it’s a presentation about the company rather than an interview as such.

Does anyone know if I really could get into so much trouble for not saying I’d applied/got an interview? What would you do? This is really stressing me. Thanks x

Maybe you could go into the JobCentre and tell them you've applied but that taking such a job would be really detrimental to your health?

Thanks for that suggestion. They don't know anything about me like that though, so it would be a bit out of the blue, not sure they'd believe me. One of the workers who does the 18-25 interviews with me has seen me on a bad day before (was trying not to cry during the interview, told him it was hayfever) but usually I'm just another person in the queue. If I told them I didn't want to go and why they'd know I had the interview offered and should have gone :( I think I'm just talking myself round in circles now

Go to the interview and tell them about your MH problems - unfortuantely a lot of stigma exists against employing people with MH problems but in this instance it will work in your favour. Act if you have to!
And tell the jobcentre about your problems - I have, and it means you can set boundaries on what you are willing to do, within reason. Good luck!

oh and you may be able to see a disability employment advisor if you tell the jobcentre too. There may be restrictions eg. having to be unemployed for a certain amount of time but I don't think so; you can but ask! The main thing is to show them you are keen to find work/are looking for work but it needs to be appropriate - point out you are worried about getting a job that will make you ill and unemployed again.

No. You are not contractually obligated to take the job. You expressed interest in the position. You have been called for an interview to assess your suitability for the job which might be offered to you. That's it. You are not bound to work until you've signed a written contract (or agreed verbally) that you are willing to undertake duties under the job description.

On the information you've provided above you have not consented to working this job. On that fact alone, nobody can force you to work. There isn't even a need to explain MH issues.

You need to look further into that. Where did you hear it? Do they have policies online you can take a look at to see this? Maybe you can talk to someone at the job centre about it (just give them a call or something, you wouldn't even need to say who you are...)

It appears unlikely that you'd be taken to court for something like that. Perhaps if you keep getting interviews and not going to make it 'look' like you're actively seeking work while still getting benefits? Not going to ONE interview for VALID reasons hardly seems enough to go to court. So I question that statement.

There's your key word - offer. They haven't offered you the job yet. To make a contract valid (which means you WOULD be forced to work) you need offer and acceptance. There's no contract without both. Even if they offer, you don't have to accept. Without your acceptance, the employment contract is not legally enforceable.

All the best x

Also, if you've met the weekly quota already I don't see why you need to inform them of the interview. Unless they have a policy that you must inform the job centre of ALL job-seeking activity...

They can not force you to accept a job offer - especially not if you have since done research and decided the company is not one you want to work for.

A whole part of interviews is for you to also find out if the job is for you. If you do not want to attend the interview, contact the employer and let them know so they can give the slot to someone else.

The job centre are simply there to suggest jobs that may be suited to you, they can not make you do anything unless they have strong grounds to believe you may be actively participating in fraud - which you are not.

Roiben x

I emailed and said I couldn't make today after all. They emailed back and offered an interview next week instead. So the pressure is still there but not an immediate issue. I haven't confirmed my attendance next week but at least now there is some time to work out what to do about it without the things that were running through my head last night. Thanks so much for the replies, I can now make a much more informed decision. x

Can you get a note from your dr outlining the kind of work that you currently are suitable for, and what not?