MovieChat Forums > I, Daniel Blake (2017) Discussion > 35 hours job hunting every week ? - is t...

35 hours job hunting every week ? - is that fair or even possible

posted 7 years ago by facebook-653-970870
3 replies | jump to latest

thankfully I've never had to claim benefits so did not know about this 35 hours per week job hunting rule & needing proof you've done it

Just wondering whether people consider that reasonable & something thats actually possible to do on a long term basis ?

Im by no means a leftie type & dislike benefits scroungers as much as the next person but 35 hours every week seems harsh & excessive to me - maybe in the first couple of weeks you could productively work on job hunting for 35 hours a week but after that it just seems a bit unreasonable

its almost like theyve added this rule to make it much easier to sanction people who are genuinely looking for work

[–] welsh_dragon_roar 7 years ago

Pff who knows. I'm just about to start on the UI scheme - first time I've been out of work since 2011. If they present that sort of patronising bollocks I'm really going to have to bite my tongue. 35 hours a week job hunting is essentially non-productive - I would say 3 hours a day MAXIMUM just to search the day's vacancies and send out your CV & application form to those positions which you qualify. I'm unsure what else you could do with the remaining 4 hours per day... become a stripper??

[–] Spielburger 7 years ago

its almost like theyve added this rule to make it much easier to sanction people who are genuinely looking for work

The real problem - as illustrated in the film - is usually providing the appropriate amount of evidence of job hunting. E.g. you could spend a day tailoring your CV for a specific application, but how do you prove you spent that much time on it?

If anything, things could be even harder: there have been pilot schemes where jobseekers are forced to spend 35 hours a week supervised in Job Centres.
And yes: there's a strong suspicion that these schemes are intended to set claimants up to fail,
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/09/claimants-will-be-forced-visit-job-centres-35-hours-week-or-face-sanctions

--
"So I've got bullets, but no gun. That's quite Zen."

[–] 7 years ago

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