Claimant commitment and sanctions


Changes to the rules about the conditions you have to meet in order to remain entitled to JSA and the penalties that can be imposed if you do not meet those conditions were introduced in preparation for UC (see Chapter 1). If you are claiming JSA, you may have a sanction applied in a number of circumstances. You might be sanctioned if you:


• don’t accept or keep to your Claimant Commitment (see page 23);


• don’t go to a Jobcentre Plus when asked;


• turn down a job or training course;


• don’t apply for any jobs you’re told about;


• don’t take part in any interviews you’re invited to;


• don’t go to any training booked for you or take part in employment schemes; or


• leave a job or training without good reason or because of your behaviour. 


There are three levels of sanctions — lower, intermediate and higher — which last for set periods of time, between four weeks and three years, depending on what you may have failed to do.


New research by the think tank Demos and academic Ben Baumberg Geiger found that disabled people on JSA have received more than 900,000 sanctions since May 2010. It also found that disabled claimants are up to 53% more likely to be sanctioned than claimants who are not disabled. The general Unite union has held several national days of action against sanctions and has produced rights advice for claimants hit by them.