Jobseeker’s Agreement

To complete your claim you have to go to an interview at your local Jobcentre Plus. At your interview with the adviser, a Claimant Commitment will be drawn up and you will be expected to sign it. You and your “work coach” will agree what goes in your Claimant Commitment. It might include:

• what you need to do to look for work, for example, registering with recruitment agencies, writing a CV;

• how many hours you need to spend looking for work each week; and

• your circumstances, e.g. work history, health, family or caring responsibilities.

You will normally have a review meeting every two weeks to “show evidence that you have done everything that you could to look for work”. The government is reportedly considering bringing in weekly meetings with Jobcentre staff following research published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in January 2015 which found that those who were forced to sign on every week found a job almost six days faster than those who signed on once a fortnight. If you don’t attend your interview or your review meetings this will delay your JSA payment and may mean you won’t get any JSA at all.

If you are 16 or 17, the agreement will cover training issues as well as work and will cover actions you are taking to seek work and training.