Bullied at local office

kariktar

YESTERDAY
I went in to sign and was told that i would be put on weekly signing for signing late a few times.
I asked to see the supervisor but was told she was busy- I insisted
and was threatened with daily signing. I eventually saw the supervisor who was very rude and patronising and barely listened to me.She said I was being put on daily signing I asked why it had gone from weekly to daily and all she would say is it was her decision she would not give her name but after questioning told me i could make an appointment with the manager...I asked did i not need to be warned that if i was late 1 more time I would
be put on weekly or daily and she said im warning you now. I stated that I should be warned before being punished and then she said I was warned the last time I signed..I was not and she had not been present.

I then queued for 20 more minutes to ask for an appointment at the front desk where the man told me there was no manager and then said oh are you the guy being put on daily signing
He went and talked to someone and when he returned basically just tried to get rid of me by saying there is no manager and refusing to even let me ask another question, another man came up and said are you the guy who was late signing I heard you talking to the guy at the counter (the first guy)
and that i had been disrespectful some how and that this is why i am on daily signing I asked is that how it works are people put on daily signing for somehow offending the staff he said yes.I asked is there someone I can complain to or a social welfare legal department he just stood there silent and eventually told me to check the website for contact details of
the head office.

I phoned the head office and made a formal complaint and was told it will take up to 15 days to get a reply.

TODAY
I went in at 10.30 and signed and the guy at the reception (the man who had told me yesterday there was no manager) gave me a very large form and said it is proof of effort to find work and that I will have to fill one out every day.


Am I correct in thinking I am being bullied here?
Any advice please?

mrsbyrne

OK so you have made your complaint and you have been told you will hear the result of that within a couple of weeks.
Ultimately if you are not happy with the response to your complaint, you can take your complaint to the Ombudsman but only when you have exhausted the complaints process at a local level.
It is fairly standard practice for Jobseekers who have developed a habit of not signing when they are supposed to to be asked to sign on weekly.
You are obliged to sign on at the time assigned to you. You must understand that the SW office couldn't have people wandering in to sign on whenever it suited them. Its allowed to forget or be late once or maybe twice, but any more than that there may be a suspicion that you are unavailable to sign on because you are working or otherwise not available for work.
If you reacted aggresively to the instruction to sign every week, then that could be interpreted as further proof that it is inconvenient for you to present yourself at the SW office, and daily signing is demanded to prove your availablity for work.
The form you were given yesterday is standard. You are required to provide proof that you have been looking for work, as per the conditions of your receiving a Jobseekers payment. My advice to you is to co-operate with the Dept. You could easily find your payment totally suspended and you dont want that.

petersburg2002

I always found that if you are courteous to the staff (who get a lot of abuse) then they do their best to help you. Demanding to see managers etc. doesn't get you anywhere and only pisses them off. If you miss signings more than twice, then they can make you sign on more often.