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TUS Programme

rsole1

MOD NOTE - Updated 24/02/2014
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Hi Had a letter from Social Protection inviting me to participate on a TUS Programme. I have done an internet search and there seems to be very little "chatter" about it from people who have been on it, does anyone have any experience of it? I know how much it pays and a broad idea of what type of jobs etc, but would like some first hand experience from people in the know. Sounds a bit like a CE Scheme.

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jimtox

Hi, I received the usual Tus programme letter and from reading some of the tread I think I understand it better however I have some issues and I need advise.
Firstly I currently registered and work with a recruitment agency at various times depending on job availability.
Secondly, intreo staff are aware because currently my weekly benefits is being deducted because of days i worked and I did not declare.
Thirdly, I am a professional and having worked for over ten years before being made redundant.
Furthermore, I am not upto 12months on the dole because within I left the country for 4months.
Please advise what step to take.
Thanks

redshoes15

jimtox wrote: »

Hi, I received the usual Tus programme letter and from reading some of the tread I think I understand it better however I have some issues and I need advise.
Firstly I currently registered and work with a recruitment agency at various times depending on job availability.
Secondly, intreo staff are aware because currently my weekly benefits is being deducted because of days i worked and I did not declare.
Thirdly, I am a professional and having worked for over ten years before being made redundant.
Furthermore, I am not upto 12months on the dole because within I left the country for 4months.
Please advise what step to take.
Thanks

You are not eligible if all of the above is correct. Contact your local office and inform them.

dodzy

redshoes15 wrote: »

You are not eligible if all of the above is correct. Contact your local office and inform them.

Or if you have not returned the letter, just tick the NO option and outline the fact that wou are working periodically and more importantly, you have not been in receipt of JA for 12 consecutive months, and post the letter back. Save you a trip.

jimtox

Please note that I have answered YES and returned the letter because of fear on unknown.
Can I still write another letter to outline my reasons or should I wait for their response or interview date.
Thank you guys

scamalert

Once you get interview or meeting letter it will have phone number and email on it for person looking into your case, so in few weeks once you get that, call and explain your situation like you did in the first post, and explain the error was made on DSP side.

scamalert

had interview today,and really cant understand fuss many make it out to be,was literally in and out in 10 mins, all professional staff without any pressure, was asked the regular fields if i had any interest in, but upon going trough cv and qualifications narrowed it down to one or two leads, which would work for me,nothing ground breaking or huge impact on career but better then doing nothing or being forced,if any come trough.

Seachnasaigh

Am starting on Tús shortly, I pay a HAP's payment from my welfare, it is deducted weekly, what will happen with this when I start the scheme?

jeffk

Starting this on the 9Th on Phoenix FM so sounds like should be good

Only issue I have is I start on a Monday, dole runs from Wednesday to Wednesday, so I "lose" E60 until or if I sign back on. Yes I know its E20 or so extra a week, but should be paid full dole then start this

scamalert

jeffk wrote: »

Starting this on the 9Th on Phoenix FM so sounds like should be good

Only issue I have is I start on a Monday, dole runs from Wednesday to Wednesday, so I "lose" E60 until or if I sign back on. Yes I know its E20 or so extra a week, but should be paid full dole then start this

did you noify your DSP office of the start date yet ? they should calculate payments in such way that you would be covered up to start date.

jeffk

scamalert wrote: »

did you noify your DSP office of the start date yet ? they should calculate payments in such way that you would be covered up to start date.

The person who is organizing it all told me about the money, then hes doing all the paperwork etc

scamalert

well you still need to notify DSP of your start date, also register with revenue account if you havent worked for a while, it my be different per person but ive gotten actually proper wf payment before start and same week got paid in full for work so actually worked out a bit over top, go figure :cool:

jeffk

scamalert wrote: »

well you still need to notify DSP of your start date, also register with revenue account if you havent worked for a while, it my be different per person but ive gotten actually proper wf payment before start and same week got paid in full for work so actually worked out a bit over top, go figure :cool:

He said he will do all this, hes from the local TUS himself, had me sign two forms today, then gave him my bank details, said when I get some pin to do with tax text him it

Oh that be nice :cool: knowing my luck it wont happen

scamalert

guess its a bit draw of luck where you end up and who deals with you from TUS, now im sorta happy where i landed but its a bit brain dead job with no prospects and way below my skill set,but crowd is good no complaints yet, and decent hours 3 days a week with some flexibility.

Id say main benefit from TUS that once you land you start to think where to find actual proper job.Since positions they offer or have are 3rd grade lvl stuff, its a lot of what id call government moving money back and forth from EU funds.

anyway your hours sound ridiculous specially if you need to commute, so id blow them off if you can afford that.

to summarize its ok scheme compared to others out there, but at the end its 1yr contract and cash into account but, doesnt matter what you do and good bye before next person is put it just few days before your gone once it ends.

jeffk

After three failed jobbridge attempts i can stomach this and would like to do it. Handy to not have to deal with dole/post office and breaks a few hours in the day.

I'm not sure why in my experience they want afternoon or mad hours, i'm awake 8 onwards most mornings, sitting waiting to go in.

scamalert

dont give up, try to have decent interview with your TUS supervisor, explain your needs and skills jobs you'd be willing to do.I know some say they wouldn't work as grounds keeper etc, but even such jobs usually come with few advantages etc where time can be flexible, or consider offer to teach adults/kids as assistant, whatever would give you more options, since few people that ive met on tus are happy doing even minimum task jobs and that getting out of bed every second day does make a difference when looking to go back to job market,since it does get grim just going to post every week and getting handout specially if one worked years before so there's no novelty as many make it out to be, and interest to looks for jobs sending countles cv's with reply thanks soon wears off so understand where your coming from.

dodzy

scamalert wrote: »

well you still need to notify DSP of your start date, also register with revenue account if you havent worked for a while, it my be different per person but ive gotten actually proper wf payment before start and same week got paid in full for work so actually worked out a bit over top, go figure :cool:

It's not necessary to notify your local office as they will be given your agreed start date by your Tus team leader. There will be no lapse of payments either. In fact, on your first week you actually get extra € due to the way the JA weekly cycle works (this is not a bonus though, as it will reverse at the end of the 52 weeks if you have to return to JA payment)

Payment example: Assuming you are in receipt of a single adult JA of €193 per week, you will get €128.60 from you post office for your final payment (you collect this on your normal collection day of the first week you are on Tus) and on the Thursday of the same week you will get €215.50 into your account, so €344.10 in total received.

jeffk

Talking to tus,basically to start the process to go back onto the dole

Few hours later I get a call back,IF I go back on can't guarantee I'll be paid,could be nothing for nine week's and/or docked

The tus member of staff couldn't believe it and said never heard this before

randy hickey

jeffk wrote: »

Talking to tus,basically to start the process to go back onto the dole

Few hours later I get a call back,IF I go back on can't guarantee I'll be paid,could be nothing for nine week's and/or docked

The tus member of staff couldn't believe it and said never heard this before

Just for the purposes of clarity jeffk, have you completed your 12 month placement, or are you terminating your placement early?

jeffk

randy hickey wrote:

Just for the purposes of clarity jeffk, have you completed your 12 month placement, or are you terminating your placement early?

I was "let go" in a very vague way from initial one
Then couldn't get me administration placement,offered IT shift placement ,but diabetic so can't and won't work shift

After being told make TUS work or lose 2K ,I am waiting to be basically a caretaker

UDAWINNER

Hey there,
Is there any courses you can apply for while you're on this apart from manual handling or first aid. The supervisor isn't the friendliest regarding this. On it for the last 6 months. Any web links?
Any help would be great.

The Darkness

I received a letter from the Intreo Office Manager (no actual name mentioned, of course) wrt being offered an opportunity to 'apply' for TUS last week, stating that they had previously written to me and 'received no reply'.

Now, this is completely inaccurate. I received no such letter and nor was one actually sent IMO, as I always receive my post; and if I had, I would have replied by the directed date, as to not do so would obviously be inviting hassle and risking being sanctioned etc.

This letter instructs that I must fill out the form and reply by this week - in a shortened timeframe, obviously as a result of their mistake/non-delivery - with a letter that seems to be missing a lot of the usual detail wrt the TUS programme, judging by other people's posts here.

So, does anyone have any experience with something like this?

And, if so, what's the best way to ensure that they're fully aware that I never actually received the letter in the first place, so as to not be treating me as if I were 'non-compliant' or whatever?

Or who should I be looking to contact to deal with this misunderstanding most effectively?

Thanks in advance!

scamalert

just fill out the form and attend the meeting and explain it there, if your well mannered etc they wont care, and theres really nothing to prepare have your cv,other qualifications ready and thats it, since it takes like 10-15min before youll hear from them again prob next year if they find spot for you that works,as in general they wont be back to you unless they have a spot and usually to get all paper work etc its between 4-8 weeks,before your fully placed.

PickleJar

UDAWINNER wrote: »

Hey there,
Is there any courses you can apply for while you're on this apart from manual handling or first aid. The supervisor isn't the friendliest regarding this. On it for the last 6 months. Any web links?
Any help would be great.

Depends what your placement is and the availability of courses. Things like HACCP and pesticide spraying etc. are available on our programme.

The Darkness

scamalert wrote: »

just fill out the form and attend the meeting and explain it there, if your well mannered etc they wont care, and theres really nothing to prepare have your cv,other qualifications ready and thats it, since it takes like 10-15min before youll hear from them again prob next year if they find spot for you that works,as in general they wont be back to you unless they have a spot and usually to get all paper work etc its between 4-8 weeks,before your fully placed.

But there is no meeting, nor is there even a person or department specified. It just says that I need to return the completed form to the office by the date mentioned and that's it; it's all very non-specific and vague - and deliberately so, no doubt.

There really is no real pathway to remedy or address mistakes such as this, no-one specific or even a dept mentioned to contact; which is a major issue if you're the one at the sharp end of potential sanctions, because someone unnamed has made a mistake or been incompetent.

Btw, are you already on this programme?

If so, what's it like - is it worthwhile?

Faith+1

The Darkness wrote: »

But there is no meeting, nor is there even a person or department specified. It just says that I need to return the completed form to the office by the date mentioned and that's it; it's all very non-specific and vague - and deliberately so, no doubt.

There really is no real pathway to remedy or address mistakes such as this, no-one specific or even a dept mentioned to contact; which is a major issue if you're the one at the sharp end of potential sanctions, because someone unnamed has made a mistake or been incompetent.

Btw, are you already on this programme?

If so, what's it like - is it worthwhile?

That's because you won't have any dealings with the SW office. You're acceptance letter is then forwarded on to an LDC (.i.e. Public Partnership) who'll contact you for an initial assessment, where they'll take you're details and figure out what sort of placement suits you.

In my personal opinion I'd jump at the chance of doing a Tús programme as you could be assigned to Seetec or Turas Nua and they're a nightmare to deal with from what I've heard. If you do Tús you'll have the SW off your back for a year plus you'll get experience and a reference at the end of it.

Some people have even been offered a job at the end of their placement too.

It's not the worst thing to be placed on Tús as I did a placement myself a few years back and really enjoyed it.

If you go in with an open mind it a much easier experience imo.

scamalert

im on the scheme and while its great to get paid into bank account and found it ok initially, but to be fair there's like 5-6 people in the same place on TUS and none of them are happy nor there's any prospects of future job, in fact i looked at my CV and putting that i was on the placement would just damage it for future prospects of work since its so low skill, that if actual employer would see it on the top it would get prob binned in 3 seconds.

management is hit and miss, since i found attitude they developed that your free stock for them, since they dont pay a single dime, while most of em get milking from government funds to stay afloat with bloated salaries, and actual jobs are traded for free temps.

Now i dont say its daily crap taking and depends from one place to another where one lands, but its still part of massaging numbers on DSP side.

It might be great for someone who never worked in their life, but someone who has been in the workforce its a step down.

jeffk

scamalert wrote: »

im on the scheme and while its great to get paid into bank account and found it ok initially, but to be fair there's like 5-6 people in the same place on TUS and none of them are happy nor there's any prospects of future job, in fact i looked at my CV and putting that i was on the placement would just damage it for future prospects of work since its so low skill, that if actual employer would see it on the top it would get prob binned in 3 seconds.

management is hit and miss, since i found attitude they developed that your free stock for them, since they dont pay a single dime, while most of em get milking from government funds to stay afloat with bloated salaries, and actual jobs are traded for free temps.

Now i dont say its daily crap taking and depends from one place to another where one lands, but its still part of massaging numbers on DSP side.

It might be great for someone who never worked in their life, but someone who has been in the workforce its a step down.

SNAP

There's about 7 in total where I am, the biggest issue seems to be running out of room on the couches to sit down when doing nothing.

I'm lucky if I do maybe thirty minutes work pushing it, the rest is sat on couch talking/on my phone

The Darkness

Faith+1 wrote: »

That's because you won't have any dealings with the SW office. You're acceptance letter is then forwarded on to an LDC (.i.e. Public Partnership) who'll contact you for an initial assessment, where they'll take you're details and figure out what sort of placement suits you.

In my personal opinion I'd jump at the chance of doing a Tús programme as you could be assigned to Seetec or Turas Nua and they're a nightmare to deal with from what I've heard. If you do Tús you'll have the SW off your back for a year plus you'll get experience and a reference at the end of it.

Some people have even been offered a job at the end of their placement too.

It's not the worst thing to be placed on Tús as I did a placement myself a few years back and really enjoyed it.

If you go in with an open mind it a much easier experience imo.

Thanks for the reply Faith+1. That's good to know about an LDC, but I'd still be somewhat concerned that the SW have inaccurate information about me in relation to this and would like to have them amend it regardless, just in case. And, from what some of the other responses below are saying this programme itself can be far from ideal also; if there's as much time-wasting, figure massaging and taking advantage of the programme as scamalert and jeffk indicate, then it could well be a fruitless experience.

So, what's the actual process like once you start dealing with the LDC?
And what are the placements like - is there generally a good range?
Did you get a job from it?

Also, do you know what the situation would be if I were to actually turn it down instead?

I've been looking into other options and I think that perhaps something like Springboard would suit me better, rather than TUS. Although I'm not closed to the idea, I'd just like a lot more information, which I didn't get because the SW made a mistake, decided to skip a step and shorten the process and now I'm in the dark on much of the necessary detail.

So any and all info that you could possibly provide will be very gratefully received, cheers.

The Darkness

scamalert wrote: »

im on the scheme and while its great to get paid into bank account and found it ok initially, but to be fair there's like 5-6 people in the same place on TUS and none of them are happy nor there's any prospects of future job, in fact i looked at my CV and putting that i was on the placement would just damage it for future prospects of work since its so low skill, that if actual employer would see it on the top it would get prob binned in 3 seconds.

management is hit and miss, since i found attitude they developed that your free stock for them, since they dont pay a single dime, while most of em get milking from government funds to stay afloat with bloated salaries, and actual jobs are traded for free temps.

Now i dont say its daily crap taking and depends from one place to another where one lands, but its still part of massaging numbers on DSP side.

It might be great for someone who never worked in their life, but someone who has been in the workforce its a step down.

Wow scamalert, that doesn't sound good at all. It seems to me that far too many of these activation programmes just end up being a source of free or cheap labour that businesses and the public service get to take advantage of, while the Gov't have the benefit of massaging the employment figures on the other side - so far too many people are benefitting at vulnerable people's expense, while everyone else is under too much pressure themselves to have time to care or help prevent it. What you've said definitely doesn't really recommend it as something worthwhile though, that's for sure.

If you don't mind me asking, what are you actually doing?

Is there any satisfaction, enjoyment or fulfilment from it?

Are you developing any new skills or even making some useful contacts from doing it?

The Darkness

jeffk wrote: »

SNAP

There's about 7 in total where I am, the biggest issue seems to be running out of room on the couches to sit down when doing nothing.

I'm lucky if I do maybe thirty minutes work pushing it, the rest is sat on couch talking/on my phone

Yeah, that sounds like a complete waste of everyone's time all right jeffk. How come there are so many of you there?
Seven effectively unemployed people in the one place seems very excessive - surely if there's a need for that many, they could just create some actual, paying jobs instead!

Out of curiosity and if you don't mind me asking - what are you actually doing and how many hours a day/days a week are you doing it?