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Lodging a complaint about case officer.

UrbanFret

As per the title how and to whom do i make a complaint to about my case officer who is downright rude ,aggressive unhelpful and disrespectful to me. I am in receipt of job seekers benefit.

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Glass fused light

ShaShaBear wrote: »

She still has her position, and we have heard from several local people that she still power-trips. We had nothing but trouble, upset and hardships from reporting this woman!

if she is deliberately messing with your husband's records and he has not found permanent work I would look to do a FOI on what has been recorded and by whom as well as doing a written complaint on her behaviour. If nothing else her manager should have sense and pull her up and bar her from accessing your husbands data in the future. The department is also subject to the new data protection rules so any manager with any sense should stop her behaviour before it rebounds back in them.

splinter65

This is outrageous. I would implore you to escalate this complaint up through the ranks until you can go to the Ombudsman. You have nothing to lose.

ShaShaBear

UrbanFret wrote: »

Well I had the meeting with the supervisor this afternoon and I have to say she was much more pleasant than my case officer.She was prepared to listen to what I had to say and didn't resort to any threats or gun to the head tactics. However she dodged all comments I made about how rude the case officer had been to me. anyway I am going to take a course for 12 weeks so I wouldn't be seeing the other ignoramus for a while, hopefully never.

Just a word of caution, we went through EXACTLY this process with my husband just over a year ago and said Case Officer responded by raining hell on us.
She was extremely abusive to my partner - called him names, suspended his payment for being late to a meeting he was half an hour early for, called him a liar, screamed at him and cancelled appointments he had made with other officials telling them he requested cancellation but not telling him squat. When he complained, the regional manager got in touch with us (my husband records all important calls for our own records so we're sure we don't miss anything important) and he promised to deal with the Case Officer. One week later, we got 2 abusive phonecalls from the Case Officer (also recorded) where she screamed profanities and abuse at my husband and hung up as soon as he informed her of the recordings. Mere days later his claim was completely suspended until further notice as he had apparently told 3 different officals he was now working 3-4 days a week (one of which was apparently during the phonecall with the regional manager which we had recorded). When my husband rang head office for our area to query this and explained he had recorded proof this never occured, she hung up on him. We were forced to go to the CWO as we have two young children who both attended Temple Street and couldn't afford to feed them, let alone get them to their appointments! She even tried to block our path there by informing the CWO that my partner was working FULL-TIME! Eventually, my husband managed to get an interview for a CE scheme locally doing something he's extremely interested in a career progression in and, yep - she tried to step in there too by saying that since his claim was suspended, he technically wasn't getting a qualified payment and they wouldn't be allowing it!

She still has her position, and we have heard from several local people that she still power-trips. We had nothing but trouble, upset and hardships from reporting this woman!

UrbanFret

Well I had the meeting with the supervisor this afternoon and I have to say she was much more pleasant than my case officer.She was prepared to listen to what I had to say and didn't resort to any threats or gun to the head tactics. However she dodged all comments I made about how rude the case officer had been to me. anyway I am going to take a course for 12 weeks so I wouldn't be seeing the other ignoramus for a while, hopefully never.

Graces7

I made a formal complaint re a SW senior staff member who was being unspeakably abusive and obstructional. It was never dealt with but the abuse stopped .

n!ghtmancometh

Best of luck OP. I was a year and half unemployed up til last year and it was soul destroying, but what was even worse was the ignorant twats (few earlier in this thread) who would go on about "the economy booming" and "why can't they find work?" when they have no idea how hard it is to get a job without currently being employed or having recent experience or a CV gap. It's still incredibly tough for even stuff like retail jobs at the moment. My 19 yo underemployed sister (no guaranteed hours in her current job) had to do a two hour group interview and team skills session for a job folding clothes in H+M the other week for feck sake!

I was always treated fairly by the SW staff, as I would bring in envelopes full of emails from places I'd applied as well as fill in those lists of places I'd applied for jobs that Intreo would give out. Came to the point where the case officer stopped looking at them.

But it's completely unfair for your case worker to speak to you in such an unprofessional manner. It's the last thing anyone needs when their self worth is down from being unemployed, to have it kicked even further by someone who's supposed to be there to help them,

UrbanFret

I got a reply this morning. I have a meeting next Tuesday 31st with the supervisor. I'll let you know how that goes.

Twelve Bar Blues

^^^^ I hope OP gives us an update.....

TomOnBoard

Any developments OP?

UrbanFret

splinter65 wrote: »

Have you had a reply to your letter yet?

I only posted it this morning. I needed to calm down before I wrote it. I requested a meeting with the supervisor prior to any further one on ones with the case officer. We'll see how that goes.

splinter65

UrbanFret wrote: »

I intend to record the next meeting. Just to fill in a few gaps, I have a car, I also claim for an adult dependant. If I commuted the 85km I believe I would be down €30 or €40 a week. Hardly a tempting proposition. I have no problem discussing a personal progression plan with a case officer who treats me respectfully. The lady in question strikes me as someone who is on a powertrip and gets some kind of a kick out of making little of people. Anyway we'll see how it plays out. Ill post whenever I have an update.

Have you had a reply to your letter yet?

TomOnBoard

yabadabado wrote: »

What are you going to do with a recording and will you be seeking consent to record this person?

I'd advise you to be very careful if you plan on recording someone without their knowledge/consent.

I would agree that OP needs to be careful about recording, because a) it'll get the official's back up if s/he finds out that the meeting is being recorded in secret and b) it will change the official's attitude and way of working if s/he knows. Furthermore, while the recording of the meeting will resolve the he said/she said issue, there's no doubt it will mark the OP as a 'troublemaker' in the eyes of officialdom as they hate to see someone standing up to them and that may undermine OPs case in the longer term.

If its got to the point where OP is being bullied by the official, s/he may have little option if s/he wishes to get the evidence needed in order to pursue a complaint. If the official is acting reasonably, that will also become apparent from such a recording so if the OP is in the wrong, the recording will undermine his/her case.

troyzer

As far as I know there has to be a reasonable prospect of being gainfully employed. Intreo can't take a laid off software engineer making €85,000 and force them to work in McDonalds for minimum wage. It destroys their CV and the time is better spent on trying to get back into gainful employment.

It ultimately comes to common sense which breaks down when you have a bellend like this one you encountered.

yabadabado

What are you going to do with a recording and will you be seeking consent to record this person?

I'd advise you to be very careful if you plan on recording someone without their knowledge/consent.

UrbanFret

TomOnBoard wrote: »

I'm sure there is. And you appear to be angry with the treatment you received. And, if their charter is to be believed, you're supposed to be treated with respect, so if you werent, you certainly have the right to complain.

Just be sure that your complaint is factually based and you have evidence for any allegations you make. He said, She said won't cut it without some supporting evidence. Also consider the old adages: a) you cant beat City Hall and b) its sometimes better to be successful in terms of getting what you need, than being proven right in trying to get it. Sometimes, you simply gotta 'play the game' and 'suck it up'.

On the other hand, if you're being abused, and/or don't want to 'play the game', if you feel very strongly, maybe you need to consider the hidden camera & audio route.

I intend to record the next meeting. Just to fill in a few gaps, I have a car, I also claim for an adult dependant. If I commuted the 85km I believe I would be down €30 or €40 a week. Hardly a tempting proposition. I have no problem discussing a personal progression plan with a case officer who treats me respectfully. The lady in question strikes me as someone who is on a powertrip and gets some kind of a kick out of making little of people. Anyway we'll see how it plays out. Ill post whenever I have an update.

TomOnBoard

UrbanFret wrote: »

There's a lot more than that which I don't intend posting on here.

I'm sure there is. And you appear to be angry with the treatment you received. And, if their charter is to be believed, you're supposed to be treated with respect, so if you werent, you certainly have the right to complain.

Just be sure that your complaint is factually based and you have evidence for any allegations you make. He said, She said won't cut it without some supporting evidence. Also consider the old adages: a) you cant beat City Hall and b) its sometimes better to be successful in terms of getting what you need, than being proven right in trying to get it. Sometimes, you simply gotta 'play the game' and 'suck it up'.

On the other hand, if you're being abused, and/or don't want to 'play the game', if you feel very strongly, maybe you need to consider the hidden camera & audio route.

fritzelly

A lot of animosity about a simple question, 80+ kilometers is a long way to travel if you are relying on public transport if that is even possible for the job. Not unreasonable to refuse a job if you spend 4 hours or more a day travelling there and back

doolox

When I worked in a large multinational on shift work there was always a problem recruiting junior staff starting off with no car of their own and needing a couple of months or years work to get the money together for car, insurance license and all the other expenses motoring entails.

Busses were laid on at very low cost to fill the gaps in the public transport system at the early start times needed by the shift patterns. Assistance was given in sourcing accommodation and house shares nearby etc.

This lack of transport and a relatively remote location (not city centre) was the biggest hurdle in securing adequate labour at the lower end of the labour market.
Some people could adapt to the new life, get a car and keep on working. Others opted for a city centre job as quickly as they could, being young and single and attracted by the bright lights and glamour of city centre nightlife.

A couple of intrepid and fit people thought nothing of 30-40 Km commutes on bikes as we were lucky to have on-site showers and the necessary changing rooms to allow this to occur. Such a money-saving course of action was not open to everyone, including me.

TomOnBoard

PlaneSpeeking wrote: »

Just as an aside, my house is 82km away from my job so I don't see that as being mad at all.

It might suit you, but it may not suit OP at all. It could be an impossible journey for someone for a variety of reasons, including a)can't drive, b) has no car, c) can't afford the travelling costs, d) has no access to public transport to fit working hours etc. Etc.

EverythingGood

PlaneSpeeking wrote: »

Took me 30 years to get my salary but it's still only a touch into the higher tax band.

Put it this way - my commute is more than a lot of people are willing to do in a working week.

My work is 125 km away. 250km round trip every day. Commuting is a part of life. The OP is raising a valid question and needs advise, not judgement.

doolox

A couple of minutes work with Calculator yields the following.

82 Km each way commute equals 820 Km weekly commute which would be about €70 in my car.

€22,000 pa equates to €423 pw or €10.24 ph, less than a euro ph above minimum wage.

This gives a net wage of €323 pw when transport costs are taken out. This does not take deductions for PRSI,USC or income tax into account which I would hope would be tiny on that wage.

I would guess that €23 could cover deductions bringing the take home pay down to €290 in comparison to a local job where it would be €350.

Benefit is €193 for a single person over 26 with no child or adult dependants etc.

A long distance job such as this one on such a pay packet would gain you €97 pw or a local job would see you gain about €157 pw.

I work in several places of work as a freelance worker in what I do and get a chance to talk to many low paid people about the economics of their work. They all say that it is imperative to keep costs down by working locally, avoiding high costs like renting and staying with their parents for as long as they can in their lives or with their partners in their home place for as long as they can.

Only people in high paid jobs with a strong chance of upward progression in their careers can afford to commute long distances or live away from their home base in rental accommodation as a temporary measure to a more suitable job.

People in low wage, dead end jobs cannot afford to work at a long distance from their homes. The above calculations do not take into account the cost of car ownership, repayments, NCT, Tax and Insurance which can all be prohibitively high depending on your circumstances and past driving record, also does no take into account childminding etc, but you have to be available for work so this should not count.

I remember one lady who had a gain of only €70 pw in working full time in a factory job when all the enabling expenses of holding down the job were taken into account. When her husband got a payrise and voluntary redundancy was made available in her job she was out the door as fast as she could.

DeusVolt

I hope you are successful bud. Being on the dole is tough enough without someone in a position of power making you feel like ****e in a bucket.

PlaneSpeeking

UrbanFret wrote: »

I'm guessing your job pays more than €22000 per annum

Took me 30 years to get my salary but it's still only a touch into the higher tax band.

Put it this way - my commute is more than a lot of people are willing to do in a working week.

UrbanFret

yabadabado wrote: »

Not really grounds for a complaint, is it ?

There's a lot more than that which I don't intend posting on here.

Squatter

UrbanFret wrote: »

As per the title how and to whom do i make a complaint to about my case officer who is downright rude ,aggressive unhelpful and disrespectful to me. I am in receipt of job seekers benefit.

http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/How-to-Make-a-Comment-or-Complaint-to-the-Department.aspx

"If you are not satisfied with the standard of service you received from us, or, from any of our staff, you can make a complaint. The Department has a complaints process to help resolve complaints and we will investigate your complaint promptly, thoroughly and fairly.

You can submit a comment, compliment or complaint in a number of ways:-

Submit a comment, compliment or complaint online via our website;

Talk to a member of staff in an Intreo Centre;

Write to;
* directly to the office that you are dealing with. See Contact Us area of the website for contact details; or
* Communications and Customer Service Unit, Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Áras Mhic Dhiarmada, Store Street, Dublin 1.

Call us on (071) 919 3302 or 1890 66 22 44*;"

yabadabado

UrbanFret wrote: »

Intreo which is run by the dept as far as I am aware. Thanks for the advice. she went as far as accusing me of not trying to get employment and asked me why I hadn't applied for a job 85km away. Her words And I quote "I'll be cutting your benefit".:mad:

Not really grounds for a complaint, is it ?

UrbanFret

PlaneSpeeking wrote: »

Just as an aside, my house is 82km away from my job so I don't see that as being mad at all.

I'm guessing your job pays more than €22000 per annum

splinter65

UrbanFret wrote: »

Intreo which is run by the dept as far as I am aware. Thanks for the advice. she went as far as accusing me of not trying to get employment and asked me why I hadn't applied for a job 85km away. Her words And I quote "I'll be cutting your benefit".:mad:

Let us know how you go on with your complaint.

PlaneSpeeking

UrbanFret wrote: »

Intreo which is run by the dept as far as I am aware. Thanks for the advice. she went as far as accusing me of not trying to get employment and asked me why I hadn't applied for a job 85km away. Her words And I quote "I'll be cutting your benefit".:mad:

Just as an aside, my house is 82km away from my job so I don't see that as being mad at all.

UrbanFret

Keepgrowing wrote: »

Did you try to find employment?

Yes.