Jobseekers in UK forced into free labor

The mandatory work activity programme has dispatched a new expansion pack that will force 70,000 jobseekers to work unpaid for a month; otherwise they will lose their benefits for three months.

This comes as the UK government estimated that some of the people claiming benefit were already working, which is recognized as fraud.

Moreover, there has been evidence that more cases of mistakes have been made by officials than of fraud incidents by claimants. Some jobseekers would prefer to stop their benefits if they are successful in finding paid work.

Many other claimants become depressed from losing hope that they won’t find work. They then sign off or have their benefit stopped leaving them without any support or a chance to survive.

Back in March, jobseekers were obliged to do compulsory unpaid work for up to four weeks by the mandatory work activity placements, due to not taking part in voluntary work experience.

It was then reported that other jobseekers were forcefully placed under the mandatory work schemes just weeks after beginning their unemployment benefits.

Refusing to be identified, a jobseeker told the national newspaper The Guardian that he had previously accepted a voluntary placement under the belief he would be paid for his efforts and working times. He then learned that the placement was an unpaid scheme.

“I asked her if it was too late to pull out, to which she responded with ‘no’,” he then explained, “I then told her that I indeed wanted to pull out of the scheme, and that I believed that I should have been informed more about the scheme as they had not told me that the store in question wouldn’t be paying me.”

The British government is failing to encourage young people into work, as many placements appear to be unpaid or voluntary.

BGH/MOL/HE

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