The No Work Programme

As the government announces that just 2.5% of people on its flagship Work Programme (WP) remain in employment after six months, noticeably and ridiculously less than the 5% who would have remained in employment without the programme, here is my own experience of the WP:

I suffer from a disability that severely affects my ability to work. I suffer from chronic pain, levels of which vary on a day to day basis and are dependent on how I manage my activities. As such, it is questionable whether or not even if I get a job I can sustain it beyond one day, one week or one month.

Despite doubts as to whether or not I could work, I had been looking for work actively and aggressively for months before I signed on, hoping that I could find a job that would provide me with enough money to live off but sufficient rest time to manage my condition (as my previous, very flexible job allowed for).

Having told the Job Centre staff of my disability, I was advised that I was applicable for the Work Programme, without being told exactly what it entails.

In my first interview with the WP Provider (WPP), I explained my situation to the advisor, who then advised me to ‘keep looking for jobs’.

Earning her wage there then. Yes, sarcasm. With the WP humour is the only thing that keeps you sane.

At no point did the WPP do anything actively to assist me in getting a job, being merely a kind of job coach, encouraging me to find work.

On explaining to the WPP my doubts as to my ability to sustain work, I suggested retraining to overcome the barrier that my then skillset provided for, that I had always been an office-based employee and that I would struggle to work on that basis. 

In response, the WPP suggested that I become self-employed, advertising my skills in well… very little, as I have few marketable skills, to which the WPP further suggested that the WPP may be in a position to pay, up to £1,000, for some training to firm up my skills in order to make the self-employment more likely to succeed and be sustainable in the long term.

The WPP also advised me of a new self-employment allowance available to those coming off Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) and starting self-employment, called the New Enterprise Allowance (NEA).

Having nothing to lose, having only received a limited amount of contribution-based JSA, and the NEA having no such limitation, I became self-employed and commenced looking for work on that basis.

So, all well and good. Or, not.

Sure enough, after starting work on a self-employed basis, I asked the WPP for the money for the training course, to which I was advised that there were insufficient funds to pay for it, but as I had been promised some money that they would provide me with a token £100, nowhere near enough to cover costs for retraining or any kind of skills development to make my self-employment successful.

And, sure enough, again, it being more than apparent that I do not have enough marketable skills to support being self-employed, and with my health problems continuing to flare up because I am continuously seeking work as part of my self-employment, I have only actually managed to obtain and work three days in six months.

And so, I am now signed off for three months, and back on benefits.

What a waste of time, money and effort. Hence: The No Work Programme.