Virgin Media Closing Albert Dock

[Russ]

Originally Posted by chrisidaho

This post is so inaccurate it is untrue. I reply mainly because I fear an at risk employee could be scared by the inaccuracies you state.

1. IB is a legacy benefit. Someone losing their job now would not be able to claim it. It was replaced some time ago by ESA (employment support allowance) regardless the chance of someone moving directly from a job (fit to work) to ESA is minimal they would most likely move initially to JSA

2. Most employees made redundant would be entitled to contribution based JSA. This is non means tested and therefore unaffected by savings regardless of size. You are entitled to this for 6 months because you have paid NI as an employee and it is there to provide support whilst out of work. The vast majority of people not eligible for this are due to not contributing sufficiently to NI and therefore probably not employed for two years plus and therefore not entitled to redundancy.

3. Even this government are not so vicious to stops the benefits of those who are sick/disabled. They want to move people who they deem as fit for some type of work off IB OR ESA to JSA and "encourage" them into work with support

I work in a job centre on a weekly basis and whilst the staff there are realists and tough with claimants they believe to be evading work people made redundant would be supported to the best of their ability and certainly not given another kick on top of the pain of losing their job.

As other have said I really believe you should drop this, as it is evident you are gaining your expertise in this area from daily mail headlines....

Excellent post

[Nopanic]

Seriously guys, this is about peoples lives, why are you playing up to the troll ?

Originally Posted by Nopanic

Seriously guys, this is about peoples lives, why are you playing up to the troll ?

Tsk,tsk.You used the t word..

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by chrisidaho

This post is so inaccurate it is untrue. I reply mainly because I fear an at risk employee could be scared by the inaccuracies you state.

1. IB is a legacy benefit. Someone losing their job now would not be able to claim it. It was replaced some time ago by ESA (employment support allowance) regardless the chance of someone moving directly from a job (fit to work) to ESA is minimal they would most likely move initially to JSA

2. Most employees made redundant would be entitled to contribution based JSA. This is non means tested and therefore unaffected by savings regardless of size. You are entitled to this for 6 months because you have paid NI as an employee and it is there to provide support whilst out of work. The vast majority of people not eligible for this are due to not contributing sufficiently to NI and therefore probably not employed for two years plus and therefore not entitled to redundancy.

3. Even this government are not so vicious to stops the benefits of those who are sick/disabled. They want to move people who they deem as fit for some type of work off IB OR ESA to JSA and "encourage" them into work with support

I work in a job centre on a weekly basis and whilst the staff there are realists and tough with claimants they believe to be evading work people made redundant would be supported to the best of their ability and certainly not given another kick on top of the pain of losing their job.

As other have said I really believe you should drop this, as it is evident you are gaining your expertise in this area from daily mail headlines....

To clarify the points you have made:

1) No-one has mentioned Incapacity Benefit. JSA/IB stands for Income Based Jobseekers Allowance.

2) You are correct about Contribution Based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA/C), but I was trying to keep things simple. Most people will be affected if their savings exceed £6,000. This is mainly because:

- JSA/C will not be enough to live on, so they will need to apply for JSA/IB too. This particularly affects those with a mortgage, after the qualifying period has been satisfied.

- People in rented accommodation will have to claim Housing Benefit/LHA. This is means tested.

-People responsible for Council Tax will have to claim Council Tax Benefit. This is means tested.

3) The Government intend to reassess every sick and disabled person in receipt of health related benefits.

There will be three outcomes:

A) They will be found completely fit for work and transferred to JSA/IB or JSA/C and be required to actively seek/be available for work.

B) They will be found capable of doing work of some sort and put into the "work focussed" group. Discussions are currently taking place to end contribution based health benefits for these claimants after one year.

C) They will be found unfit for any work, put into the ""support" group, unless they want to be put into the "work focussed" group voluntarily and may continue to claim contribution based health benefits indefinitely.

It is widely expected that the vast majority of claimants will fall into categories A or B.

My knowledge comes from being part of a consultation panel to the Government about various work related issues.

It is worth noting that, instead of benefits being increased by the lower CPI, instead of the higher RPI, as was announced earlier, they are now very likely to be frozen.

[Peter_]

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

@ Masque, no-one, including myself, has suggested that going to Swansea is compulsory.

Strange the way every post reads that way, shows how little you remember of your prior postings.

The fact is people are being made redundant and no one in their right mind would carry on the way you have about why we should be moving to Swansea, if the company wanted us that badly they would relocate locally.

In reality those jobs are not for us and we realise that as fact.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Maggy J

Tsk,tsk.You used the t word..

Yes but its accurate

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

No, that was only one example of reasonable situations where relocation could not be considered as a serious option.

Others could be a terminally ill relative living in close proximity to Liverpool or a partner who is unwilling to disrupt a good career.

Nobody who does not wish to go to Swansea will be forced to, they are free to seek alternative employment so that they can remain where they are, however, the current difficulties in obtaining employment should not be underestimated.

Those offered employment in Swansea, who turn it down without "just cause" and who do not obtain a replacement job at their current geographical location may face difficulties when trying to claim benefits.

There are regulations in place that the Department for Work and Pensions use to protect public funds.

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

To clarify the points you have made:

1) No-one has mentioned Incapacity Benefit. JSA/IB stands for Income Based Jobseekers Allowance.

2) You are correct about Contribution Based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA/C), but I was trying to keep things simple. Most people will be affected if their savings exceed £6,000. This is mainly because:

- JSA/C will not be enough to live on, so they will need to apply for JSA/IB too. This particularly affects those with a mortgage, after the qualifying period has been satisfied.

- People in rented accommodation will have to claim Housing Benefit/LHA. This is means tested.

-People responsible for Council Tax will have to claim Council Tax Benefit. This is means tested.

3) The Government intend to reassess every sick and disabled person in receipt of health related benefits.

There will be three outcomes:

A) They will be found completely fit for work and transferred to JSA/IB or JSA/C and be required to actively seek/be available for work.

B) They will be found capable of doing work of some sort and put into the "work focussed" group. Discussions are currently taking place to end contribution based health benefits for these claimants after one year.

C) They will be found unfit for any work, put into the ""support" group, unless they want to be put into the "work focussed" group voluntarily and may continue to claim contribution based health benefits indefinitely.

It is widely expected that the vast majority of claimants will fall into categories A or ose
My knowledge comes from being part of a consultation panel to the Government about various work related issues

It is worth noting that, instead of benefits being increased by the lower CPI, instead of the higher RPI, as was announced earlier, they are now very likely to be frozen.

Just for information, those noises you can hear are the goalposts being moved.....

[Peter_]

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

Those offered employment in Swansea, who turn it down without "just cause" and who do not obtain a replacement job at their current geographical location may face difficulties when trying to claim benefits.

There are regulations in place that the Department for Work and Pensions use to protect public funds.

Not a single person is being offered alternative employment in Swansea that is fact!! no ifs or buts, as we are being made REDUNDANT!!!!!

As for any jobs in Swansea on offer anyone interested has to apply for them and go through the application process the same as any other applicant because it is classed as another employer, the same would also apply to moving to Wythenshawe or any other office within the UK.

I know it is hard especially with you continually posting inaccurate and untrue statements but try to remove your head from your rear extremity.

I think we had all better calm down before we say something we later regret because of someone's big frack hammer.

[Peter_]

Originally Posted by Maggy J

I think we had all better calm down before we say something we later regret because of someone's big frack hammer.

That is calm just ensuring he can actually see it outside of his blinkers, and Sirius has him bang to rights above.

[joglynne]

Originally Posted by Masque

Not a single person is being offered alternative employment in Swansea that is fact!! no ifs or buts, as we are being made REDUNDANT!!!!!

As for any jobs in Swansea on offer anyone interested has to apply for them and go through the application process the same as any other applicant because it is classed as another employer, the same would also apply to moving to Wythenshawe or any other office within the UK.

I know it is hard especially with you continually posting inaccurate and untrue statements but try to remove your head from your rear extremity.

I am sure that nearly everyone reading this thread is well aware of the position you and your colleagues at Albert Dock find yourselves in and I think that, in the main, we all realise that the very few of you will be in a position to apply for a job at Swansea let alone be offered a position if you did so.

I do think Richard has quoted a lot of the benefit regulations accurately but the problem with his posts is that he has failed to grasp that something that can be quoted as a fact is only of use if it is also relevant. I would be interested to hear what relevant experience Richard has regarding his having had to cope with redundancy and what advise he could give to the people who are actually the subject of this thread as apposed to the 'on your bike, no benefits for you!' attitude he has shown so far.

[Peter_]

Originally Posted by joglynne

I am sure that nearly everyone reading this thread is well aware of the position you and your colleagues at Albert Dock find yourselves in and I think that, in the main, we all realise that the very few of you will be in a position to apply for a job at Swansea let alone be offered a position if you did so.

I do think Richard has quoted a lot of the benefit regulations accurately but the problem with his posts is that he has failed to grasp that something that can be quoted as a fact is only of use if it is also relevant. I would be interested to hear what relevant experience Richard has regarding his having had to cope with redundancy and what advise he could give to the people who are actually the subject of this thread as apposed to the 'on your bike, no benefits for you!' attitude he has shown so far.

It is just that he posts the regulations completely out of context with regards to people being made redundant as most of the rubbish he has posted has no bearing on people in a redundancy situation as the law expects the company to help with looking for a new position,which in reality is just lipservice, but no one has been offered a position in Swansea which he has completely failed to take in and any such opportunity would only come about after the person had been made redundant.

If the company had turned around and said everyone has to move to Swansea or you will be out of a job with no redundancy package, then the would be a major issue as that would be unreasonable and lead to legal action against the company.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Masque

It is just that he posts the regulations completely out of context with regards to people being made redundant as most of the rubbish he has posted has no bearing on people in a redundancy situation as the law expects the company to help with looking for a new position,which in reality is just lipservice, but no one has been offered a position in Swansea which he has completely failed to take in and any such opportunity would only come about after the person had been made redundant.

If the company had turned around and said everyone has to move to Swansea or you will be out of a job with no redundancy package, then the would be a major issue as that would be unreasonable and lead to legal action against the company.

I see Richards posts as intended to illicit a certain type of response from members of staff of VM nothing else

[Peter_]

Originally Posted by Sirius

I see Richards post as intended to illicit a response from members of staff of VM nothing else

I know what he is doing as he did a similar action Digitalspy last year and then tried to report said member to the company, I am not posting anything that is sensitive information and I have zero intention of going to Swansea unless I am ever down that way on holiday but even then it would be the Gower Peninsula rather than Swansea, I already have a position lined up anyway.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Masque

I know what he is doing as he did a similar action Digitalspy last year and then tried to report said member to the company, I am not posting anything that is sensitive information and I have zero intention of going to Swansea unless I am ever down that way on holiday but even then it would be the Gower Peninsula rather than Swansea, I already have a position lined up anyway.

I have a certain option applied here because of that exact problem. Have you applied for any of the positions that i heard about at Concord house ?