Guidance

Chapter 5b: Mandation to Activity Attracting a Higher Level Sanction

Updated 23 December 2024

Please note: Please follow the processes outlined for WHP Core for WHP Pioneer. Elements that are exempt from this can be found in Chapter 2b WHP Pioneer eligibility and entry points.

ESF Requirement Changes

1. When referring to ESF Requirements within this chapter please note the following changes to ESF Requirements effective from 24 July 2023 (England)

• providers no longer need to submit or process ESF 14-20 Initial or ESF 14-20 End forms for Participants
• products can be updated to remove ESF logos. Changes to existing products and any new marketing and publicity materials should be sent to WHP.ENQUIRIES@DWP.GOV.UK for approval.
• providers should continue to use the current template for Good News Stories, until notified of amendment.
• participants you have already submitted ESF 14-20 Initial and ESF 14-20 End forms for over the lifetime of your WHP contract continue to be subject to ESF obligations. This includes Audit requirements and the ESF Document Retention Policy which at present is expected to be 2034.

In addition to the above, ESF requirements do not apply to participants started on or after 1 November 2022’

Please note: You are expected to continue to complete and to share Good News Stories with your Performance Manager as part of your contract with DWP.

High Level Must dos

1. Decide reasonable mandatory activity.

2. High - level sanction activity.

3. Notify Participant of mandatory activity in writing.

4. Record the activity along with all other ‘live’ mandatory activities.

Mandating Long Term Unemployed (LTU) Participants to undertake activity that attracts a Higher Level sanction

Sanctions are there to encourage claimants to comply with reasonable requirements, developed and agreed by them based on their individual circumstances, which in turn help them move into/prepare for work. It is important to set and agreeing realistic and achievable conditionality requirements, to support all claimants towards work.

Sanction - A benefit sanction is a penalty imposed on a benefit Participant by the Department of Work and Pensions (the Department). It is a decrease or loss of a benefit when someone without good reason has not met conditions imposed by the Department.

• Higher level sanctions for JSA customers – these are defined in paragraph 66
• Higher level sanctions for UC customers – these are defined in paragraph 72

2. To correctly mandate a LTU Participant to apply for a specific job vacancy (including those found via Find a Job), attend an interview or take up employment, you must ensure policy, procedural and legal requirements are followed. You may only mandate LTU participants who were referred to you on or after the 9 May 2022.

3. You will need to inform the LTU Participant if they fail to undertake such a mandated activity, without good reason, they will be subject to a sanction comprising of a fixed period (Higher Level sanction).

4. In all cases LTU Participants must be clearly informed of what is expected of them and when (or by when) they have to do it on the appropriate Mandatory Employment Notification (MEN). The MEN templates for JSA and UC Participants which must be used when mandating LTU Participants to employment are here: Work and Health Programme Forms and Letters Annex.

Please note: Do not notify a LTU Participant to apply for multiple vacancies on one notification - you must issue a separate notification for each vacancy.

5. You may decide that, in addition to benefit warning information that is contained in the MEN, the LTU Participant may benefit from further clarification of how the sanction regime could affect them. Financial hardship provision (payments are recoverable for UC Participants) is also available from Jobcentre Plus, where applicable, to ensure Participants are not placed in financial hardship if sanctioned. Further detail is provided in the Background and further information section.

Detailed Background and further information

Mandating LTU Participants to undertake activity that attracts a Higher Level sanction

6. For JSA Participants - You, your employees and subcontractors have been designated as Employment Officers (Emp Os) for the purposes of section 19(2)(c) of the Jobseekers Act 1995 which enables you to mandate LTU Participants to apply for and take up employment opportunities and refer LTU Participants for Higher Level sanctions (13 and 26 week sanctions) should they fail to apply for or take up that employment opportunity.

7. For UC Participants - You, your employees and subcontractors have been delegated authority (the power to “contract out” s.24(4) SSWP functions is contained in Section.29 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012) which enables you to mandate LTU Participants to apply for and take up employment opportunities and refer LTU Participants for higher-level sanctions (91 and 182 day sanctions)

8. This means that a failure can be a sanctionable failure at the higher level where a LTU Participant without a good reason fails to apply for or accept if offered a situation in any employment which an Employment Officer/delegated authority has informed him is vacant or about to become vacant. An Employment Officer/delegated authority therefore means:

• any person who is employed by you, the contractor as a Prime Contractor (including for example contractors and temporary employees) and who is employed to perform your obligations under your contract, and
• any person who is an employee of an Approved Sub-contractor (including for example contractors and temporary employees) and who is employed by the Approved Sub-contractor to perform your (as the Prime Contractor’s) obligations under your contract.

9. These powers mean you can mandate LTU Participants to appropriate, suitable employment opportunities. This may include:

• making an application for an advertised vacancy (for example sending a letter/e-mail with an attached CV)
• attending an interview.

Establishing suitable employment opportunities that attract a Higher Level sanction

10. As part of the LTU Participant’s referral information you will receive details of the types of employment the LTU Participant has stated they are looking for. Through your delivery and discussions with the LTU Participant you should also build up a picture of what types of employment will be suitable for them. Further details see: LTU Participant availability and employment restrictions.

11. When establishing if employment is appropriate and suitable you should manage LTU Participant’s expectations of available employment opportunities and wherever possible any employment must be appropriate to the LTU Participant’s desired employment sector and/or occupation type, and local labour market.

12. The following steps must be taken on every occasion you want to mandate a Participant to apply for, attend an interview or take up employment for paid work:

• Consider the suitability of the vacancy;
• Ensure the vacancy does not conflict with any agreed Participant availability or employment restrictions;
• Ensure the activity the Participant is required to do is reasonable taking into account their circumstances;
• Consider if the vacancy is within 90 minutes travelling time, in each direction, to and from the Participant’s home and work
• For Participants on UC consider their circumstances/responsibilities;
• Ensure there is enough time for the Participant to apply/attend;
• For JSA Participants consider if the Participant is on an EPS
• For UC Participants, take into account the restrictions to attend interviews/taking up paid work where the Participant is a carer, doing voluntary work or already employed under a contract
• Ensure you provide the Participant with an adequate opportunity to make representations as to the suitability of the employment they are required to apply for or take up before they are mandated to do so and give proper consideration to those representations.

Please note: You must also ensure that any representations are recorded and the reasons why the Participant is nonetheless required to apply for or take up employment are explained;

• Ensure that the Participant fully understands:
  • the sanctions consequences of failing to apply for or take up the notified employment; and
  • The specific action that they are required to undertake for example, attending an interview, make an application by submitting their CV or complete an online application etc.
• notify the Participant in writing on a Mandatory Employment Notification (MEN):
  • the specific action that they are required to undertake, for example attend an interview, make an application by submitting their CV or complete an online application
  • when or by when they must undertake it
  • that the action is mandatory
  • the potential consequences should the Participant fail to comply
  • a suggested way for the Participant to provide evidence to show they have applied.
• ensure the MEN is either handed direct to the Participant or sent by first class post. You may choose to use registered post to ensure delivery
• record the above information (the MEN) along with all other ongoing mandatory requirements in a single action planning document. Further information can be found in Chapter 4 - Action Planning.

Please note: For UC Participants a compliance condition is not required in respect of failures incurring a higher level sanctions.

13. It is important that you ensure that for any vacancy for which you are going to mandate LTU Participants to apply for and take up, you consider the specific LTU Participant and their personal circumstances and that any limitations or restrictions are identified.

Consequence: The Labour Market Decision Maker (LMDM)/Universal Credit Decision Maker (UCDM) will make a decision based on the MEN being correctly issued to the claimant and meeting the requirements. If you fail to mandate correctly any sanction imposed would not be underpinned by the legal framework, and any decision to sanction will be overturned by the Disputes and Resolution Team. It is important that a copy of the MEN is retained by providers.

Considering appropriate employment opportunities for activity that attracts a Higher Level sanction

LTU Participant availability and employment restrictions

14. Any job for which a LTU Participant is notified to apply for or take up must fit within a LTU Participant’s agreed pattern of availability and any agreed employment restrictions must be taken into account when considering whether it is appropriate to mandate a LTU Participant to a particular vacancy.

15. Jobcentre Plus will notify you of any LTU Participant availability and/or employment restrictions.

16. You cannot mandate LTU Participants to apply for or take up employment where:

• the number of hours advertised on the vacancy conflict with the employment hours that the LTU Participant is required to look for (for example, the number of hours advertised are 40 but the maximum number of hours the LTU Participant is available to work is 20)
• a LTU Participant has an agreed pattern of availability, for example where there is a job seeking agreement or Participant commitment requiring employment of:
• 24 hours or more per week and the hours recorded on the job are fewer than 24 hours per week
• 24 hours or more per week and there are no hours recorded on the job but the vacancy is shown as part-time
• fewer than 24 hours per week and the hours recorded on the job are fewer than 16 hours per week
• fewer than 24 hours per week and there are no hours recorded on the job but the vacancy is shown as full time.

17. You must not mandate LTU Participants to apply for or take up employment where the LTU Participant has agreed (with their Jobcentre Plus Work Coach) employment restrictions. Employment restrictions may include:

• particular religious or conscientious beliefs impacting on the type of work the Participant can carry out
• where a Participant is unable to do heavy lifting due to a health condition or disability.

18. Therefore, if the vacancy does not meet the LTU Participant’s availability or employment restrictions and the LTU Participant does not wish to apply for or pursue the vacancy you must not mandate them to do so. The Participant should be able to share information from Jobcentre Plus with you to help determine if the vacancy does not meet the agreed availability or restrictions.

19. You must also ensure that you do not mandate LTU Participants to specific types/areas of work that a LTU Participant is not allowed to carry out, for example due to a court judgement the LTU Participant is not permitted to work in certain locations or undertake certain types of work.

20. Where Jobcentre Plus are aware that such restrictions apply they will highlight this to you. You should engage with the Participant to understand the restrictions in place.

Working time regulations

21. When establishing suitability and where information is available you must also ensure that employment opportunities for which you are mandating LTU Participants to apply for and take up abide by the Working Time Regulations 1998.

Working Time Regulations 1998

22. The Working Time Regulations 1998 provide that a worker’s working time, including overtime, shall not exceed an average of 48 hours for each seven days (the average being calculated over a 17-week period) except where a worker has agreed with his employer in writing that this limit should not apply in his case.

Expenses

23. When establishing suitability you should also consider any child care expenses which would:

• be necessarily incurred as a result of the LTU Participant being in the employment
• represent an unreasonably high proportion of the remuneration which it is reasonable to expect that the LTU Participant would receive from the employment.

Please note: UC Participants will receive 85% of their childcare costs reimbursed when in employment.

24. You are responsible for funding the LTU Participant’s travel costs to attend job interviews for which you are mandating them to attend and/or any interviews secured as a result of being mandated to apply for a vacancy.

25. You are required to keep auditable records of travel cost payments with evidence of the expense incurred by LTU Participants. You must also ensure that you do not place undue financial hardship on LTU Participants, for example do not leave LTU Participants to fund travel to multiple interviews and reimburse them at the end of the week.

Employment expense considerations

26. Where information is available you should consider if expenses that would be unavoidably incurred (for example childcare and travelling expenses) would amount to an unreasonably high proportion of the income the LTU Participant would receive if an application was successful.

27. There are no rules for deciding whether expenses would be an unreasonably high proportion of pay. Each case must be considered on its own facts.

28. When establishing suitability, you should consider whether the level of pay is suitable for the LTU Participant and does not place the LTU Participant or the LTU Participant’s family unit at risk of hardship. You should consider the travelling costs and length of travel to and from the vacancy and whether they would be so high as to extinguish the level of pay. Where information is available you may wish to consider any expenses which:

• Participants have to meet only for the purpose of the employment
• would be an unreasonably high proportion of the expected pay from the employment.

29. Other expenses you may wish to consider include:

• the cost of tools or equipment which the Participant has to provide
• the cost of essential protective clothing, not provided by the employer
• the cost of a criminal record check (known as a disclosure).

Please note: Deductions from wages of tax, National Insurance and occupational pension contributions shouldn’t be considered. This is because they are not expenses incurred for the purposes of the employment.

National Minimum/Living Wage

30. You must also ensure that employment for which you are mandating LTU Participants to apply for and take up pays at least the National Minimum Wage or the applicable rate of the National Living Wage that applies to the LTU Participant.

Travel

31. You cannot mandate LTU Participants to apply for or take up paid work in any location which would normally take the LTU Participant more than 90 minutes on public transport to travel to or from their home. Participants in receipt of JSA with health conditions may have this time limit reduced further; UC Participants with significant factors which have an adverse effect on their ability to obtain and travel to work, such as a health condition or caring responsibility, may also have their travel to work time or area limited to take account of this.

Allowing LTU Participants time to apply/attend

32. You should allow a maximum period of four weeks for the LTU Participant to apply for the vacancy. In setting this date, you should use your discretion and take into account:

• whether the vacancy has an actual closing date of fewer than four weeks (in which case, the earlier date should be the one set)
• the complexity of the application process (if known)
• the steps you are already requiring the Participant to undertake which, where undertaken, may make it difficult for the Participant to apply in time
• the individual circumstances of the Participant.

33. For JSA Participants only: When mandating LTU Participants to attend interviews you must ensure you give 48 hours’ notice of the interview (this does not include delivery time through posting mandation letters).

Please note: A person with notified caring responsibilities for a child must be given one week’s notice to attend interviews.

34. In all cases LTU Participants must be clearly informed of what is expected of them and when (or by when) on the appropriate MEN. The MEN templates for JSA and UC Participants that must be used when mandating LTU Participants to employment are here.

Unsuitable employment opportunities

35. You must ensure you only mandate LTU Participants to employment opportunities that are legal and meet the National Minimum Wage or applicable rate of the National Living Wage requirements. You must also ensure you do not mandate LTU Participants to apply for or take up the following types of employment opportunities in circumstances described below.

Work Trials

36. It is fundamental to the concept of Work Trials that they offer the LTU Participant the opportunity to test the suitability of a job, as well as for the employer to test the suitability of the LTU Participant.

37. If the LTU Participant does not wish to apply for or pursue a Work Trial vacancy you cannot mandate them to do so.

Zero Hours contract

38. LTU Participants on JSA cannot be mandated to apply for vacancies which include a Zero Hours contract. Therefore, if the LTU Participant does not wish to apply for or pursue a Zero Hours contract vacancy you cannot mandate them to do so and must not make a Refusal of Employment (RE) DMA referral if it becomes apparent at any stage of the application that the vacancy is Zero Hours.

39. LTU Participants on UC can be mandated to apply for a vacancy that has a Zero Hours Contract provided it doesn’t have an exclusivity clause.

Employee Shareholder Contracts

40. Employee Shareholder Contract jobs are entirely voluntary. Therefore, if the LTU Participant does not wish to apply for or pursue such a vacancy you cannot mandate them to do so.

41. It may not be obvious from the details available whether the vacancy is actually an Employee Shareholder job or not. It will be dependent on the employer stating this when they advertise the vacancy, so may only become apparent during the interview stage, or when the individual and employer are discussing the terms and conditions of the job. If it becomes apparent at any stage of the application that the vacancy is an Employee Shareholder job and the LTU Participant no longer wishes to pursue the vacancy, you must not make a RE DMA referral.

Apprenticeships

42. LTU Participants cannot be mandated to apply for a government-funded apprenticeship vacancy where that vacancy has been advertised by the National Apprenticeship Service in England or by Careers Wales in Wales Therefore, if the LTU Participant does not wish to apply for or pursue such a vacancy you cannot mandate them to do so, and must not make a RE DMA referral if it becomes apparent at any stage of the application that the vacancy is as detailed above.

43. LTU Participants can still be mandated to apply for other non-government funded apprenticeship vacancies which are not advertised by the above named organisations, with a RE DMA referral to be made if the Participant fails to apply.

Self-employed work

44. For the purposes of RE DMA, employment relates to employed earners employment (that is, paid work). It excludes self-employed work. Therefore, if the LTU Participant does not wish to apply for or pursue a self-employed vacancy you cannot mandate them to do so, and must not make a RE DMA referral if it becomes apparent at any stage of the application that the vacancy is self-employed work.

Trade Disputes

45. A LTU Participant cannot be sanctioned if they refuse a job that is vacant because of a stoppage of work due to a Trade Dispute. Therefore, if the LTU Participant does not wish to apply for or pursue a job that is vacant because of a stoppage of work due to a Trade Dispute you cannot mandate them to do so, and must not make a RE DMA referral if it becomes apparent at any stage of the application that the job is vacant because of a stoppage of work due to a Trade Dispute.

Mandating LTU Participants to apply for jobs in Find a job

46. Before you consider mandating a LTU Participant to apply for a job in Find a job you must ask the LTU Participant if they have created a profile and public CV in Find a Job.

LTU Participant has not created a profile and public CV in Find a job

47. Where the LTU Participant states they have not created a profile and public CV in Find a job, you cannot mandate LTU Participants to apply for jobs in Find a job where the method of application is to select a CV in Find a job and send it on line through the service. You cannot mandate LTU Participants to create a profile and public CV in Find a job if they haven’t done so already.

48. However, you can mandate LTU Participants to apply for jobs in Find a job where the method of application is by other means, for example by post, telephone, email or via the company’s website. This is because the LTU Participant will not need to use Find a job in order to apply. In these cases you will populate the MEN with the relevant information from the ‘Job Details’ page so the LTU Participant knows what is required and how to apply for the job.

Please note: Only non-Find a job methods of application should be included in the information provided to the LTU Participant.

LTU Participant has created a profile and public CV in Find a job

49. Where a LTU Participant states they have created a profile and public CV in Find a job, before requiring them to apply for a job in Find a job you must ensure you have an available internet enabled device on which Find a job cookies have been accepted for the LTU Participant to use and ensure the LTU Participant is aware of this.

50. It is not possible to give definitive guidance on how you should set up your internet enabled devices to accept cookies because this is dependent on the individual machines used by provider that is different hardware, operating systems and browsers. However, the what you need to know about cookies webpage includes advice on how to set all recent versions of popular browsers to accept cookies.

51. You must inform the LTU Participant of the reasons why you are giving them an option to use the alternative device (due to non-essential cookies being placed on their device) and you must issue them with the cookies factsheet which is available in English and Welsh. Read Find a job: what you need to know about cookies factsheets

52. It is vital the cookies factsheet is issued to the LTU Participant so they are able to make a fully informed decision about their choices relating to cookies and that you explain that they can use one of your devices should they not wish to accept cookies on their own computer/device by the Find a job website.

Please note: You need only issue the cookies factsheet once (the first occasion you mandate the LTU Participant to apply for a job in Find a job) and you must note your records that a cookies factsheet has been issued.

53. If you do not have any available internet enabled devices on which cookies have been accepted for the LTU Participant to use, you cannot mandate the LTU Participant to apply for a job in Find a job where the method of application is to select a CV in Find a job and send it on line through the service. However, you will be able to take the action described.

54. If a LTU Participant is not given this choice, they may choose not to comply with the requirement to use Find a job on grounds that cookies would be unlawfully placed on their device and may also complain to the Information Commissioner that the Find a job website has placed cookies on their device without their freely given consent.

Rearranging a mandatory activity

55. If prior to a LTU Participant undertaking a mandated activity, you are contacted by the LTU Participant because they are unable to undertake the activity, you may choose to rearrange the activity and not follow the compliance doubt process (further information can be found in Chapter 8 - Raising a Compliance Doubt).

56. Rearranging an activity before it has occurred does not contravene the good reason consideration undertaken by the LMDM/UCDM. This is because until the mandated activity date has occurred, no failure to take part has occurred (see example below).

57. However, not taking compliance doubt action and allowing a LTU Participant to arrange an alternative appointment on a number of occasions weakens the link between cause and consequence.

58. It is important to consider before agreeing to rearrange an activity if there is good reason, whether or not this is the first time this has happened, or whether or not a pattern appears to be emerging. In these circumstances you may wish to consider challenging the LTU Participant, for example asking if they have evidence to support the reason they have given for needing to rearrange.

59. If you decide not to re-arrange the activity and the Participant fails to comply with the mandated activity, you must raise a compliance doubt (further information can be found in Chapter 8 - Raising a Compliance Doubt). In these circumstances you must add to the PRE01 or UC191 compliance doubt referral form that the request to rearrange was made and refused, and your reasons for refusing the request in full.

For example: two days prior to the mandated activity, the LTU Participant telephones you and explains that following a routine doctor’s visit, an urgent hospital appointment has been arranged for the morning of the activity. They explain the appointment may overlap with your activity. You could then decide to rearrange the activity. If you agreed to re-arrange the activity, you will not need to raise a compliance doubt referral the original activity.

60. However, if you have any doubt that the reason for the request is not genuine when the LTU Participant asks to rearrange, you would inform them that they need to attend and that if they do not attend, a compliance doubt will be raised (further information can be found in Work and Health Programme Chapter 8 - Raising a Compliance Doubt).

Following up mandated employment and evidence of compliance

61. Where you have mandated LTU Participants to apply for or take up an employment opportunity you must ensure you follow-up the mandation.

62. When following-up mandation it may not be necessary to contact the employer to obtain feedback, for example where you require a LTU Participant to apply for a vacancy by submitting an online application and alternative evidence is available such as screenshots of application sent, email confirmation or visible online evidence.

63. The method by which you request a LTU Participant to evidence compliance should be stated on the MEN.

Please note: The LTU Participant may supply alternative evidence and it is the LTU Participant’s decision on what evidence they supply to evidence compliance. If you do not think the evidence available sufficiently evidences compliance you should make a Refusal of Employment (RE) compliance doubt referral on form PRE01 or UC191 as appropriate.

64. Where alternative evidence is not provided you may wish to contact the employer so they can confirm whether a LTU Participant undertook the action you required of them, for example applied for a job, attended an interview, started work.

65. As part of your delivery DWP has arranged for a designation order that provides express legal authority for you to request information from an employer about a Participant’s job application or interview performance in relation to employment opportunities that you have mandated the Participant to.

LTU Participant behaviour

66. LTU Participants may behave in such a way that they lose the chance of employment. In such cases, an RE compliance doubt referral can be made even though the LTU Participant applied for the job. For example, if the LTU Participant:

• arrives late for an interview or goes to the wrong place through their own negligence
• imposes unreasonable conditions on acceptance of the job so that the employer withdraws the offer
• behaves in such a manner at an interview that the employer decides not to offer them the job
• refuses to give references or allow references to be taken up.

67. If a prospective employer makes it known that such conduct has occurred, the LTU Participant’s behaviour may amount to refusal or failure to apply. If it is identified that a LTU Participant has avoided the chance of a job, you must make a RE compliance doubt referral. Further information can be found in Chapter 8 - Raising a Compliance Doubt. It should be made clear to LTU Participants that whilst any failure will be referred to DWP by yourselves it will be a DWP LMDM who makes the decision based on all the facts and evidence.

Sanctions

Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) sanctions

68. There is no provision to revise the period of a sanction for failure to take part in the Work and Health Programme without good reason when the JSA LTU Participant re-engages. Therefore, even if the JSA LTU Participant complies with the mandated activity, they will still have to serve the full period of sanction.

69. Higher level – the failures are, if, without good reason, the LTU Participant:

• refused or failed to apply for, or accept when offered, any employment notified to them by an employment officer
• neglected to avail themselves of a reasonable opportunity of employment

70. The DWP LMDM will make a decision on whether to sanction based on the evidence provided. If a DWP LMDM decides a sanction is appropriate the LTU Participant’s benefit will be stopped (or will be reduced, depending on their circumstances) for 13 weeks for a first failure, 26 weeks for second or subsequent failure committed within 52 weeks (but not within two weeks) of the current failure.

71. The following scenarios illustrate how quickly higher level sanctions can escalate:

72. Scenario 1:

• mandation 1 – 8 December 2018 LTU Participant mandated to apply for vacancy before closing date of 6 January 2019
• mandation 2 – 3 January 2019: LTU Participant mandated to attend job interview 22 January 2019.

The LTU Participant fails to carry out both activities and fails to provide good reason.

• A 13-week sanction is applied for failure 1 (date of transgression 8 December 2018).
• A 26-week sanction is applied for failure 2 (date of transgression 22 January 2019) because these failures are more than two weeks apart.

73. Scenario 2:

• mandation 1 – 3 February 2018: LTU Participant mandated to attend job interview 12 February 2018
• mandation 2 – 3 February 2018: LTU Participant mandated to apply for vacancy before closing date of 27 February 2018
• mandation 3 – 3 February 2018: LTU Participant mandated to apply for vacancy before closing date of 28 February 2018

The LTU Participant fails to carry out all three activities and fails to provide good reason.

• A 13-week sanction is applied for failure 1 (date of transgression 12 February 2018)
• A 26-week sanction is applied for failure 2 (date of transgression 27 February 2018) as this is more than two weeks since the previous failure
• A further 26-week sanction is applied for failure 3 (date of transgression 28 February 2018) as this is within two weeks of the previous failure on 27 February 2018

JSA Hardship Provision

74. Hardship payments are available as a safeguard if a claimant demonstrates that they cannot meet their immediate and most essential needs, including accommodation, heating, food and hygiene, as a result of their sanction. In JSA, if claimants are classified as vulnerable (have complex needs and/or additional support requirements) however, they are able to apply for a hardship payment immediately. However, in JSA the majority of claimants have to wait until day 14 of a sanction until applying for a hardship payment.

75. If a LTU Participant is sanctioned for failure to take part in the Work and Health Programme, they may have access to hardship payments. JSA will not be payable for the full period of any sanction imposed regardless of whether they re-engage.

76. Therefore, in certain circumstances for a LTU Participant who receives hardship provision, there will be a two week wait where they will not have access to hardship provision. LTU Participants who are classed as vulnerable who receive hardship provision from day one of the sanction. Those claimants should have their vulnerability taken into account when requesting them to take part in subsequent Work and Health Programme activities that is because their circumstances have changed.

UC Sanctions Detail

77. Higher level sanctions will be imposed where a Participant fails without good reason to:

• Apply for a specific vacancy for paid work
• Take up an offer of paid work

78. The higher level sanction periods will usually be the following fixed periods set out below:

• 91 days for a first failure;
• 182 days for a second or subsequent failure committed within 365 days of the previous failure.

Please note: Where 2 higher level failures occur within 14 days of each other the fixed period of the sanction will not escalate

79. For higher level sanctions, there is no provision to revise the period of a sanction for failure to take part in the Work and Health Programme without good reason when the UC LTU Participant re-engages. Therefore, even if the UC LTU Participant complies with the mandated activity, they will still have to serve the full period of sanction.

Please note - For further details on Compliance condition for Participants on UC

UC Recoverable Hardship Payments

80. If a UC Participant is sanctioned then they can apply for a recoverable hardship payment from Jobcentre Plus to help them to meet their immediate and most basic and essential needs, or those of a child or qualifying young person for whom they or their partner is responsible. They will not be awarded a recoverable hardship payment until they have met all of their work related requirements.

81. If a Participant asks about or requests information on Hardship provision you should direct them to their Jobcentre Plus office.

82. Hardship payments are calculated on a daily basis based on 60% of the amount of reduction. A payment is made to cover a maximum of one month from the date on which the conditions for hardship are met (see paragraph 82 below), up to the point when the Participant is next due to receive a payment. A Participant must re-apply each at each assessment period, if they are still in hardship and a sanction (or combination of sanctions) extends over a number of assessment periods. The total amount they receive is recoverable once their UC award is no longer reduced by sanction apart from any month where the Participant (or joint Participants in the case of a couple) are placed in the No Work Related Requirements group due to high earnings. The hardship payments cease to be recoverable once the Participant (or joint Participants) has had monthly earnings in excess of their individual threshold for at least six months.

83. A Participant whose UC award is subject to a Higher, Medium or Low level sanction can apply for a Recoverable Hardship Payment if they meet all the following conditions:

• They, or their sanctioned partner, are aged 18 or over
• They have received a sanctioned payment (that is; they cannot apply until they have actually received a reduced payment);
• They (or their sanctioned partner) have met any compliance condition relating to an open-ended sanction relevant to them – which, for Work and Health Programme Participants, will usually mean they have re-engaged and done what was asked of them on their Action Plan, the failure to do so being what led to them being sanctioned;
• They have submitted an application and accompanying information and evidence;
• They, or each member of a couple, accept payments are recoverable;
• They, or each member of a couple, have undertaken all their work-related requirements in the seven days before applying for payment;
• A UCDM is satisfied the Participant, and any children/qualifying young person they are responsible for, is in hardship because they;
  • are unable to meet their immediate and basic and essential needs in respect of accommodation, food, heating and hygiene costs only
  • have made every reasonable effort to seek other sources of support to meet those needs and
  • have made reasonable effort to reduce non-essential expenditure.

84. This means a Recoverable Hardship Payment will only start from the point a Participant can show they are actually in hardship.

Participant moves to Scotland

85. If an LTU Participant moves to Scotland, and whilst they remain in Scotland, they are no longer a mandatory Participant. However, they may choose to continue participating on a voluntary basis.

LTU Participant has Extended Period of Sickness (EPS) – JSA Participants only

86. You may be notified that a JSA Participant has agreed to continue to claim JSA whilst on an EPS. This is in addition to the two, two week periods of sickness allowed on JSA and means that a LTU Participant can agree to remain on JSA whilst sick for a third period or a longer period of up to 13 weeks. Further information can be found in Chapter 10 - Change of Circumstances and Notifications.

87. During the period of the EPS the LTU Participant will have their conditionality tailored to reflect their health condition or illness.

88. The Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will notify you on form CEPD1 of:

• confirmation that the Participant is on an EPS
• the start and end dates of the EPS
• details of their conditionality (whether No conditionality or Limited conditionality)
• start and end dates of each conditionality period.

89. The Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will issue further CEPD1 forms during the period they are on EPS in the following circumstances:

• if further supporting medical evidence is provided
• if the Participant decides to end their claim to JSA
• to notify you if the Participant’s conditionality changes
• to notify you of the date when EPS ends and when the Participant will be ready to continue with their normal action plan activities.

Tailored Conditionality

90. The Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will then decide whether:

• to remove the conditionality requirements completely for the whole duration of the EPS
• to remove conditionality requirements completely for part of the EPS and the Participant has limited conditionality for the remaining duration of the EPS
• the Participant has limited conditionality for the whole duration of the EPS.

No conditionality

91. If the LTU Participant’s conditionality is removed, you cannot mandate the LTU Participant to undertake any specified activities.

Limited conditionality

92. Where a JSA LTU Participant has limited conditionality, you must consider their health condition prior to mandating the LTU Participant to an activity. The LTU Participant cannot be mandated to take up work, however they can be mandated to apply for a job or complete activities that are reasonable steps towards preparing them for work.

Please note: Full details on conditionality can be found in Chapter 10 - Change of Circumstances and Notifications.

93. If the period of EPS overlaps a period where you have previously mandated the LTU Participant to undertake specified activities, a new notification may have to be issued to mirror amendments to the LTU Participant’s action plan if they have limited conditionality. Alternatively, if they have no conditionality the notification will have to be withdrawn taking into account the LTU Participant’s circumstances.

93. You must consider the LTU Participant’s current circumstances prior to making a DMA referral.

Should you require a copy of any of the forms mentioned in this chapter, please email WHP.ENQUIRIES@DWP.GOV.UK