Woman’s benefits sanctioned when she is 23 weeks pregnant
Here’s another great success story for the DWP – Iain Duncan Smith must be revelling in it.
The above woman (wearing costume so the Jobcentre staff don’t recognise her) was sanctioned when 23 weeks pregnant. The reason you may ask…. for attending a work fare interview (work for nothing) at B&Q, according to The Poor Side of Life.
Whilst at the interview they noticed that she was pregnant and they said yep we will put you on light duties…. The jobcentre decided otherwise… in their words “we are sanctioning you because you told them that you were pregnant”.
Much more information is available on the Poor Side of Life blog – you are encouraged to visit it and read on.
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Well I’m left speechless there is no reasoning to this one, its illogical as well as heartless at what they have done to this poor woman and her child.
In addition, Mike, there are allegations that the Ashton Under Lyne Jobcentre sanctioned a claimant on sickness benefits who subsequently died of hypothermia while homeless and living on the streets.
See http://thepoorsideoflife.wordpress.com/2014/12/11/pregnant-and-sanctioned-just-in-time-for-christmas-sanctioned-and-frozen-to-death-the-latest-news-from-ashton-under-lyne-jobcentre/.
I doubt very much that they [the Jobcentre] would admit it, the blogger replied to me. However it is true. His friends are still grieving. They will just say no comment. Like they did to us.
I now have enough information and will ask the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to open an investigation into these Ashton-under-Lyne Jobcentre sanctioning cases.
Yes – I’ve already covered the hypothermia case.
I’m glad you’re going to involve the UN’s Human Rights Commissioner in this.
If an employer refused to pay someone because they were pregnant they would be in breach of the law.
At 26 weeks pregnant shouldn’t this lady be on ESA?
She’s 23 weeks pregnant. Does that make a difference?
Surely it’s a legal right to inform your employer that you are pregnant
and sex discrimination to incur any penalty from this eg time off for hosptal appointments etc, job adaption as necessary eg lifting loads. What they have done is illegal as well as disgusting.
And of course, if she *hadn’t* told the company she was pregnant, and it became an issue later (which it most certainly would), the Job Centre would… sanction her for keeping it secret, maybe?
Deliberately embroidered no-win situation. I’m sure this breaches the Law.
In another case raised by Dennis Skinner MP in the House of Commons, a pregnant woman actually gave birth in a Sports Direct toilet on New Year’s Day when working for Sports Direct on a zero-hours contract:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-7gDrH0Y6k
Please oh please has someone not approached EHCR about this? Her local MP [or a MP of her choice] you don’t have to approach just your local MP if you need help – my sister had issues with local council and met an MP from outside the area who said he would help. I’d be kicking off big time if someone did this to me.
This is what you get when you give up your freedom for government insured “security”.
No, it’s what you get when social security is taken over by people who want to replace it with private insurance by the back door. They’re showing us how a private unemployment insurance scheme would work. You got pregnant? Your choice – your claim is void.
And did you end up in that situation? By rejecting freedom. It’s that simple
I don’t see what point you’re making. How have any of us rejected freedom?
i was told by the job centre to just lie about being pregnant at interviews 8 years ago. i ended up being hospitalised with severe morning sickness, im pretty sure an employer would have noticed that…..
iam sick of the goverment treating people like this
A sick sociopathic government lying to the masses about unemployment by sanctioning the unemployed!
There are hundred things I like to punish IDS with….
A flamethrower my favourite.