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Labour If you claim you can work from home . Doing What Exactly?

Topcat71

When the government says that some receiving benefits will need to work from home where are they getting these jobs from. Having spent the past 30 years looking for a idea home job but each leading to disappointment after licking 5000 envelopes for 25 pence and a mouth infection. I really like to know what these new home jobs are going to be. Because I tell you if I get sent another batch of envelopes they be sent back to number 10.

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Comments

Dendoo

well I done that for last 12 year or so biggest mistake of my life ! It turned into my prison filled with isolation and here I am oh and totally done a number on my already wrecked joints long story it’s my own fault . It allowed me to rot 🤷‍♀️ I was self employed it would never of suited UC terms either . Wasn’t physically possible , only good thing it come to an end before we had to switch to uc x

Laura Bradshaw

The problem is they either don't understand that for some disabled working from home is also not possible because they are chronically ill they can't do the work for various reasons from pain, fatigue to cognitive issues.

They either don't get it or do not care that all the disabled get thrown under the bus to catch those they deem lazy or able

Qasimo

Dunno probably folding envelope or something sometime making folder for factory or company or so Google this you find it 👍

Amalegra

The government must understand that many people are simply too sick to work from home. Work activity may be achievable for those whose condition permits and who have a skill to offer such as IT. This might be feasible provided it does not have a detrimental effect on health. I knew someone with severe mobility issues and was wheelchair bound but he was able to design and edit software so ok to a degree unless he had a day where pain overwhelmed him. The disabled will still need financial support even if they can do some work. I am retired so do not have this worry hanging over me but, like all of us, I do fear for the future.

Littlefatfriend

I was surprised by how they worded it, implying that such opportunities for work are available and viable.

That further suggests benefit recipients aren't trying hard enough.

They're words written by a politician (or their marketing advisor) aiming at easy targets to distract attention from the other, far more meaningful things they could do to improve the country.

Starmer appears to be attempting a Thatcher-like early taming of inflation but that was already underway well before September and this definitely isn't the early 80s.

As an optimist however I hope next year may be better.

Certainly he "inherited" an awful mess!

🤞

Annabelle26

I did have an interesting voluntary job with Ancestry translating hand written documents into a more computer friendly format. Because of a decision to take my disability benefits & Employment Support away in 2017/2018 I had to give it up because I could not concentrate because of constant stress going through two appeal procedures & try and manage on a small amount of pension & unemployment benefit using up all my savings to make ends meets. It took over 12 months to get them back and I became really ill during that time. I also have had other problems since but am now back on the way up. I have just become confident enough to buy a new computer as my elderly one was playing up & on its last legs, I hope to go back to the job next year.

ocean

Glad things are going well for you think just keeping gently active whatever it is, it's a good idea being constructive 👍

paddy1

Thankfull that this issue does not apply to me ,but i can hardly belive that in this so called civalised county we have a system that treats its sick and disabled with so much contempt , we are not a third world society so why is our goverment allowed to apply third world attitdes and laws to the most vunarable ,its disgusting

Ironside1990

Are there any jobs that are truly WFH? The ones I've seen require a commute to an office a few times a week, which defeats the purpose.

Daffodil94

Working from home requires many skills apart from computer literacy. That’s before you enter into the training you need to do the actual job. My daughter is autistic and recently tried to do a volunteering job. She was sent, by email, an application form requiring two referees. If you’ve been unable to work for 20 years, or enter into friendships/contacts because you’ve been at home, that’s the first hurdle. Autistic people find it difficult to make friends. Secondly, she’s been sent 2 ebooks to read and she finds it difficult to read for information (impossible actually) and thirdly a training video to watch. Her motivation (incidentally, that’s an essential for working at home) is not great as she’s been at home so long. All these things were stumbling blocks in her first attempt in a long time to have the confidence to volunteer again, let alone obtain work. Unless you are involved with a disabled person like Sir Ed Davey, Leader of the Liberal Party, who has a disabled son , for instance, how can you possibly, as a politician, say what it is possible for a disabled person to do? I do hope representatives from people at Scope and similar disability organisations are , or will be, advising the government on this topic

Dendoo

it’s a minefield cos it’s hard to switch off it’s not 9 till 5 , the stress in end as well as the pain done me . I pushed through last few years when I should have stopped even though i was doing less cos I couldn’t physically or mentally do it . It was only during that period to now I can see I imprisoned myself isolated myself . I suppose it depends what you choose to

do but there’s no protection when your self employed no holiday or sickness money . And now you have to meet universal credit rules if you need help from them too. Don’t anyone go into this unless you’ve really thought deep into it x

Albus_Alumni

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/925278#Comment_925278

The whole Scope community team (and many other teams) are 100% work from home, with reasonable adjustments for all staff and Access to work contact if needed as well. Work from home jobs are out there, but they're not as abundant as the government thinks or hopes but I hope this will change. Scope have had meetings with the DWP and government to discuss our Support to Work scheme and how they could help those that could work back to work.

There's no forcing disabled people back into work, the government know that would never work. They're talking about helping those who can work back into work. There's far too much speculation and demonisation going on at the moment.

Ironside1990

On the subject of remote working, i'I've had this site bookmarked for ages now and i'I'm Wondering if it's legit.

https://savvyharvest.online/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw3vO3BhCqARIsAEWblcDVJ3d6jHL2KCJvr_vcenkJQfLGLsOfaAZoGzAT4ipvObQtR6aYZkcaAqmDEALw_wcB

paddy1

I am 76 so not seeking work but if i was i think i would be very concerned about trying to find legit home work,we have all heard of desperate people being exposed to less than honest explotation and even workers being exposed to dangers ,if the DWP Advocates home working for some disabled then it should have some system in place to ensure the welfare of the workers

Stellar

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/925933#Comment_925933

dosen't look legit. the claim of "£1,800 a week" itself is sus. If it sounds too good to be true, it probs is.

Some legit sites are:

We Work Remotely

RemoteOK

Escape The City

Remote Jobs Filter on DWP's Find a Job Site

Linkedin has filters too

Stellar

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/925974#Comment_925974

It's not racist to point out how outsourcing jobs abroad makes it harder for Brits to find jobs. I don't think government departments are outsourcing abroad (you can get these jobs from the likes of Civil Service jobs and the DWP).

That said, private companies absolutely are outsourcing jobs overseas. Only regulation can stop the trend. It's not the fault of British people here, nor those overseas taking on these roles. It's squarely the fault of employers.

colejames

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/925313#Comment_925313

Albus, what you say is true and much of the current policies are born from people working from home during covid. Many call centres were switched to phones/equipment in an employees home and some have continued. Interestingly before covid, employees would have found it almost impossible to work from home as employers wanted oversight of their workforce and remote working was low on priorities. So it can be done, but there has to be positive action from the employer.

This is for me the crux of the matter, employers have to be on board. Most people with disabilities find that although they might get an interview they don't get the job. A lot of employers see us as a risk or a burden, rather than someone who can do the job. Their first thoughts are "what will taking on a disabled employee cost me". The support for employers which used to be available, no longer seems to be available or if it is has been shrunk in value and hidden on a website.

Working from home is not the walk in the park that many think. Unless you have a separate workspace, you have always got one foot in work. It is there all the time you are awake and possibly whilst you sleep. I spent 16 years working from home in my last job. Initially it was great as I was out and about meeting people 3-4 days a week but as time moved on my role became more specialised and, apart from about a week every other week and some ad hoc meetings, was very isolated. I was lucky as I was not stuck in a call centre type role where you have to be at work during set hours but my work involved meeting deadlines. Working from home deadlines can become a key issue as there is no-one but yourself managing your work hours and either self-pressure or employer targets means that your work/life balance becomes negative and the only people around, often your family etc, are affected as well. I was fortunate enough to have an employer who had various teams of employees who worked from home and as long as you got your work done then you didn't have to be at a desk during your work hours and were trusted to manage yourself but, as mentioned above, the can be a positive and a negative.

One thing that I know was true with my working from home, which was with a good employer, was that there was never any assessment about my workplace by my employer. Did it meet space/light/ventilation requirements, were there health and safety risks and was a risk assessment carried out, were DSE breaks being taken, are you provided with the right furniture and fittings to enable you to do your job without having any long term health implications, who was paying for energy used whilst working, was there a plan for one to ones or team talks to reduce isolation and are they built into your scheduled working hours. In a workplace there is usually a structure which would work through all of those and other issues, but most employers act as though your home is your responsibility even though the are employing you to work from there.

I mentioned that there was a lot of home working during covid but those individuals were generally already fully trained and experienced employees who had been based in the workplace until home working needed to be implemented. Many of those found it hard because covid ensured all the family was at home unless there was a key worker in the family. If you have children, it is very hard to get younger one to realise that although you are home you're effectively not there. I had several experiences of speaking to someone in lockdown who was working from home only to have an interruption from a family member, pet, broadband issues and/or connection between the employees laptop and the server.

So I would say it is possible to work from home and for some people it could be a real benefit. However there needs to be a lot more consideration, legislation and government support to both the employer and employee to enable home working to be a positive experience.

I'm 62 and have been in full time work since I was 20 with a period of claimed unemployment in the early 1980's due to the economy and about four or five months in 1995 due to health/other reasons and two months in 2019 between using up my redundancy and getting a new job. I have listed my disability on every application which I have made since I was medically retired from the MOD in 1995. I've had a variety of jobs including shop work; running a cafe/art gallery; hospitality/entertainment; working in two separate areas of the civil service; working in call centres; to having specific responsibilities as part of a national team for a trade union for over sixteen years; and for the last few years local government. Recently, due to work pressure, I have had one of the lowest periods of my life. My limited self confidence collapsed resulting in my agoraphobia kicking in and until a couple of weeks ago I had not been able to leave home since the beginning of March and am luckily being supported through the ET process.

I have been supported by a local charity with my application for PIP and had a telephone assessment and am awaiting the results. (I should note that I have worked with other people on their applications and attended their interviews with them but doing my own probably would not have really have reflected the real low that I had hit). Despite the assessor being nice, the depth of questioning really made me feel broken but luckily I was not on the call on my own so my companion could interject. At 62, my employment prospects look very dim especially where I live and although my mental health is my main problem, the last 6-7 months have taken a toll on my physical health. I'm unlikely to find a job with my skill sets match and with only five years before retirement who is going to want to invest in re-training me and my sick absence this year will be a red flag, especially alongside my disability.

In there lies the other key issue with homeworking. If homeworking is going to be fulfilling and a career rather than just a minimum wage (which would end up less than minimum wage taking in home costs) slog, training is necessary. Meaningful training at a distance is a skill for the tutor and the learner, the bigger the group being trained the less likely the training will be successful becomes. Everyone has different ways of learning and to get everyone to understand is going to be repetitive and turn off those who understood at the beginning.

So, I know its an essay to get to a basic answer in some ways. Yes working from home is possible and may really suit some individuals with disabilities but that will depend on a number of factors including the type and seriousness of the disability, the individual's home and lifestyle, the employers real desire to hire a disabled person especially one working remotely and without supervision, what training is needed and how it is delivered, what equipment is needed and what level of security is needed in the workplace, who is going to have to pay to set up the remote working and whether there is government funding for that equipment. If those in the Labour cabinet are not looking at these questions and just decide to push forward with getting more disabled people into work then I believe that it will fail. The real truth of that is though that the only ones who will suffer will be disabled people. US.

Morgan_Alumni

I have decided to remove all off-topic conversations from this discussion, including any content that:

Blames refugees
Attacks other members
Criticises or judges others on spelling, punctuation, or grammar

Overall, I have been incredibly impressed by how much the community comes together to support one another. However, it appears that this grace is not extended to all members, and I intend to address this firmly and directly.

It is never acceptable to criticise another member. If you disagree with their opinion, please discuss the issue respectfully and avoid personal insults or veiled comments.

Using racist or discriminatory language is unacceptable, as is judging others for their use of language. It is not okay to nitpick or deliberately misread or misrepresent the views they’ve posted.

Morgan_Alumni

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/925961#Comment_925961

Remote jobs can be difficult to find and are often highly competitive, with many applicants for each position. In addition to your list, I would recommend checking Charity Jobs.

While it may not have the best filtering options, many charities do hire remote workers with a lot of remote roles being advertised.

Morgan_Alumni

Hello @vikki66, thank you for your question.

I’ve sent you a number of private messages today that may provide greater clarity on this matter. The posts I removed contained breaches of our house rules, were discriminatory, or otherwise inappropriate.

There have been many reports this weekend, particularly regarding this discussion. Given that the comments were both off-topic and in violation of our house rules, I made the decision to remove them to prevent further escalation.