UK: Jobless to be remotely
monitored by Government
Benefit claimants will
have their online job applications remotely monitored by the Government to see
whether they are making serious attempts to find work.
Mr Duncan Smith said the
website will mean Job Centre advisers are able to target their help at
jobseekers with problems
By Rowena Mason, Political
Correspondent11:33AM GMT 20 Dec 2012
From the beginning of next
year, the unemployed will have to look for work through the Coalition's new
Universal Jobmatch website or potentially risk losing their benefits.
The website will scan the
CVs of benefit claimants and automatically match them up with job openings that
suit their skills.
It will also allow
employers to search for new workers among the unemployed and send messages
inviting them to interviews.
However, the activities of
benefit claimants can also be tracked using devices known as
"cookies", so their Job Centre advisers can know how many searches
they have been doing, suggest potential jobs and see whether they are turning
down viable opportunities.
Iain Duncan Smith, the
Work and Pensions Secretary, said the scheme would "revolutionise"
the process of looking for work.
The tracking element of
the programme will not be compulsory as monitoring people's behaviour online
without their consent would not be allowed under EU law.
But job advisers are able
to impose sanctions such as compulsory work placements or ultimately losing
benefits if they feel the unemployed are not searching hard enough.
Mr Duncan Smith said: “If
you choose not to take a job that matches you, then the adviser will look at
your reasons, and if the adviser thinks ‘actually, these are pretty specious
reasons’, he may call you in and say ‘I think you really need to be applying
for these jobs’.”
He said the website will
mean Job Centre advisers are able to target their help at jobseekers with
problems, while letting capable candidates get on with their searches.
"For the very small
percentage that have a real problem - maybe they have absolutely no skills - we
want them in front of the adviser," he said.
"And if they're just
not playing ball, they will be in front of the adviser. These are little trip
wires, if we think they're not applying for it. There are lots of things the
adviser can do.”
The Work and Pensions
Secretary said jobseekers can be hauled in every day if advisers "think
they're not up to the activity” they are meant to be doing.
“We have some interesting
programmes like mandatory work activity if the [advisers] think they're having
trouble getting out of bed, if they're not playing the game.”
Around 690,000 people have
signed up to it so far, with more than half giving their Government job adviser
access to their profile and activities.
The website has already
signed up 370,000 employers and jobseekers are conducting about five million
searches a day.
Mr Duncan Smith also
confirmed his department is looking at introducing a ‘welfare card’, instead of
some benefits, for drug addicts. This could only be used to purchase certain
items, such as food and other essentials, stopping them from spending their
benefits on drugs.
“I’ve been looking at this
process to figure out whether it’s feasible, how would it work, how does it
match with legal obligations, so we’ve already been examining this," he
told the BBC's World at One. "There’s nothing at the moment on plans, but
I genuinely think there are some areas where we might want to think about.
“You know, somebody who
has a history of real drug addiction, giving people cash sometimes can actually
lead to further problems.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9757895/Jobless-to-be-remotely-monitored-by-Government.html
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