First of all, I don't think being in any way rude about it is a good idea at all (although I don't suspect you were about to be), and I don't think you should feel insulted by it. You are working in a voluntary post to start with, even if it's in part motivated by the JobCentre's rules. He has a budget to meet, but he's found he has scope to make this offer. He couldn't know whether it would interest you or not, so he asked you. Seems fair enough, especially since you admit you can to some extent see a potential benefit. Leave it to the laziness and logic to sort it out (although I hasten to add that laziness can on occasion be a logical choice).
Potential benefits: Well, money if it's worth the extra effort to you. Looks better when you apply for jobs, and in interviews; you worked voluntarily there, and you were then employed.
You might be able to get some more out of this, though. First of all make clear this can't be any sort of long-term solution for you, and you'll need time off to attend job interviews and so on, because you will still be looking. Secondly, ask for training. Not the expensive sort, sending you off on courses and so on, they probably won't be able to afford that, but on the job stuff; if it's possible to broaden the type of work you do, pick up a few extra skills (or rather, pick up useful things to put on your applications and say in interviews) that could help you. Even general experience of office work and administration would tend to be looked on favourably; if you get an IT job, you won't necessarily be spared soul-crushing bureaucratic tedium either. The more you can get yourself involved in that way, the better really. And if you tell employers you asked for all this, you get to say you used ninja negotiation skillz to secure this (although I imagine they'd prefer you spelt it properly). It is something that, if you do it, may make your application stand out a bit more, which is what you want. Things like that can sometimes get you past an application sift before interview where you otherwise might not get past. Also, having that to talk about, and give as evidence of your commitment and enthusiasm (or rather evidence of simulacra thereof) can make you feel a bit more confident in interview.
Also: ask about holidays!
You should also bear in mind that eventually you might get caught up in New Deal type fripperies. Some of the stuff that involves may actually be helpful to you, but you could well end up doing 30 hours of voluntary work per week for 10 quid extra a week (or thereabouts) for six months as a result of that. You could ask the jobcentre about the timings involved and the details. Now I think on it, that might be what's informing the offer your boss has made.
A few problems, though:
You need to know exactly what the situation will be with benefits, tax and NI, etc and you need to talk to the jobcentre about that. They can't make you take this job, so it is safe. However, you need to clarify what the benefits situation is if you decide to quit the job; will it affect your benefits? The employment law aspects of this situation look deeply suspect, and you should probably also check that out with the jobcentre. You should probably say to your boss that you'll have to check it out with the jobcentre first (say it's just to confirm how it affects your situation), in case it is a bit iffy. If it is legally dubious, I wouldn't hold it against your boss, though, employment law is a pretty fraught subject. I wouldn't hold out much hope of being able to do anything worthwhile with unfair dismissal, though, as suggested elsewhere. Even if there is a case there, it's not clear it would be feasible or desirable to pursue it.
At the end of the day, when I was in that position, I'm not sure that I'd have taken that offer or not; laziness is not necessarily a bad basis for a decision here.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-06-06 06:36 pm (UTC)First of all, I don't think being in any way rude about it is a good idea at all (although I don't suspect you were about to be), and I don't think you should feel insulted by it. You are working in a voluntary post to start with, even if it's in part motivated by the JobCentre's rules. He has a budget to meet, but he's found he has scope to make this offer. He couldn't know whether it would interest you or not, so he asked you. Seems fair enough, especially since you admit you can to some extent see a potential benefit. Leave it to the laziness and logic to sort it out (although I hasten to add that laziness can on occasion be a logical choice).
Potential benefits: Well, money if it's worth the extra effort to you. Looks better when you apply for jobs, and in interviews; you worked voluntarily there, and you were then employed.
You might be able to get some more out of this, though. First of all make clear this can't be any sort of long-term solution for you, and you'll need time off to attend job interviews and so on, because you will still be looking. Secondly, ask for training. Not the expensive sort, sending you off on courses and so on, they probably won't be able to afford that, but on the job stuff; if it's possible to broaden the type of work you do, pick up a few extra skills (or rather, pick up useful things to put on your applications and say in interviews) that could help you. Even general experience of office work and administration would tend to be looked on favourably; if you get an IT job, you won't necessarily be spared soul-crushing bureaucratic tedium either. The more you can get yourself involved in that way, the better really. And if you tell employers you asked for all this, you get to say you used ninja negotiation skillz to secure this (although I imagine they'd prefer you spelt it properly). It is something that, if you do it, may make your application stand out a bit more, which is what you want. Things like that can sometimes get you past an application sift before interview where you otherwise might not get past. Also, having that to talk about, and give as evidence of your commitment and enthusiasm (or rather evidence of simulacra thereof) can make you feel a bit more confident in interview.
Also: ask about holidays!
You should also bear in mind that eventually you might get caught up in New Deal type fripperies. Some of the stuff that involves may actually be helpful to you, but you could well end up doing 30 hours of voluntary work per week for 10 quid extra a week (or thereabouts) for six months as a result of that. You could ask the jobcentre about the timings involved and the details. Now I think on it, that might be what's informing the offer your boss has made.
A few problems, though:
You need to know exactly what the situation will be with benefits, tax and NI, etc and you need to talk to the jobcentre about that. They can't make you take this job, so it is safe. However, you need to clarify what the benefits situation is if you decide to quit the job; will it affect your benefits? The employment law aspects of this situation look deeply suspect, and you should probably also check that out with the jobcentre. You should probably say to your boss that you'll have to check it out with the jobcentre first (say it's just to confirm how it affects your situation), in case it is a bit iffy. If it is legally dubious, I wouldn't hold it against your boss, though, employment law is a pretty fraught subject. I wouldn't hold out much hope of being able to do anything worthwhile with unfair dismissal, though, as suggested elsewhere. Even if there is a case there, it's not clear it would be feasible or desirable to pursue it.
At the end of the day, when I was in that position, I'm not sure that I'd have taken that offer or not; laziness is not necessarily a bad basis for a decision here.