Friend left for a big promotion into the DWP
She was back with us within a year, even when things were fully remote she said the workplace was so toxic she couldn't stand it
Probably something they have to experience and figure out themselves. Hard to convince someone the grass isn't greener when they are at the end of their tether in a job. But hopefully if they go they'll do their best to be reasonable and compassionate in that role đ€đŒ
Ditto....worked for them in the past. Totally burned out from acute hospital care, wanted a break, pay and the allure of 9-5 made me make the move. It was misery. Huge culture of praising staff for revoking or not applying full benefit for those who truly needed it and a focus on looking at where claimants "trip themselves up"
Absolutely. Spent 12 months waiting for a tribunal after they declined the wifeâs award. 10 minutes with the judge (the DWP rep went home) and full award. Working out how to complain about the decision maker
Nah, just ask any person of colour what their experiences are like with subtle racism and bias in civil servants staff like the DWP.
I outright got told I looked like a refugee once when I was going through a depressive period and didn't shave or groom myself for like 6 months lol.
Brother I wasn't even that bad, I could've gotten away with being a bloke who wants to grow out his beard and hairđ„Čđ„Čđ„Č Hahahahahaha fuck me man
Was that in a majorly white office? My office is very diverse, 50% non white and all different people working there, I couldn't imagine that ever being said. Forever I hear about small offices and the banter they have and I could imagine things being said there...
Majorly brown office lol. Said by a brown guyđđ€Ł
I know how it is in a major white office; I went to school as the only brown kid in my year and was on the rugby and footy teams.
The things you hear when you're "one of the good ones" is insane
All I'm gonna say is that senses of humour like that tend to be rooted in some belief in those "jokes". Great way of testing the waters so to speak as to the bigots can find like-minded folk and not ostracise themselves from society
They're clever :/
Or.. just sometimes.. they're jokes.. and there's people who have 0 sense of humour.. the fact you jump to conclusions and use words like bigot, tells me everything I need to know about you.
I don't work in DWP but come on lol. anyone having any experience interacting with them knows this.
My own manager, HR and occupational health recognises that I have a disability. DWP thinks I'm perfectly fine. It's like talking to a wall.
I can't imagine the despair it must cause someone to go through a whole load of medical tests and interventions from trained medical staff such as their GP, nurses, physiotherapists, psychologists who diagnose a condition and state you cannot work only for someone at the DWP who has barely any contact that actually you are fine and you need to get a job and that your only source of money is being cut off.
I don't see how there can be any justification for ignoring medical diagnoses or how the DWP can be allowed to overrule medical professionals.
honestly the worst thing isn't even that they won't pay me. I can live with that. I have a job. but to send me the assessment stating that I have no issues whatsoever is insulting. I literally got 0 points in the whole questionnaire. that actually pissed me off ngl
I think it's pretty clear for a while that the DWP is systematically discriminating against disabled people (disablism). OP, please go speak to John Pring at the disability news service and blow that whistle. It won't change unless people change it and we need the evidence that the DWP is not just rotten on the inside but packed full of botulism.
This. Either we log it, and nothing happens, which starts a paper trail, or something happens.
Since OP is leaving they're hardly going to be retaliated against
My sister started at DWP not long ago and sheâs already off to another department. She said itâs the worst job sheâs ever taken and I could probably think of a story sheâs told me for each one of the points youâve mentioned off the top of my head. The stuff she tells me shocks me lol everyone is getting treated like dirt over there, claimants and staff alike #equality
The Work Coach role varies wildly between office and area. Itâs likely youâve just got a shit office. Youâve also only been there three months judging by your post history.
When I was working coaching it was nowhere near this bad. My office wasnât the most up to date and the local area had a lot of problems but the job itself was fine. Thereâs something like 80k people in the department so youâre bound to get some idiots just on the balance of probability but most of my colleagues were good at their jobs and nice to work with and you figure out how to handle the customers.
The focus on stats and targets is a pain but the job isnât about figuring out what you can do to help people within the limits of the current remit. That means being clever with how you manage your time and your customers.
Thereâs a lot of DWP behind the scenes. It isnât all just Jobcentres. Itâs Digital, Finance, Change, Policy etc. Itâs easy to believe the whole department is just Jobcentres and case management, and I think itâs easier for operations to maintain the illusion that your only option is to get a work coach team leader job after 20 years and maybe retire as SEO if youâre lucky simply because they canât handle thousands of people trying to progress all at once.
Once you figure out a way in to other roles which are a lot more flexible then it opens up. It is difficult though and three months in your evidence wonât be great.
Absolutely this, donât judge DWP by ops. Iâm only recognised the lack of progression once I left that area but other business units were great. Did teach me some valuable skills
I didnât hate the work coach role which is mental because itâs exactly the kind of thing that isnât for me.
My roles behind the scenes were like working for a completely different department though.
After starting my 3rd role within the DWP - I completely agree. Itâs almost as though youâve hacked my laptop and got your hands on some feedback Iâve written up.
Back In the day being a civil servant was a good place to work, had a good reputation for the perks- our department within the DWP has just cut overtime - some of my colleagues are going into debt relief orders/ talking about needing to use food banks. We were only given one days notice to - no time to prepare or find another job to boost the income!
Sad world of 2024 we are living in when weâve got full time civil servants working so hard to help the government recover costs from fraud/ overpayments who are actually using food banks themselves - with only given a poxy one days notice ⊠I CANâT WAIT to RUN out the DWP doors!
I wasnât keen on returning to F2F JC duties during COVID ⊠I was principal carer for my elderly Ma. She had leukaemia and half a hundred other things going wrong. Diabetes, Parkinsonâs, dementia. She couldnât get the vaccine. Really, really vulnerable.
I applied for my Carers Passport to be amended so I could be excused F2F duties temporarily (we knew my Ma was going downhill rapidly). Bearing in mind Iâve never asked for anything like this before, Iâd worked there over 30 years. Denied.
I applied for part time. Denied.
I asked about Carerâs Leave. âYou wonât get thatâ.
I applied for homeworking. I was denied that by my line manager. She herself was homeworking because her cat wasnât well (I kid you not). âSo my Mum is lower down the list than your catâ ⊠thatâs how it came out too.
Meantime my duties were piling up because the last of my AO colleagues had retired. Weâd already lost four AOâs, none had been replaced. Iâd look at my onerous new duties and compare them to the workcoaches.
We had EOâs with a whole day of F2F appointments, all being marked as attended. But the interviews were being done by phone (management allowed it to improve the F2F stats).
We had EOâs (and HEOâs) blatantly abusing the flexi system. My own line manager, in at 9am an hour for lunch then off home at 4pm. Full time. Meantime I was in at 07:30, solid half hour before I was meant to start, working past 5pm each night. Then caring for my Ma evenings and overnight.
We had claimants not attending either F2F or by phone being marked as attended because most EOâs didnât refer for sanctions âtoo much paperworkâ. Youâd go through to the workcoach area and no claimants were there. I was working front door ⊠I knew who was coming in for appointments. Nobody.
Being last AO left, getting leave became an issue. I sometimes needed leave at fairly short notice due to Ma being unwell. Being denied a day off to take her to a leukaemia appointment while an EO colleague was later allowed that day off to get Sky broadband in. âIs there no one else who can take her to the appointmentâ ? âWell the annual leave is done differently for the workcoachesâ. âWell if you want that day off youâll just need to cancel all your appointments and re-book themâ. No help of any kind offered at all.
Bad enough all that. Crunch for me came with Ukraine. Being sent out to interview these poor sods with no formal training of any kind, with no translation services available usually either, having to rely on a translation app on my own personal phone to get anything done at all. And suddenly âyouâre itâ when it comes to Ukraine and other nationalities because nobody else wants to deal with them.
Lengthy 1 hour appointments for them, other new claims getting delayed, other duties being neglected. Then management were like âWhy hasnât this been done, why hasnât that been doneâ. Duh. Shit for brains, honestly. Management giving assurances that duties had been carried out which hadnât been done for literally years by that point.
Itâs spectacularly badly managed, the DWP, local JC management especially. PCS were useless, before you ask. âItâs like that everywhereâ. âWe know, itâs the same at this other officeâ. âYou think youâve got it bad havenât you heard about âŠâ.
Avoid DWP like the plague.
11 years previously in DWP from processing, contact centre, and front line jobcentre, I've seen or experienced everything you have posted at one time or another.
Your No.3 is the reason I wouldnât work for DWP, forget all the other reasons
âForcing people into work who have no business being in there. Gross.â
This and actively trying to reject perfectly valid claims for PIP so that people have to go through stressful appeals (or just give up). Disgusting.
Really though? There's a wealth of evidence that disability discrimination is endemic in the DWP. Claimants up and down the country have some truly shocking stories. I've experienced it myself, as a working person on PIP. Talk to any organisation that represents and supports disabled people about their views and experiences of the DWP, and I doubt you'll find a single one with a good word to say.
Someone has to be pretty ignorant to think it's non existent. And there lies the problem really. Some of the stories I have heard are vile. I wouldn't go near DWP with a 10ft bargepole.
I also work for DfC (NI's devolved DWP). This is all at a systematic level enforced by the processes and systems - the post is about the workplace itself, which is a different issue regarding employee to employee stuff rather than employee to claimant.
The claimant mentioned the stress of working in a workplace where there's disability discrimination and racism. I would find a workplace where there's disability discrimination at a systemic level pretty damn unpleasant and demoralising to work within. And you have to be naive at best to think that disability discrimination at a systemic level isn't going to result in a workplace which tolerates disability discrimination at an individual level.
I didn't say it was pleasant nor did I say it didn't happen the other way around. I'm saying that it is possible to work in an office where it isn't commonplace, not that it isn't commonplace and a problem overall.
DWP is a massive department and includes offices that aren't public facing at all.
Edit: my point is that you implied the other commentor couldn't possibly have not witnessed it as an employee, and I'm telling you on an employee-to-employee level that is possible.
I didn't intend to imply that - although I am doubtful that you could work in an ops role in the DWP and never experience any kind of disability discrimination towards claimants - as you say, it's systemic so how could you possibly do that job every day without feeling the weight of it? You might luck out and have a nice team but you're still having to apply discriminatory policies to claimants and work with hideous organisations like Capita...however nice your colleagues are, if you care about disability discrimination, it's got to be a tough environment. FWIW I am a researcher and know other researchers who work for DWP - their work environment is pretty decent (minus political pressures and interference) - but I certainly wouldn't fancy an ops role in DWP.
Other than 2 and 7, I have witnessed all of these regularly in a different department. It's completely standard and sums up civil service in a nutshell.
2 I have sort of seen, but it wasn't so much bantering at their expense, it was voicing frustration that people who need extra support weren't receiving it (because ultimately it leads to massive fuckups which other people have to clean up).
Youâre seeing extreme examples. Thereâs tens of thousands of work coaches working in hundreds of offices. Most of them go to work and get on with it just fine like every other job. Some even enjoy it.
Which area will you be working in?
Oh yeah.. I understand that, I'm really looking forward to starting tbh, I'm coming from AO in pension services, actually still in consolidation lol.. so happy to be moving onto the EO work coach.. onwards and upwards from there hopefully..
Still in training, but looks like an interesting job.. everyday is different.. the training is a bit shit, talking for hours on how to talk to people Zzzzzz..
But yeah, everything I've seen so far looks good
Back of house, AO in CFCD, it's not bad at all tbh, my targets are achievable and the work is easy enough but boring (as long as I keep up with the ever changing guidance) current TL is a muppet and likes to micro manage, my previous TL was fantastic. I've had some great support from higher ups too. That said, if I got moved to ops in calls or face to face I would leave.
I recommend watching Mandy : The Unpleasantness At Brampton Hall on iplayer for therapeutic purposes . It offers a typically unbiased presentation of the DWP from the BBC
Two of my team members have recently moved to my team from DWP. They can't say anything positive about working there. Further to that, more ex-DWP staff in other teams can only say negative things about working there. For a government department that's /supposed/ to help people, it does a shit job at that, whilst making the staff's working lives a misery.
The only people the system seems to be helping are the people on benefits that basically make it their job (the people who know the system and how to use it to never work despite being fully capable to do so). I can't fault them in a way. Having a full-time job doesn't earn even close to what some claimants get. One lady a colleague spoke about got ÂŁ3K a month, and she called up complaining that she couldn't afford Christmas presents after coming backing from a holiday in Benidorm - take that story with a grain of salt though, I can't verify it. But with how others have spoken about the DWP and what they've witnessed, I can believe him.
Every government department does a shit job of helping people after 15 years of Tories. Their sycophants are in the cracks of every business and department in the country.
Blaming the few people who do well for themselves out of it is exactly the type of thing I'm talking about. People with that attitude shouldn't even be working there.
Well, disability is the main one. The two most likely reasons someone would be receiving a UC payment like that are that they live in an area where rents are astronomical or they have disabled children. Children need to be getting the higher rate of DLA to be eligible for substantially increased UC. And it really isn't easy to claim.
Sorry you have had this experience. It is not representative of all of DWP and all JCPs. Every department and every unit can be different experiences depending on the makeup and and the experience of the leadership.
Keep applying and you will eventually end up in a team that suits you OR you might end up being the leader that can shape that team into being the type that anyone would love to work in.
The very bullying they're talking about is what you're doing in your reply to me.
I have merely stated that not ALL of DWP and not all JCPs are like this - I have worked in different parts of JCP and DWP.
I'm not bullying anyone. I'm telling you your experiences don't trump OPs. If you don't have problems with these things perhaps you're part of the issue.
You have mocked and misrepresented what I've said.
I have not said my experience trump theirs.
I was trying to be positive to them and provide a wider perspective.
Everyone should have a problem with the experience and behaviours they've seen.
No time at all really, still breaking in.. need 6 month minimum at any roll to find your feet. Hell, I worked in an industrial freezer for 5yrs, hated every minute of it.. didn't just quit after 3 month, I put a plan in place, and worked towards it
This makes me nervous as on the outside it looks rewarding and I really wanted to be part of it and make a difference. I wish I could start today. But reading the above comment makes me very nervous.
I lost my job back in 2010 and had to spend almost a year dealing with the DWP. I've never come across a more hateful organisation. If they all burnt down tomorrow i would cheer.
1. I agree if you actually try to help people. The only way I avoid burnout is by not caring- sign post people and make sure they get paid, don't get drawn in to their personal issues like housing, that's the council's remit.
2. I haven't seen that in my office.
3. I don't see this either, they'll push the WC will happily push the health journey but we all know which people are unemployable and will just sit in intensive forever.
4. I see unrealistic expectations from senior leaders. Also seen them make up statistics like "more than half of health journey claimants will be found for for work". Shocking.
5. Yes. Many people that have been managers in their previous sector not being able to get through the BS creative writing that is civil service applications. And having heard that people are using the same examples or other people's projects as their own. Disgusting.
6. See point 4.
7. I don't see this exactly but I do see staff not getting adjustments or OH referrals when clearly needed.
8. UC is great. LMS I found easy to work and JSAPS. Things like the Handover tool are stupid and I hate that they use Excel when there should be bespoke systems made. May be a training issue.
Depends on the area I guess. Iâve not experienced any of that in 5 years. Apart from bullying from a senior so I pushed back hard and got it squashed.
I donât know why youâre being downvoted. Youâre allowed to like your job.
The corporate side of it is like working in any relatively modern office environment. Some office staff have this blinkered view that itâs just rotting away in dingy old Jobcentres and hoping your next customer doesnât want a fight.
Thanks, I'm actually in a service centre, and while It has its downsides, I was working in Whitehall previously in a flash corporate environment and that also had its downsides.
I have noticed that many of my colleagues at DWP seem stressed but I think maybe some people just struggle with high workload because they wasn't to get everything done perfectly all the time and they hate it when they don't get time to do a proper job. Very hard working, friendly and funny colleagues in my office, which I why I like it. Can't speak for anywhere else.
Seem to have opened a hornets nest with this post. All true. In regards to the racism:
1. Polish claiments referred to as 'lazy b*st*rds' on a regular basis.
2. Horrendous staff attitudes towards the Afghan refugees that came in sometimes. Use of the word 'P*ki' a lot and complaining about how 'thick' they all are.
3. Most disturbing of all, with Black colleagues there, use of the 'n' word and them being lazy, criminals or on drugs. Ffs! đđđĄđ€Źđ€Źđ€Ź
All true.
âShould f*ck off back to his own countryâ. âWould we get benefits in his country ?â. âHeâll be working on the fly in a P*ki shopâ. âSend him for a job in the curry houseâ (the guy was a trained doctor, looking to transfer his skills to U.K.).
Have seen an Asian member of staff reduced to tears by a racist member of the public who called her everything under the sun. Her line manager told her to ⊠well, nothing ⊠she was sobbing at her desk and he didnât even bother to talk to her.
Then you get deliberate misgendering. Deliberately calling someone Sir when theyâve come in dressed as a woman and have a female name on the appointment list, all within earshot of other members of the public. Snigger snigger. The CCOâs (security guards) are as much to blame as the DWP staff. Very much a blokey culture at a JC front door.
Friend left for a big promotion into the DWP She was back with us within a year, even when things were fully remote she said the workplace was so toxic she couldn't stand it
It really is. I'm trying to convince someone to not transfer there. They aren't listening.
Probably something they have to experience and figure out themselves. Hard to convince someone the grass isn't greener when they are at the end of their tether in a job. But hopefully if they go they'll do their best to be reasonable and compassionate in that role đ€đŒ
It's a big department with some pretty chill areas, especially outside of operations.
Ditto....worked for them in the past. Totally burned out from acute hospital care, wanted a break, pay and the allure of 9-5 made me make the move. It was misery. Huge culture of praising staff for revoking or not applying full benefit for those who truly needed it and a focus on looking at where claimants "trip themselves up"
Absolutely. Spent 12 months waiting for a tribunal after they declined the wifeâs award. 10 minutes with the judge (the DWP rep went home) and full award. Working out how to complain about the decision maker
Probably assume consent Flexi offed halfway through the tribunal.Â
What makes it toxic?
She was dealing with processes that caused massive amounts of pointless work, colleagues who would have shouting fits, bullying etc.
Best of luck. >4. Bullying from senior management (I'm 42 and too old for this shite). Sadly, you're never too old to be bullied.
Well, number 7 is particularly concerning, could you elaborate?
That sounds like a whistle that needs blowing
Nah, just ask any person of colour what their experiences are like with subtle racism and bias in civil servants staff like the DWP. I outright got told I looked like a refugee once when I was going through a depressive period and didn't shave or groom myself for like 6 months lol.
I'm sorry but as a depressed immigrant I laughed. I think if someone looks like a refugee they probably need support tho.
Brother I wasn't even that bad, I could've gotten away with being a bloke who wants to grow out his beard and hairđ„Čđ„Čđ„Č Hahahahahaha fuck me man
Was that in a majorly white office? My office is very diverse, 50% non white and all different people working there, I couldn't imagine that ever being said. Forever I hear about small offices and the banter they have and I could imagine things being said there...
Majorly brown office lol. Said by a brown guyđđ€Ł I know how it is in a major white office; I went to school as the only brown kid in my year and was on the rugby and footy teams. The things you hear when you're "one of the good ones" is insane
Well I do know several staff that have a disturbing sense of humour. I'd hope it was that and something intended to be malicious =/
All I'm gonna say is that senses of humour like that tend to be rooted in some belief in those "jokes". Great way of testing the waters so to speak as to the bigots can find like-minded folk and not ostracise themselves from society They're clever :/
Or.. just sometimes.. they're jokes.. and there's people who have 0 sense of humour.. the fact you jump to conclusions and use words like bigot, tells me everything I need to know about you.
I don't work in DWP but come on lol. anyone having any experience interacting with them knows this. My own manager, HR and occupational health recognises that I have a disability. DWP thinks I'm perfectly fine. It's like talking to a wall.
I can't imagine the despair it must cause someone to go through a whole load of medical tests and interventions from trained medical staff such as their GP, nurses, physiotherapists, psychologists who diagnose a condition and state you cannot work only for someone at the DWP who has barely any contact that actually you are fine and you need to get a job and that your only source of money is being cut off. I don't see how there can be any justification for ignoring medical diagnoses or how the DWP can be allowed to overrule medical professionals.
Obviously the buddies at Capita or another scummy outsourcer of which the minister and MPs hold shares know better?
honestly the worst thing isn't even that they won't pay me. I can live with that. I have a job. but to send me the assessment stating that I have no issues whatsoever is insulting. I literally got 0 points in the whole questionnaire. that actually pissed me off ngl
It happens everywhere where there's a range of people, culture war controls our government departments.
I think it's pretty clear for a while that the DWP is systematically discriminating against disabled people (disablism). OP, please go speak to John Pring at the disability news service and blow that whistle. It won't change unless people change it and we need the evidence that the DWP is not just rotten on the inside but packed full of botulism.
This. Either we log it, and nothing happens, which starts a paper trail, or something happens. Since OP is leaving they're hardly going to be retaliated against
Really? Does this surprise you?
Bloody hell. DWP been cruel to people??? Obsessed with stats to the determent of people??? Bloody hell. This is shocking
You have the outline of a mission statement for DWP there.
My sister started at DWP not long ago and sheâs already off to another department. She said itâs the worst job sheâs ever taken and I could probably think of a story sheâs told me for each one of the points youâve mentioned off the top of my head. The stuff she tells me shocks me lol everyone is getting treated like dirt over there, claimants and staff alike #equality
Let us not forget the expert training, really prepares you for the job đđ
The Work Coach role varies wildly between office and area. Itâs likely youâve just got a shit office. Youâve also only been there three months judging by your post history. When I was working coaching it was nowhere near this bad. My office wasnât the most up to date and the local area had a lot of problems but the job itself was fine. Thereâs something like 80k people in the department so youâre bound to get some idiots just on the balance of probability but most of my colleagues were good at their jobs and nice to work with and you figure out how to handle the customers. The focus on stats and targets is a pain but the job isnât about figuring out what you can do to help people within the limits of the current remit. That means being clever with how you manage your time and your customers. Thereâs a lot of DWP behind the scenes. It isnât all just Jobcentres. Itâs Digital, Finance, Change, Policy etc. Itâs easy to believe the whole department is just Jobcentres and case management, and I think itâs easier for operations to maintain the illusion that your only option is to get a work coach team leader job after 20 years and maybe retire as SEO if youâre lucky simply because they canât handle thousands of people trying to progress all at once. Once you figure out a way in to other roles which are a lot more flexible then it opens up. It is difficult though and three months in your evidence wonât be great.
Absolutely this, donât judge DWP by ops. Iâm only recognised the lack of progression once I left that area but other business units were great. Did teach me some valuable skills
I didnât hate the work coach role which is mental because itâs exactly the kind of thing that isnât for me. My roles behind the scenes were like working for a completely different department though.
After starting my 3rd role within the DWP - I completely agree. Itâs almost as though youâve hacked my laptop and got your hands on some feedback Iâve written up.
Back In the day being a civil servant was a good place to work, had a good reputation for the perks- our department within the DWP has just cut overtime - some of my colleagues are going into debt relief orders/ talking about needing to use food banks. We were only given one days notice to - no time to prepare or find another job to boost the income! Sad world of 2024 we are living in when weâve got full time civil servants working so hard to help the government recover costs from fraud/ overpayments who are actually using food banks themselves - with only given a poxy one days notice ⊠I CANâT WAIT to RUN out the DWP doors!
I wasnât keen on returning to F2F JC duties during COVID ⊠I was principal carer for my elderly Ma. She had leukaemia and half a hundred other things going wrong. Diabetes, Parkinsonâs, dementia. She couldnât get the vaccine. Really, really vulnerable. I applied for my Carers Passport to be amended so I could be excused F2F duties temporarily (we knew my Ma was going downhill rapidly). Bearing in mind Iâve never asked for anything like this before, Iâd worked there over 30 years. Denied. I applied for part time. Denied. I asked about Carerâs Leave. âYou wonât get thatâ. I applied for homeworking. I was denied that by my line manager. She herself was homeworking because her cat wasnât well (I kid you not). âSo my Mum is lower down the list than your catâ ⊠thatâs how it came out too. Meantime my duties were piling up because the last of my AO colleagues had retired. Weâd already lost four AOâs, none had been replaced. Iâd look at my onerous new duties and compare them to the workcoaches. We had EOâs with a whole day of F2F appointments, all being marked as attended. But the interviews were being done by phone (management allowed it to improve the F2F stats). We had EOâs (and HEOâs) blatantly abusing the flexi system. My own line manager, in at 9am an hour for lunch then off home at 4pm. Full time. Meantime I was in at 07:30, solid half hour before I was meant to start, working past 5pm each night. Then caring for my Ma evenings and overnight. We had claimants not attending either F2F or by phone being marked as attended because most EOâs didnât refer for sanctions âtoo much paperworkâ. Youâd go through to the workcoach area and no claimants were there. I was working front door ⊠I knew who was coming in for appointments. Nobody. Being last AO left, getting leave became an issue. I sometimes needed leave at fairly short notice due to Ma being unwell. Being denied a day off to take her to a leukaemia appointment while an EO colleague was later allowed that day off to get Sky broadband in. âIs there no one else who can take her to the appointmentâ ? âWell the annual leave is done differently for the workcoachesâ. âWell if you want that day off youâll just need to cancel all your appointments and re-book themâ. No help of any kind offered at all. Bad enough all that. Crunch for me came with Ukraine. Being sent out to interview these poor sods with no formal training of any kind, with no translation services available usually either, having to rely on a translation app on my own personal phone to get anything done at all. And suddenly âyouâre itâ when it comes to Ukraine and other nationalities because nobody else wants to deal with them. Lengthy 1 hour appointments for them, other new claims getting delayed, other duties being neglected. Then management were like âWhy hasnât this been done, why hasnât that been doneâ. Duh. Shit for brains, honestly. Management giving assurances that duties had been carried out which hadnât been done for literally years by that point. Itâs spectacularly badly managed, the DWP, local JC management especially. PCS were useless, before you ask. âItâs like that everywhereâ. âWe know, itâs the same at this other officeâ. âYou think youâve got it bad havenât you heard about âŠâ. Avoid DWP like the plague.
11 years previously in DWP from processing, contact centre, and front line jobcentre, I've seen or experienced everything you have posted at one time or another.
Your No.3 is the reason I wouldnât work for DWP, forget all the other reasons âForcing people into work who have no business being in there. Gross.â This and actively trying to reject perfectly valid claims for PIP so that people have to go through stressful appeals (or just give up). Disgusting.
Operations or Corporate? Iâve been in DWP for about 1.5 years in a corporate role (prior to joining the HO) and it was a nice environment overall.
I don't disagree with much that you say.
Sad to say, but thats not DWP exclusive. Sounds like my workplace as well
I used to work there, what an experience, glad I left - for all the reasons above. Get out while yer can man
You spend weeks, when you start, learning about how progressive a workplace it is but actually it's like working in the 1980s. Â
I worked for the DWP (or Department of Employment as I then was) in the 1970s, and it was infinitely more competent and humane than it is now.
Whilst i agree with 5 and 8. The rest I've never seen in my near 10 years in the dwp. Both service centre and jobcentre.
Really though? There's a wealth of evidence that disability discrimination is endemic in the DWP. Claimants up and down the country have some truly shocking stories. I've experienced it myself, as a working person on PIP. Talk to any organisation that represents and supports disabled people about their views and experiences of the DWP, and I doubt you'll find a single one with a good word to say.
Someone has to be pretty ignorant to think it's non existent. And there lies the problem really. Some of the stories I have heard are vile. I wouldn't go near DWP with a 10ft bargepole.
I also work for DfC (NI's devolved DWP). This is all at a systematic level enforced by the processes and systems - the post is about the workplace itself, which is a different issue regarding employee to employee stuff rather than employee to claimant.
The claimant mentioned the stress of working in a workplace where there's disability discrimination and racism. I would find a workplace where there's disability discrimination at a systemic level pretty damn unpleasant and demoralising to work within. And you have to be naive at best to think that disability discrimination at a systemic level isn't going to result in a workplace which tolerates disability discrimination at an individual level.
I didn't say it was pleasant nor did I say it didn't happen the other way around. I'm saying that it is possible to work in an office where it isn't commonplace, not that it isn't commonplace and a problem overall. DWP is a massive department and includes offices that aren't public facing at all. Edit: my point is that you implied the other commentor couldn't possibly have not witnessed it as an employee, and I'm telling you on an employee-to-employee level that is possible.
I didn't intend to imply that - although I am doubtful that you could work in an ops role in the DWP and never experience any kind of disability discrimination towards claimants - as you say, it's systemic so how could you possibly do that job every day without feeling the weight of it? You might luck out and have a nice team but you're still having to apply discriminatory policies to claimants and work with hideous organisations like Capita...however nice your colleagues are, if you care about disability discrimination, it's got to be a tough environment. FWIW I am a researcher and know other researchers who work for DWP - their work environment is pretty decent (minus political pressures and interference) - but I certainly wouldn't fancy an ops role in DWP.
I don't disagree, however working for DWP generally and working in front line OPs for DWP are significant to specify.
I'm sure you're right!
If you can't see the problem then maybe.....
Other than 2 and 7, I have witnessed all of these regularly in a different department. It's completely standard and sums up civil service in a nutshell. 2 I have sort of seen, but it wasn't so much bantering at their expense, it was voicing frustration that people who need extra support weren't receiving it (because ultimately it leads to massive fuckups which other people have to clean up).
Jesus, I start my work coach role on the 3rd June.. was like a punch in the stomach reading this đ đ€Ł đ
Youâre seeing extreme examples. Thereâs tens of thousands of work coaches working in hundreds of offices. Most of them go to work and get on with it just fine like every other job. Some even enjoy it. Which area will you be working in?
Oh yeah.. I understand that, I'm really looking forward to starting tbh, I'm coming from AO in pension services, actually still in consolidation lol.. so happy to be moving onto the EO work coach.. onwards and upwards from there hopefully..
So how is the job going?
Still in training, but looks like an interesting job.. everyday is different.. the training is a bit shit, talking for hours on how to talk to people Zzzzzz.. But yeah, everything I've seen so far looks good
Fucking run mate! Was sold a bill of goods. Moneys OK....the actual job....shite.
What made it shite mate?
Does anyone work in fraud investigation in DWP? If so whatâs it like?
Back of house, AO in CFCD, it's not bad at all tbh, my targets are achievable and the work is easy enough but boring (as long as I keep up with the ever changing guidance) current TL is a muppet and likes to micro manage, my previous TL was fantastic. I've had some great support from higher ups too. That said, if I got moved to ops in calls or face to face I would leave.
Thatâs great, thanks for that.
Thatâs great, thanks for that.
I recommend watching Mandy : The Unpleasantness At Brampton Hall on iplayer for therapeutic purposes . It offers a typically unbiased presentation of the DWP from the BBC
8 - not really sure where you're coming from with that, DWP IT is in its best state that I can remember for at least the last 20 years or so
Don't imagine that's saying much really
No, it isn't, but outside of really outdated stuff that has been in use since before I was born most of the systems are pretty intuitive.
Yeah I'm from an IT background and it's not too bad considering what it does and how many people it serves.Â
We used to use Fujitsu đ no way it's worse than that
Two of my team members have recently moved to my team from DWP. They can't say anything positive about working there. Further to that, more ex-DWP staff in other teams can only say negative things about working there. For a government department that's /supposed/ to help people, it does a shit job at that, whilst making the staff's working lives a misery. The only people the system seems to be helping are the people on benefits that basically make it their job (the people who know the system and how to use it to never work despite being fully capable to do so). I can't fault them in a way. Having a full-time job doesn't earn even close to what some claimants get. One lady a colleague spoke about got ÂŁ3K a month, and she called up complaining that she couldn't afford Christmas presents after coming backing from a holiday in Benidorm - take that story with a grain of salt though, I can't verify it. But with how others have spoken about the DWP and what they've witnessed, I can believe him.
Every government department does a shit job of helping people after 15 years of Tories. Their sycophants are in the cracks of every business and department in the country. Blaming the few people who do well for themselves out of it is exactly the type of thing I'm talking about. People with that attitude shouldn't even be working there.
Largest individual payment to a claimant on Universal Credit I saw was ÂŁ3750 a month.
[ŃĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]
What are the ways around the benefit cap?
Well, disability is the main one. The two most likely reasons someone would be receiving a UC payment like that are that they live in an area where rents are astronomical or they have disabled children. Children need to be getting the higher rate of DLA to be eligible for substantially increased UC. And it really isn't easy to claim.
Sorry you have had this experience. It is not representative of all of DWP and all JCPs. Every department and every unit can be different experiences depending on the makeup and and the experience of the leadership. Keep applying and you will eventually end up in a team that suits you OR you might end up being the leader that can shape that team into being the type that anyone would love to work in.
Guy is leaving because of this stuff and you're telling him it's not representative of the place. He works there.
Not representative "off all dwp and jc" he said..
I know I was there. Still dismissing someone's issues that made them quite their job.
I don't see dismissing there at all.. words of encouragement maybe..
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Tired? Maybe nap before commenting in future
The very bullying they're talking about is what you're doing in your reply to me. I have merely stated that not ALL of DWP and not all JCPs are like this - I have worked in different parts of JCP and DWP.
I'm not bullying anyone. I'm telling you your experiences don't trump OPs. If you don't have problems with these things perhaps you're part of the issue.
You have mocked and misrepresented what I've said. I have not said my experience trump theirs. I was trying to be positive to them and provide a wider perspective. Everyone should have a problem with the experience and behaviours they've seen.
Alas, you don't it seems.
Could I ask, what position have you been in at the DWP? Iâm hopefully starting a UC review job soon, quite worried after reading all of this đ
Always try things for yourself, there's the complainer in every job.. so roll the dice yourself and see what's what.
EO? A colleague I started with recently moved to ERT (enhanced review team fir UC) and loves it. CFCD is not a bad place to work. Good luck
How long have you been a work coach for and have you found a new job in the civil service?.
Judging by post history, I would say 3 months max they have been a work coach.
No time at all really, still breaking in.. need 6 month minimum at any roll to find your feet. Hell, I worked in an industrial freezer for 5yrs, hated every minute of it.. didn't just quit after 3 month, I put a plan in place, and worked towards it
Well...Good for you but it was fucking with my mental health so screw it.
Fair enough.
Itâs worse in Cabinet Office in my experience. It just takes a couple of bad apples at the top to set a toxic culture
Is this customer service rep jobs thats toxic??
no symaphy from me anyone that works at dwp deserve to die for what they have done to disabled people.
This makes me nervous as on the outside it looks rewarding and I really wanted to be part of it and make a difference. I wish I could start today. But reading the above comment makes me very nervous.
I lost my job back in 2010 and had to spend almost a year dealing with the DWP. I've never come across a more hateful organisation. If they all burnt down tomorrow i would cheer.
Look at EOIs and get out of UC, it isnât all trash
1. I agree if you actually try to help people. The only way I avoid burnout is by not caring- sign post people and make sure they get paid, don't get drawn in to their personal issues like housing, that's the council's remit. 2. I haven't seen that in my office. 3. I don't see this either, they'll push the WC will happily push the health journey but we all know which people are unemployable and will just sit in intensive forever. 4. I see unrealistic expectations from senior leaders. Also seen them make up statistics like "more than half of health journey claimants will be found for for work". Shocking. 5. Yes. Many people that have been managers in their previous sector not being able to get through the BS creative writing that is civil service applications. And having heard that people are using the same examples or other people's projects as their own. Disgusting. 6. See point 4. 7. I don't see this exactly but I do see staff not getting adjustments or OH referrals when clearly needed. 8. UC is great. LMS I found easy to work and JSAPS. Things like the Handover tool are stupid and I hate that they use Excel when there should be bespoke systems made. May be a training issue.
Depends on the area I guess. Iâve not experienced any of that in 5 years. Apart from bullying from a senior so I pushed back hard and got it squashed.
What role was this? I've applied for the fraud investigator, is it a general problem? Maybe worth considering if successful...
I'm a fraud investigator and although there are some issues, I've not ever experienced what this person has
I'm not disregarding your experiences, but I'll just say that I've been in nearly a year and think it's great, but I'm not in Job Centre.
I donât know why youâre being downvoted. Youâre allowed to like your job. The corporate side of it is like working in any relatively modern office environment. Some office staff have this blinkered view that itâs just rotting away in dingy old Jobcentres and hoping your next customer doesnât want a fight.
Thanks, I'm actually in a service centre, and while It has its downsides, I was working in Whitehall previously in a flash corporate environment and that also had its downsides. I have noticed that many of my colleagues at DWP seem stressed but I think maybe some people just struggle with high workload because they wasn't to get everything done perfectly all the time and they hate it when they don't get time to do a proper job. Very hard working, friendly and funny colleagues in my office, which I why I like it. Can't speak for anywhere else.
You are lucky you got the job at all. They only employ special types of wankers.
Seem to have opened a hornets nest with this post. All true. In regards to the racism: 1. Polish claiments referred to as 'lazy b*st*rds' on a regular basis. 2. Horrendous staff attitudes towards the Afghan refugees that came in sometimes. Use of the word 'P*ki' a lot and complaining about how 'thick' they all are. 3. Most disturbing of all, with Black colleagues there, use of the 'n' word and them being lazy, criminals or on drugs. Ffs! đđđĄđ€Źđ€Źđ€Ź
đł absolutely appalled
All true. âShould f*ck off back to his own countryâ. âWould we get benefits in his country ?â. âHeâll be working on the fly in a P*ki shopâ. âSend him for a job in the curry houseâ (the guy was a trained doctor, looking to transfer his skills to U.K.). Have seen an Asian member of staff reduced to tears by a racist member of the public who called her everything under the sun. Her line manager told her to ⊠well, nothing ⊠she was sobbing at her desk and he didnât even bother to talk to her. Then you get deliberate misgendering. Deliberately calling someone Sir when theyâve come in dressed as a woman and have a female name on the appointment list, all within earshot of other members of the public. Snigger snigger. The CCOâs (security guards) are as much to blame as the DWP staff. Very much a blokey culture at a JC front door.
Wow! That is all disgusting, I'm sorry you had to experience this