New Deal fraud technique: “leeching”

The illegal act of:

1. Forcing the New Deal participant to sign a disclaimer giving them permission to contact any future employers, by threatening dismissal if they decline (see “exiting” fraud technique)
2. Contacting the participant’s New Deal Personal Adviser enquiring if they have found employment and with what employer. (NDPA’s are only too happy to disclose such information even when the term of your New Deal course has far been exceeded – i.e. Data Protection Act 1998 violation)
3. Approaching the employer and making them fill in the paperwork required
4. Claiming Job Outcome bonuses, intended as an incentive to find New Deal participants work, NOT to be abused like in this manner where work was found by the ex-New Deal participant after the course ended.

… is known as “leeching“.

This is another highly criminal act of fraud – I will highlight the elements below:

• The employer can’t lawfully comply as the employer was NOT a party of the agreement; if the agreement does anything it gives your permission for them to be contacted (generally it isn’t a crime to send a request on the off chance, you could write to the Queen asking for money, as long as it isn’t threatening or deceptive in nature it is perfectly legal); it however, doesn’t give permission for the employer to reply to the request
• If you are on New Deal currently and are concerned about this abuse, simply if you get a job after the programme ended, give written notification to your employer withdrawing consent
• This is known as an “unfair contract” not because of the nature of its content for the intention of illegal fraudulent activity but because you were forced to sign it to avoid benefit sanctions involving unlawful use of statutory legislation recommended and executed by a private company without the required legal capacity (although some providers such as a4e have Employment Officer powers)
• If you had done New Deal in the past, signed one of these agreements talked about above, and secured employment afterwards, you should contact your employer asking them if they had received a request in the past and whether or not they complied.
• The Jobcentre Plus (typically through the capacity of a NDPA) will leak details of employment to any training provider that asks – they are probably too stupid to realise that it isn’t being asked for solely statistical purposes and that the employer name is irrelevant anyway even if it was for statistical purposes. If you sign off after getting a job, you can give the reason of finding employment but do NOT disclose your employer.