Ministry of Social Development office in Masterton. Photo: Google Street View
Clarification: People say they need to work voluntary hours to stay on the Jobseeker benefit, but MSD says there are no clients assigned community work experience as a non-financial sanction in Masterton.
A charity in Masterton has been swamped by people who say they need to work voluntary hours to stay on the Jobseeker benefit - and is having to turn people away.
The government may require beneficiaries to do community work as one of its sanctions for failing to meet their obligations.
Wairarapa Resource Centre runs a recycling shop and provides work experience for 25 people at a time, to help them get back on their feet.
Manager Trudie Jones said people on Jobseeker benefits were turning up every week, asking for 30 hours of voluntary work.
"The saddest thing is when your benefit, when your money, is reliant on it, they want you to say yes and if you haven't got a yes and they're looking at you, what are you going to say? I'm really sorry I can't take you on."
She said the centre had a list with 15 people who needed the voluntary hours to keep their benefit.
The Ministry of Social Development, MSD, could require someone on a Jobseeker benefit to complete at least five hours a week of voluntary work, for four weeks, if they missed an appointment or other obligation.
Beneficiaries then had two weeks to find that work and have the employer verify once it was done.
Trudie Jones said she gave people tips about where else to find volunteer hours in the town.
"It's upsetting because ... I know they're going to lose their benefit and I know that they're in a crisis already and the last thing they need from me is to say that I haven't got the hours and I'm sorry you're just going to have to go and look somewhere else," Jones said.
"So I try really hard with people to try and get them to rethink, go away from here and find other venues."
MSD's regional commissioner Darlene Rastrick said community work experience was a new sanction which was introduced on 26 May and was among a range of sanctions available if someone did not fulfil their obligations on the benefit.
She said people would not be given the community work experience sanction if there was no voluntary work available, they would instead be assigned a different sanction.
Separately, Rastrick said people on the Jobseeker benefit may be encouraged to gain work experience, which could include looking for voluntary work.
"This is not a sanction. If there is no voluntary work available, the person will not face a sanction. There is no stipulated maximum number of hours required for this job search activity."
MSD says community work experience is a new sanction which was introduced on 26 May. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
She said MSD would be contacting the Wairarapa Resource Centre to understand its concerns.
"Currently, there are no clients assigned community work experience as a non-financial benefit sanction in Masterton," Rastrick said.
But Trudie Jones said that has not been her experience.
RNZ's request for the number of people on a benefit who have missed an obligation and been asked to do voluntary work is being provided by MSD under the Official Information Act, in 20 working days.
Allison Tinsdale works as an advocate, helping people navigate the benefit system.
She recently helped a man find 30 hours volunteer work in Masterton after he missed an appointment at the local WINZ office, but said it was not easy.
"We accompanied him to five charity stores to ask is there any voluntary work. We had one person who came up directly and said to us we're getting lots of enquiries for voluntary work, nobody in Masterton is able to offer 30 hours voluntary work," Tinsdale said.
"If we weren't there I think this person would have ended up in homelessness."
Other charities were also noticing an increase in people on benefits seeking voluntary hours.
The SPCA has 92 op-shops and 28 animal shelters across the country, which were staffed by 6000 volunteers, as well as paid workers.
Its general manager of retail, Cathy Crighton, said there had been a 56 percent increase in applications for voluntary roles in the three months from May compared with the same period last year.
She said some of these were from people trying to hold on to their benefits.
"Yes it is a requirement but they want to be engaged so it's an opportunity for them to still be out there in the workforce and I think it's also a balance of getting out of the house when you're unemployed and looking at different options to keep busy."
She said the SPCA was not turning people away but did background checks and interviews before taking on volunteers.
"I would suggest it's more of a win-win because it gives work experience to a job-seeker as well as the opportunity to learn new skills and to have a reference available to them for the time that they've donated."
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