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At times you may be required to take certain action and could lose Jobseeker's Allowance if you fail to do so.

If you do not fulfil the basic conditions of being available for and actively seeking work, and fail to sign a Jobseeker's Agreement, you may be disallowed benefit subject to the hardship provision.

Under Jobseeker's Allowance, sanctions may apply if some action of yours means that you have unreasonably become or remained unemployed.

Decisions are taken by independent Adjudication Officers, and you will be informed about their decisions. If a sanction is applied, no Jobseeker's Allowance is payable unless you or your family would suffer hardship. Your adviser will tell you if a sanction is being applied for any other reason than those described below.

If you:

• leave your job voluntarily, without good reason, or lose a job through misconduct
• refuse or fail to act on an offer or opportunity of employment, without good reason,

a sanction may be applied for between one and 26 weeks.

If without good cause:

• you refuse to attend or complete a mandatory programme, such as Jobplan
• you fail to act upon a Jobseeker's Direction,

a sanction may be applied for a fixed period of two weeks, rising to four weeks if a refusal or failure to act is repeated within 12 months from the beginning of the first sanction.

You have the right of appeal against any sanction imposed on you. See your Employment Service Adviser for more information.