There is a little known fact (and “loophole“) that a Jobseeker’s Agreement (JSAg) is a contractual agreement between the claimant and the Employment Officer.

***** It is NOT an agreement between you the claimant and the State. *****

9. The jobseeker’s agreement.

(1) An agreement which is entered into by a claimant and an employment officer and which complies with the prescribed requirements in force at the time when the agreement is made is referred to in this Act as “a jobseeker’s agreement”.

(2) A jobseeker’s agreement shall have effect only for the purposes of section 1.

(3) A jobseeker’s agreement shall be in writing and be signed by both parties.

(4) A copy of the agreement shall be given to the claimant.

(5) An employment officer shall not enter into a jobseeker’s agreement with a claimant unless, in the officer’s opinion, the conditions mentioned in section 1(2)(a) and (c) would be satisfied with respect to the claimant if he were to comply with, or be treated as complying with, the proposed agreement.

Section 9, the main clauses in regards to the Jobseeker’s Agreement (JSAg) specifies:-

• The agreement is between the claimant and the employment officer, which is formally defined as being called the “Jobseeker’s Agreement” and deemed to comply with the requirements at the time it was made.

  To reiterate, the Employment Officer with authority of the state has entered into an agreement with you the claimant after firstly assuring you comply with all the Jobseekers Allowance conditions. This agreement is then specified to be called a Jobseeker’s Agreement – that way this agreement can be referred to elsewhere in this Act, and the Regs etc.

• The Jobseeker’s Agreement only applies to the conditions/requirements in section 1 (and section 2/3 as referenced in section 1) including being Available for Employment and Actively Seeking Employment. Regulations regarding these conditions aren’t exempt as they are written for the purpose of such conditions.  However, if a dispute arises other than that of section 1, the Jobseeker’s Agreement cannot be used to generate a sanction.
• The Jobseeker’s Agreement is to be in writing (thus any verbal agreement of implied aspect no longer applies – make sure its acceptable when you make it). Both the “employment officer” and you the “claimant” are the parties of the agreement. The employment officer signing such agreement in his or hers name, makes the agreement directly between the employment officer and the claimant – not the state/DWP/Jobcentre Plus.
• The Employment Officer shall not enter into the agreement (this means print and sign the agreement as completed) if he or she feels the claimant cannot meet the Available for Employment and Actively Seeking Employment conditions via such agreement “being in force” (Jobseekers Act 1995 1(1)(b)). This can be used as a defence when appealing a sanction in some instances.

A part of Section 1, the first clauses to the Jobseekers Act 1995 is as follows:-

1 The jobseeker’s allowance.(3)
A jobseeker’s allowance is payable in respect of a week.

(1) An allowance, to be known as a jobseeker’s allowance, shall be payable in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, a claimant is entitled to a jobseeker’s allowance if he—
(a) is available for employment;
(b) has entered into a jobseeker’s agreement which remains in force;
(c) is actively seeking employment;
(d) satisfies the conditions set out in section 2;
(e) is not engaged in remunerative work;
(f) is capable of work;
(g) is not receiving relevant education;
(h) is under pensionable age; and
(i) is in Great Britain.

[...]

(3) A jobseeker’s allowance is payable in respect of a week.

This Sections snippets above, in 1(2)(b) states that an agreement must have been created and current. (There is provision allowing a period of time for it to be created, as specified elsewhere). 1(3) states that the allowance is to be paid by a “benefit week” (but isn’t defined as that here, just as a “week”) other than a working week.