Thread: Resigned from job due to illness...will I get benefits??

I resigned from my job in December due to illness and am currently on my 3 months notice period but I have actually been signed off by the doctor for the last few weeks and so quite likely will not work the rest of my notice.

Once I receive the last of my wages in March I am out of work, unfit to work and don't know if I will receive benefits as technically, even though I haven't been fit for work for the last few weeks, I DID voluntarily resign from my job (well, illness forced me to). Can anyone please confirm if I will be eligible for ESA at least and will I receive it straight away or will I have to wait?

Should I wait until I have left my job before I apply for benefits?

I was unfortunately in same position as you following a back injury in 2008 and a breakdown in February 2010 I was forced to resign from my former employers behaviour but I had to wait two weeks then I was told I could do contribution job seekers. I have now been out of work 11 months, it has been very very hard, I did not want to go but my GP told me carrying on lifting would have made me more disabled, considering they left me 20 percent disabled it is just a shame. I hope you have some luck. I'm trying to keep positive myself but 80 applications sent in 10 months only 8 interviews.

Originally Posted by andrewhearne2009

I was unfortunately in same position as you following a back injury in 2008 and a breakdown in February 2010 I was forced to resign from my former employers behaviour but I had to wait two weeks then I was told I could do contribution job seekers. I have now been out of work 11 months, it has been very very hard, I did not want to go but my GP told me carrying on lifting would have made me more disabled, considering they left me 20 percent disabled it is just a shame. I hope you have some luck. I'm trying to keep positive myself but 80 applications sent in 10 months only 8 interviews.

Hi Andrew, sorry to hear of your problems and that they are still continuing. How come you got JSA and not ESA if you are ill?? So they paid you benefit after 2 weeks did they?

Has anyone else had experience like mine?

Thats right JSA after two weeks I managed to get Industrial Injury Benefit but not tried ESA - I think as I am not working I am unable to get ESA. My illness was not covered for Industrial Injury Benefit but both ruled in my favour.

I guess if you are now looking for work that will be why you are on JSA as the way I understand it ESA is for people who are unfit for work.
If you resigned from your job you did very well to get JSA after 2 weeks as I thought benefits were witheld for 26 weeks if you voluntarily leave your job (or is it different if you leave because of illness?)

In December I resigned from my job due to health reasons. I gave 3 months notice as per my contract.
I spoke with the management at this point and they said that even though my health was bad, they really wanted me to work the full 3 months.
In January, after serving over one month of the notice period, my health worsened and my doctor signed me off sick.
I have since sent in a further sick note to my employer which covers me until next week.
My 3 month notice period is due to end on 10th March by which time I should also have accumulated 4 days holiday.
Today (payday!) I find that my employer has only paid £159.40 into my bank account for the last work period from 15th Jan until now. My full months wage is £1345.
If my employer is paying me contractual sick pay or SSP, this amount of £159.40 seems low for one month. I have also received no notice from my employer that I will not receive my full salary whilst being sick during my notice period.
My first sick note was for hypertension (high blood pressure) and my 2nd sick note was for depression.
Can anyone please advise if my employer is right to do what they have done and how am I meant to cope with £159.40 for one month??

Whether you get contractual sick pay is the obvious first piece of information missing here - what is your contractual right (if any) to be paid whilst off sick? And to be honest, the first stop regarding WHY you have only been paid this amount would be the employer! We don't know what "they have done" if you haven't firstly asked the question! So you need to be talking to them and coming back with the information we need to advise you.

Thanks for your responses so far.
Ok, I emailed my line manager (Keeping everything in writing and besides which this has given me such a shock that I'm not up to speaking on the phone at the moment).
I just received an email back from the HR manager telling me that he had sent a letter to me at this end of January. I never received it until he just emailed it to me now.
This is what it says:-

I am sorry that you are currently off sick. I am writing to advise you that you will be paid full pay for the month of January and will then go on to Statutory Sick Pay. This is in line with your contract of employment.

I have replied to say that a follow up phone call to check I had received the letter would have been beneficial and also to ask him the rate of SSP and for which dates it covers (my £159!) as I thought SSP was £79 per week.

Are they right to do this when my illness is depression and I am already working my notice?

If they want to end my contract, they have to give me one months notice unless it's instant dismissal of course.

Have you applied for benefits? The Fit note needs to be submitted to the DWP for this to happen. No-one does it for you, you need to do it.

Having depression doesn't mean that you get paid more pay than your contract specifies. I am not sure why you think they want to end your contract - since you have resigned, it's coming to an end anyway, and until that happens you will now get SSP in line with the contract of employment. But you do need then to explain why you have received the amount that you have, as it's hard for us to know what is going on without some explanation.

Originally Posted by papasmurf1cx

Have you applied for benefits? The Fit note needs to be submitted to the DWP for this to happen. No-one does it for you, you need to do it.

How could I apply for benefits when I thought my employer was paying me? They have the fit notes.

You need to get them back or copies of them. The employer should forward them to the DWP but they rarely do in time. Don't send in the originals to the employer any more send a copy to them and send originals to the DWP. Write to DWP once you have them back and ask for a back dating of Incapacity Benefit. You can claim back to three months if memory serves me right. I suggest also to go on to the Benefits forum and post your problem there... many more experts there than here.

I keep making that mistake.... !!!!!!!

Also, check your employer will accept a copy before you do it. Some won't - because a photocopy can be doctored!

Well luckily I already took photocopies of the 2 fit notes before I sent the originals to my employer. But can I backdate ESA from the time of the first fit note even though my employer paid me full weeks pay for the first 2 weeks and then SSP for the rest?

I already have a thread open about this in the Employment section but I need advice with the benefits side so I hope you guys can help please.
I resigned from work on 10th December due to health reasons. I thought I was being very fair to my employer by doing this as I told them if I carried on working for much longer I would end up on long term sick leave.
My notice period stated in my contract is 3 months, which I agreed to work. My employer was unhappy about me resigning but said they would rather I work the 3 months notice rather than them let me go early and be paid the full 3 months. I knew this would be tough for me but I gave it a go.
On 12th January, I left work early to go to a doctors appointment to discuss test results and check medication, etc. I was expecting to be back at work the following day but was so shocked when the doctor gave me a fit note (unfit for work for 2 weeks due to high blood pressure). I immediately rang my employer with the bad news and then posted the fit note to them. They were obviously shocked but concerned too.
Just as my 2 weeks fit note was about to end, I returned to the doctor on 26th January and he then gave me a new fit note for depression (4 weeks off work). I rang my employer straight away again and posted the fit note the same day. They would have received it on 27th January. Again, my employer was shocked and concerned but no mention other than "look after yourself".
A few of days later I received a nice plant and chocolates from Interflora and I rang my line manager the following day to tell him to thank everyone for me and to check he had received the fit note, which he confirmed he had. Again, NOTHING was mentioned about salary, sick pay or anything.
On my next payday (15th February), I checked my bank balance only to find I have received only £159.40 for my salary. I was so distraught I couldn't pick up the phone so I emailed my line manager and asked him to confirm why I had received such a small wage. I then received an email back from the HR manager who said they had sent a letter to me on 27th January confirming that I would only receive full pay until the end of January and from 1st February I would receive SSP.....this he stated was as set out in my contract of employment.
I have checked my contract of employment and the sickness section refers me to the Employee Handbook of which there is only one copy and that is at work! Therefore, I emailed the HR manager and asked him to send me a copy of that section of the handbook as I do not have it. I have also asked him to confirm the rate of SSP he has paid me and which dates it covers because I get paid 2 weeks in arrears and 2 weeks in advance so surely, 15th February salary should cover the period from 1st Feb to 28th Feb in which case I should have received 4 weeks SSP. £159.40 seems a little low for 4 weeks SSP.
Also, I told the HR manager that I never received the letter (I DIDN'T) and that a follow up call to check I had received it would have been beneficial so that I could sort my direct debits out in time. As it is now, I have gone overdrawn at the bank. I don't have an overdraft facility and I think they will close my account.
I can't understand why they didn't send such an important letter by recorded delivery or deliver it in person and I don't know why my line manager didn't ask if I had received it when I last rang him at the end of January.
My 3 months notice is due to end on 10th March and at this stage I don't know if my employer is paying me SSP until that date or if they have now terminated my contract because I am getting no response to the emails I am sending (I will only deal with them in writing now as I no longer trust them).
Well sorry for waffling but that is the situation I am in and what I need to know is when can I put in a claim for ESA? Do I have to wait until 10th March when my notice period officially ends or can I do it now that I am receiving SSP?
Also, as £159.40 is not going to stretch very far into one month, could I get help with housing benefit and council tax benefit now or do I have to wait until 10th March?
My husband is currently claiming ESA but we haven't yet applied for HB and CTB.
I hope you can help as all this worry is making my illness even worse.