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

[SarEl]

You can speculate. I am not going to, because there are millions of permutations. You can still raise a grievance after you leave employment - there is nothing stopping you, and you still have 3 months to raise a tribunal and 6 years for a civil case if they owe you money.

 

I cannot answer a question which asks "are they discriminating becasue of your depression" because I do not know that they have paid you incorrectly in the first place. But even if they were - which I doubt because it is far more likely that you have simply run out of sick pay - it would only be discrimination of an unlawful sort if the illness had lasted or was likely to last more than 12 months.

 

You have resigned, they have replaced you because you have resigned. I can't see anything wrong with that. If you wish to return to work for your last two weeks you can do so. What they do with you is their problem provided that they pay you.

 

And they possibly shouldn't have told people why you were off ill, but there is nothing you can do about it as there is no legal action to be taken. You can raise a grievance if you wish, but that is all.

[Big Shoooz]

Ok, I haven't yet received a copy of the Employee Handbook but my employer has today emailed to say the following:-

 

" I have a suggestion to make to you which may make life easier for you. I believe that you agreed a final date of 10th March with your line manager – if this is correct then I would suggest that you do not return to work for the 2 weeks and we would pay you your full pay. The only issue that I think this may cause for you is that you would be in receipt of more than SSP but it would I think be a gesture of goodwill from the company and would enable you to move on free from a contractual connection to the company."

 

Why do you think they have said this now after putting me through so much grief? Do you think they are scared that I may take them to a tribunal? Do you think there offer is worth taking but will it affect the claim for benefit that I am making?

[SarEl]

On what grounds should they be worried about a tribunal? But I still can't answer the question - because I do not know whether you have any entitlement to contractual sick pay. So whether this is a good offer or not depends on that. And I don't know about the benefits question - you may have to try the benefits forum. If they are offering you two weeks PILON instead of working your notice - which isn't clear - then I do not think it would make any difference, but I am not sure about that.

[Big Shoooz]

I'm thinking that since they have not yet sent me a copy of the employee handbook, there is something that they are hiding from me and that I probably am entitled to contractual sick pay as opposed to the SSP they are paying me. They also haven't yet told me why they have taken 4 full pay days off me for January when they told me I would be on full pay for January. It just seems strange that they have written with the offer today when they still haven't answered my questions or sent me a copy of the employee handbook. It's as if they have something to hide or that they know they have done something wrong.

Yes, they are saying that instead of me working the last 2 weeks notice (if I am fit enough to), they will not want me to go into work but will give me full pay for those 2 weeks.

I guess in order to know whether to accept or reject their offer, I need to see the employee handbook. Do you agree?

[SarEl]

Yes.

[Big Shoooz]

I am currently off sick from work whilst working my notice.

My employer has been paying me SSP since the beginning of February but my fit note is due to end this week. If tomorrow my doctor signs me fit enough to go back to work this will mean I have 2 weeks of my notice left to work.

Today, my employer has said they will pay me full pay for the last 2 weeks and I don't need to return to work.

I have put in a claim for benefits as I knew when the SSP was due to end, although I am still waiting for the SSP1 form from my employer so that I can proceed with the claim.

If I accepted my employers offer of full pay for my final 2 weeks, will it affect my benefit claim?

[pandaspot]

What benefit claim have you put in? Housing benefit/council tax benefit? If so yes it will

 

If it's job seekers etc I don't have much technical knowledge really but I imagine it will unless it's classed as redundancy?

[Big Shoooz]

I've applied for housing/council tax benefit and ESA

How will it affect the claim?

[pandaspot]

Your hb and ctb will be affected by your last two weeks wage as they need to be taken fully into account. Were you on company sick or statutory sick?

 

Your hb ctb claim will start after your final two weeks pay.

 

With regards the ESA that's not my expertise sorry sure some else can help with that

[Big Shoooz]

I am being paid statutory sick but I'm not sure if this is correct or if I should be on company sick. I can only find this out from the employee handbook and there is only one copy of this at work. I have asked for a copy of it but to date have not received it. I'm wondering if I should really be on company sick and if this is why my employer has come up with the offer today.

I assumed all benefits would only begin after my employment came to an end anyway so there will be no difference there whether I continue on SSP or accept final 2 weeks as full pay....do you agree?

Is there anyone else out there who can help on the ESA side?

[flumps1976]

Not all companies pay company sick pay and if they do you need to have satisfied the qualifying conditions for that particular company.

With regards to your final 2 weeks wage it is likely to be classed as pay in lieu of notice (pilon) which does affect claims to ESA and it will be taken into account as follows your gross wage minus any tax, NI and half of any pension contribution you pay the rest of the wage will be taken into account. so it will depend on your figures.

Also if your GP has signed you as fit to retirn to work then you wn't be able to claim for ESA.

[Big Shoooz]

I have just received an emial from my employer containing excerpts from the Employee Handbook. I asked for SCANNED copies of the pages but the excerpts have been sent as a Word document which we all know is an editable document.

I don't trust that what I have been sent matches the Employee Handbook but I have to accept or reject the offer as I am due to begin my final 2 weeks notice tomorrow.

What do you think I should do? Accept the offer to gets some welcome money but risk not getting as much money as I am possibly entitled to?

[SarEl]

Well - to be fair they could have scanned the word document and how would you know? Most employee handbooks are word documents. If the document in your possession matches the policy they have explained to you, then I think you may well just have to accept that this is what the situation is.

[Big Shoooz]

I have been posting quite a lot of threads for the past week since I have had terrible problems with my pay whilst being off sick when working my notice.

 

I have questioned my employer over practically everything that they have done so far as there is no concrete evidence to show me that what they have done is correct.

 

My contract just refers me to the employee handbook so I need to see the handbook to check if I am being treated correctly and when I have requested scanned copies by email or post I just receive them in Word document format. As we all know, Word is an editable format and so I am almost sure that my employer is editing it before sending it to me.

 

Tomorrow, I begin the last 2 weeks of my notice and my employer has suggested that even though they have now put me on SSP, (I'm not sure if they should have done yet or if I should be on company sick pay) they will pay me my full pay for the last 2 weeks if I don't go into work.

 

I want to know if this is a good deal or if they are getting a better deal from it (after all, for all I know, they could have been liable for paying me more than SSP for the last few weeks).

 

I have already caught them out because they deducted 4 full pay days from January after they had written to me to say I would receive full pay for the month of January. I queried this and they now say they will pay these 4 days back to me.

 

This is why I don't trust them. If they have nothing to hide, why will they not send scanned copies of the employee handbook.

 

I need to make a decision tonight on whether to accept their offer of 2 weeks full pay or to carry on with SSP (they don't know yet whether I am fit enough to go back to work tomorrow).

 

Any thoughts?

[maroondevo52]

Hi, Big Shoooz.

 

I have merged both your threads on this subject, please continue to post here regarding this issue.

 

Thanks.

 

Scott.

[SarEl]

Because - as I said on your other thread - a word document could be scanned, so how would you know? If you don't know whether you are fit enough to go to work tomorrow - bearing in mind that it is 10:30 pm, then you are not ffit enough now. You have no proof of what you are claiming, and you have already been told that you have exhausted your sick pay. Why would you want to stay on SSP if you can have the money? They haven't asked for anything like a compromise agreement in return. They didn't have to offer you anything. Gift horses????

[griffin13]

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?

 

 

Hello there.

 

I am also in the same situation. I am about to resign as I am unfit to continue my job and unable to survive as my salary has been reduced whilst I am off sick. I am planning on applying for ESA when my notice runs out but worried that I will not get it if I resigned, but I was advised to do this by the benefits agency although they cannot say for sure that I will recieve it, just that I fit the criteria. A lady told me yesterday at the benefits office, that they do not ask you why you left your last job when you apply for ESA.

 

I hope that you are able to get this benefit, and would be grateful if you could advise me if you succeed.

 

Good Luck and best wishes for the future.

[Nystagmite]

You can get ESA if you resign from work due to illness. With JSA, I was told if you can no longer do your job; but can otherwise work (ie, if someone developes a back injury and their job involves lifting, they can resign and go on to JSA if they can still do other work - like office work) the sanction doesn't apply. The sanction is more if you left because you no longer liked doing your job or were fired.

[griffin13]

You can get ESA if you resign from work due to illness. With JSA, I was told if you can no longer do your job; but can otherwise work (ie, if someone developes a back injury and their job involves lifting, they can resign and go on to JSA if they can still do other work - like office work) the sanction doesn't apply. The sanction is more if you left because you no longer liked doing your job or were fired.

 

Thankyou for your reply. Can I ask how you know this information. has this happened to you/someone you know?

 

Thanks again.

[Nystagmite]

I do know someone it happened to. I think she had to get a letter from her GP stating that whilst she is fit to work - she just isn't fit to do her current job. (even if she was given reasonable adjustments under the equalities / disability discrimination act)

[Big Shoooz]

I resigned in December giving 3 months notice but unfortunately, went off sick after one month and for the remainder of my notice period.

 

My February pay was underpaid and I had to wait until my March pay to receive the short pay.

 

Unfortunately, my March pay was also underpaid and now I am fighting to get this paid asap as I am no longer employed by the company. They are saying the whole company payroll now has to be recalculated and I will receive the pay once this has been done but they aren't giving me any idea of how long this will take.

 

What I want to know is, do they have a legal obligation to pay me the short pay within a certain time limit or could they leave it until April pay run, meaning that I have had to wait one month for the short pay?

[elpulpo]

They should pay you the correct amount ASAP. Write to them and set a deadline (7days). Headline it Letter Before Action.

State that to withold pay contravenes Section 13 Employment Rights Act 1996, and if they don't pay you'll take legal action to recover the money.

[Big Shoooz]

Thanks Elpulpo,

I asked for it to be paid 6 days ago (by email). Should they, by law, pay it immediately?

[Surfer01]

Can we assume that it is SSP that has been underpaid?

[elpulpo]

They should pay when it is contractually agreed they would, and if a mistake is made that should be rectified as soon as is reasonably possible. Leaving it to the next pay day because that's convenient to them isn't acceptable (what do people who work in payroll depts. do for 28 days of the month?).

Saying that, if they don't pay and you commence legal proceedings, it would be several months for the matter to be resolved anyway. There's no quick and easy way to get money out of people. If the underpayment has caused you detriment such as bank charges, you might be able to claim compensation.