Career Break - Would I be entitled to help?

chickadee

Hi everyone,

I have worked full-time now for 23 years and the only break in employment I have ever had was 4 months maternity leave when I had my son. He is now 10 and I am starting to panic that I have missed his childhood and haven't been there for him. Yes, a bit late I know and he seems to be OK for it. However, I am really cheesed off in my present job and feel that I need a career break. I am thinking about having 6 months or so off, then returning to work either as a contractor or full-time, depending on work being available.

Can anyone tell me if I would be entitled to claim any benefits, working tax credit, etc (OH is still working). I don't have much idea about this or what is involved as I have never claimed anything, even though I have paid thousands over the years in tax and NI.

Does anyone have any other advice for me?

Thanks for your help.

Spendless

Hi

Well if your household income changes, your tax credits might also change, but they also might not. Have a play about with figures here www.entitledto.com

Even if you have paid enough NI contributions to qualify for 6 months of JSA-contribution based. Leaving a job of your own accord may well mean you'll be sanctioned.

jfdi

A Career Break implies your contract / terms of agreement would still be running with your Employer; in which case you wouldn't get JSA but may be entitled to Tax Credits, depending on the household situation.

If you resign your job, as Spendless has said, you could lose any Benefit entitlement - unless you're a lone parent.

Could you go p/t and compromise? 3 days a week say?

CIS

Just remember, if you take a career break, then you are no longer employed in a paid postion and therefore,depending on your partners working status, may loose entitlement to Tax Credits.

oldmotherreilly

I think it might be worth investigating whether you would be entitled to JSA. I know someone who claimed JSA during a career break because her employer could not accommodate her returning to work part time but held her job open for her to return full time. She could only work for 16 hours a week and only when her husband was at home so said she could do sales assistant work at a local shopping centre. The Jobcentre said this was O.K. because she had caring responsibilities for children. If this is a similar situation to yours I would make a claim. Don't just accept it if the Jobcentre staff say no to it-let it go to their 'adjudication officer' and let them decide if the Jobcentre staff query it.

mcc28_x

Whilst each case of leaving voluntarily is looked at individually, I think you would be ill advised to leave and claim JSA in the hope it may be paid.

To the best of my knowledge no-one in advance of you making a claim could tell you whether you would be sanctioned, you would have to make the claim and then correspond with the Decision Maker at the Job Centre.

Having to leave due to caring responsibilites probably would be deemed okay, but remember that the DM would correspond with your former employer to ask them for corraboration of your reasons.

Not easy to give a definitive answer on this one, sorry.

Mark

oldmotherreilly

But if she is going on a career break then surely leaving voluntarily would not be investigated as she is still technically employed by the company?

oldmotherreilly

But if she is going on a career break then surely leaving voluntarily would not be investigated as she is still technically employed by the company? It was not investigated on the claim I mentioned before.
Whoops sorry I have just reread the original post and the OP does not mean a 'career break' as I read it (ie still employed by the company but returning at a later date). Sorry folks.