Dad lost his job & I want to help parents

scousewife

Hello mse's

Im hopin you can help me give some advise to my parents who are worried sick at the moment. Basically my dad worked for a small concern and his employer called him in the office yesterday and informed him that he couldnt afford to pay him the 2 weeks wages he owed him already and would have to let him go as he couldnt afford to keep the place running. Dad asked me for advise what to do next so I looked on entitledto.com website & found that he is only entitled to JSA & c/tax benefit totalling £75.76 per week so I know he will have to apply for both these benefits.

Dad 59yrs old Mum 56 yrs old. Mum works 10hrs per week min wage & currently recieve tax credits.

Up until now they have been receiving Tax Credits so I know he will have to contact them regarding his change in circumstances but will that cease payments too?
I dont know how my parents will cope and want to help best I can so have I checked everything or is there anything else they are entitled to?

I would be grateful for any advice or pointers.
Thanks for reading.

McKneff

Get your dad to go to the CAB, also have a look on the ACAS site.
They cannot refuse to pay him for work already done.
If they are closing the company down then he is being made redundant
and should be paid this along with any accrued holiday pay.
Does he have anything in writing from the company

Is the company going bust.
He really needs professional advice.

scousewife

Thanks for replying McKneff. Basically the boss is up to his eyeballs in debt & has many people phoning and calling for money they are owed so dad very much doubts he will get the wages he is owed for the past 2 weeks never mind anything else and the boss said that he's not entitled to any holiday pay as they run from april to april. Dad hasnt got any paperwork from him yet he is returning to see him tomorrow so what should he ask for?
I will suggest going the CAB with him.

Oldernotwiser

When will your father reach 60? Do your parents own their home, have a mortgage, pay rent?

karenx

If your mum is only working 10hours per week then unfortunatly the tax credits will stop as it has to be minimum of 30hours per week.
Get the claim in for JSA asap. Call up and they will take details over the phone and arrange for him to go in to sign the paperwork! It will be backdated to the day he called up.

McKneff

If the company go belly up your dad will claim his redundancy pay from the government provided he has been working there for more thatn 2 years.
1 week per year he has worked there or 1 and a half, depending on his age.

Unless he has taken all his holidays due between last and this April then he is also owed holiday pay, he should also be paid his notice, a week for each year he has worked there.
Like i say, he would be better speaking to someone from CAB or ACAS who know far more about this sorth of thing than me.
But definitely sign on ASAP. He deserves to get what he is owed. He has worked for all of this and he deserves to be treated better than this.
His bosses debts are not his problem.
Good luck to you all.

scousewife

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

When will your father reach 60? Do your parents own their home, have a mortgage, pay rent?

Dad will be 60 yrs old on 04/08/10 - Will his benefit entitlement change when he reaches this age?
My parents own the house outright so luckily have no mortgage to pay.

scousewife

McKneff wrote: »

If the company go belly up your dad will claim his redundancy pay from the government provided he has been working there for more thatn 2 years.
1 week per year he has worked there or 1 and a half, depending on his age.
Dad has worked for his employer for nearly 7 years but during that time the company name & owners changed hands so he has been working for the new company for less than 2 years so I dont think he'll be entitled to anythin

Unless he has taken all his holidays due between last and this April then he is also owed holiday pay, he should also be paid his notice, a week for each year he has worked there.
He has taken all his holidays from last april to this but he's not been paid the last 2 weeks so I doubt he'll get any notice pay if any other either

Like i say, he would be better speaking to someone from CAB or ACAS who know far more about this sorth of thing than me.

I am going to go the CAB with him & have looked on the ACAS website so thanks for suggesting this.

But definitely sign on ASAP. He deserves to get what he is owed. He has worked for all of this and he deserves to be treated better than this.
His bosses debts are not his problem.
Good luck to you all.

Thanks for your advice & kind words - I'll let u know how we get on at the CAB x

kingfisherblue

I know that in some areas it can be difficult to get an appointment with CAB - I know of a drop in, in the Merseyside area, if you can't get an appointment reasonably quickly. PM me if you need the details.

ACAS might also be able to help.

Oldernotwiser

scousewife wrote: »

Dad will be 60 yrs old on 04/08/10 - Will his benefit entitlement change when he reaches this age?
My parents own the house outright so luckily have no mortgage to pay.

When he's 60 he can claim Pension Credit which may well be better for him than claiming JSA.

scousewife

kingfisherblue wrote: »

I know that in some areas it can be difficult to get an appointment with CAB - I know of a drop in, in the Merseyside area, if you can't get an appointment reasonably quickly. PM me if you need the details.

ACAS might also be able to help.

Thanks Kingsfisher - Ive looked on the knowsley CAB website & our local one is open tomorrow 9-3 & is drop in so we will be heading there. If we can't get seen then I will pm you. Many thanks :T