Worried, need advice please

spooney7

Hello all, I hope everyone is well this evening.

I'm sorry that this is a bit long-winded. I'm probably jumping the gun with this, but I'm looking for a bit of advice. Apologies if this is the wrong place!

I'm currently in my second week off sick from work with an injured back, and neither I nor my doctor can predict when this will resolve. I am calling my workplace every week to update them on the situation- I have an appointment at a spinal clinic in 4 weeks time to assess my condition, and I also have an appointment the following week with Occupational Health. My doctor has told me that there is no chance of me returning to work at the moment and that I need an MRI scan, but that cannot be done until I have my clinic appointment.

I started my job on July 25th, and prior to starting I stated on my Occ Health form that I had back problems. This problem started after 12 weeks at my job- it wasn't caused by anything that happened at work, although I do think the long shifts (12hr) on my feet may have exacerbated it at least a little. Please understand that I do not hold work responsible AT ALL, the problem was already there. Anyway, I was having trouble at work before I went off sick due to the fact that I had not met a certain goal by the time my manager had expected. This was to be re-assessed a few days ago, but had to be postponed due to my sickness. In the week leading up to this, I was having increasing difficulty due to the extreme pain my back was causing me, but felt unable to call in sick as I thought it would be a further reason for them to sack me.

Nobody at work has said anything as yet, but I just worry about being off for too long because I know that they are fully within their rights to terminate my employment based on capability, especially as my employment with them is less than a year. They have no other positions that they could offer me- I'm not even sure I could perform a desk job at the moment as sitting aggravates my sciatica. My main worry is that if this were to happen, I don't think that I would be eligible for any ESA benefit as I haven't enough NI contributions (This is my first "proper" full-time job out of university). Also, as I live in staff accommodation I am classed as a "Crown Tenant", and therefore not eligible for help with my rent.

Like I said, I may be totally jumping the gun here- I just want to be prepared if the worst case scenario occurs. I need your advice- if they do let me go, what should my first move be?

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spooney7

Could anyone give some advice?

Sambucus_Nigra

Start looking for other jobs that you can do?

MrsManda

I don't know anything about your employment rights but in terms of ESA you may still be able to receive ESA income related if you cannot claim contribution based. Are you receiving sick pay at the moment?

I'm not trying to add to your worries but if you are living in staff accommodation and do get dismissed from your job you will presumably not be able to continue to live in staff accommodation? In which case you are likely to be able to receive some housing benefit for where you move to.

If they let you go or give you notice you'd need to speak to a benefits advisor and claim for the benefits you are entitled to receive. But until you know what's going to happen, try not to worry and concentrate on doing what the doctors say to improve your health.

It's worth starting to think about what work you are capable of doing so that you have something positive to focus on.

spooney7

Thank you for the replies.

I know I shouldn't rush to assume the worst. I think I just worry because I'm a nurse- I'm not really trained for anything else. I know about transferrable skills and all that jazz, but it took me ages to secure a job because of the shortage of nursing posts and no other sectors really wanted to know.

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