Sick Pay Not Covering Rent & 0 Hours Contract.

Retrogamer

Posting to try and get some advice on what my brother should do.

He's had Chrohn's disease for years and first diagnosed when he was back at school. He's in his early 20's now.
Last July he started a job as a commis chef. It was and still is a 0 hours contract but most days he's been working it's between 10-12 hours with a 30 minute break. It's through an apprenticeship scheme as well but it's giving him problem as the kitchen is so busy when his examiner comes in to grade his work he can't do it as he's too bogged down with his regular duties.

Anyway, a few weeks ago he started to randomly be sick and severe stomach cramps. He got a 2 week sick line from work. His work pay him the mandatory sick pay which if i remember is about £50 something a week. Near the end of his sick line he had to be rushed to hospital as his intestine had swollen up so much food couldn't pass through. He had an operation to remove the swollen part but there were some complications and the end result is he'll need to use a colostomy bag for at least a year. His sick line has been extended by another 4 weeks but it seems likely he'll be off for at least a few months as he's down to under 7 stone as well and being 5ft7 that's far too low.

The problem he's facing is he lives in a Private rent just now where his rent is £300 a month so mandatory sick pay won't even cover it let alone food, bills etc.
As he's been working there less than 2 years as well he's worried they might try and sack him as he has "no rights" so to speak.
On top of all of this when he is well enough to go back to work he'll need frequent breaks because of his condition and won't be able to do the long hours anymore.

I was wondering a few things.

Is he eligible for help with his rent / council tax due to the circumstances and if so who to contact?
Would his condition now he needs to use a bag constitute a disability? This may offer him some help and / or protection in work with them not being able to sack him as easily as well as them making changes so he doesn't have to do as many hours and maybe has more frequent breaks.

Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Undervalued

Retrogamer wrote: »

Would his condition now he needs to use a bag constitute a disability? This may offer him some help and / or protection in work with them not being able to sack him as easily as well as them making changes so he doesn't have to do as many hours and maybe has more frequent breaks.

Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

It may do and that would require the employer to consider "reasonable adjustments" but I'm afraid these don't go anything like as far as many people think.

Some employers are very good and do far more than the minimum the law requires. Also, generally more would be expected of a large organisation that a small business. However neither would be expected to do anything that was disproportionately costly or disruptive.

Also, you mention a zero hour contract? If so then obviously they are under no obligation to actually offer him any work so everything else becomes a bit theoretical.

Retrogamer

This is true. I'm just trying to find some way he can get help before he ends up losing his house or being put under more stress than he's already under.

pmlindyloo

He can apply for housing benefit and council tax support.

He can get the forms from his local council.

He should have a 13 week protection for his current rent rate rather than his being paid the local housing allowance for his age/circumstances (he can look the LHA rate on his local council website)

He would need to ask about the 13 week protection as regards HB as they do not always tell you about it.

To be eligible he would have to have been able to pay his rent when he took on the tenancy and not have claimed HB for the past year of that tenancy.

if he is not eligible then he could ask about a Discretionary Housing Payment to top up his HB (form from council) If he feels he is in danger of eviction for rent arrears then he should mention this on the form. Help is available from CAB if needed.

Work is a separate issue and you need to wait and see the employer's response for when he returns to work.

sangie595

Crohns disease itself may qualify as a disability, but as previous posters have noted, that does not mean an awful lot because there are few real protections. In fact, I am afraid that it may have the opposite effect, because the employer may argue that his current need for a colostomy bag constitutes a health and safety risk in terms of food preparation; but equally they could simply not offer him any more work (if it is a zero hours contract) or dismiss him for too long a period of absence from work.


I am also concerned about his "apprenticeship" and the zero hours contract. It isn't impossible for an employer to issue a zero hours contract under an apprenticeship, but it is exceptionally unusual. And I cannot see that the situation that you describe justifies a zero hour contract - or that the law would recognise it as one anyway. In every apprenticeship the employer must provide a contract of employment, and it must be possible to carry out all parts of the learning framework within working hours - which you seem to indicate is not happening. It seems, at the very least, that the learning provider is not doing their job very well if they are not ensuring that this happens - they have quite a lot of influence in these matters. It may be advisable that he talk to his apprenticeship providers to see what assistance they may be able to give - otherwise he may be at risk of failing the apprenticeship by not being able to demonstrate that he has acquired the skills necessary.

Retrogamer

Thanks for the advice so far.

Regarding the 0 hour contract. This what was offered to him at the start with no mention of an apprenticeship as he was 21 at the time. Approx 6 months into the job this is when they said they would put him through his apprenticeship to ensure he was qualified.

During his year there so far, the company has been sold and bought twice and now it's being sold to another company again.

Because my brother is still in the intensive care ward he can't use his mobile phone and he's bed bound so my mum called his work on his behalf to explain the situation. The Executive chef was keen for her not to hand his sick line in, in person and just to post it in instead. She posted it in.

Now my brother has heard through the Grapevine that his head chef is telling all the staff he's going to get sacked because they haven't received his latest sickline. It seems to have been lost in the post which is convenient for them. All the staff know why he's off sick as well as the head chef has told them about his condition.
I always thought that was a breach of DPA as they're sharing sensitive information about his personal circumstances with people that don't need to know (i.e either commis chefs, the KP etc)

Really making me angry how they're going about it.

sangie595

Retrogamer wrote: »

Thanks for the advice so far.

Regarding the 0 hour contract. This what was offered to him at the start with no mention of an apprenticeship as he was 21 at the time. Approx 6 months into the job this is when they said they would put him through his apprenticeship to ensure he was qualified.

During his year there so far, the company has been sold and bought twice and now it's being sold to another company again.

Because my brother is still in the intensive care ward he can't use his mobile phone and he's bed bound so my mum called his work on his behalf to explain the situation. The Executive chef was keen for her not to hand his sick line in, in person and just to post it in instead. She posted it in.

Now my brother has heard through the Grapevine that his head chef is telling all the staff he's going to get sacked because they haven't received his latest sickline. It seems to have been lost in the post which is convenient for them. All the staff know why he's off sick as well as the head chef has told them about his condition.
I always thought that was a breach of DPA as they're sharing sensitive information about his personal circumstances with people that don't need to know (i.e either commis chefs, the KP etc)

Really making me angry how they're going about it.

I doubt it's a breach of the DPA, although it certainly is bad practice to breach confidentiality like this. Although it happens a lot.


But I am afraid that I suspect it is all moot anyway - he has already had some weeks off and you are suggesting that he will need several more at least to be fit again. Even with a disability, it doesn't protect him from being dismissed for sickness absences, and he has been/ will be away from work for a long time. With or without a fit note, it wouldn't be difficult to justify a fair dismissal in law.

Retrogamer

Note sure how best to proceed now.

As he's being fired, he won't have any income at all now. House rent is due shortly.

Will be in hospital still for a while before we can speak to CAB and the likes to try and arrange some sort of income he can claim

The stress of losing his job and going into rent & council tax arrears along with his condition is taking it's toll on him. He's started to say he wishes he wasn't here anymore. Hospital have referred him to social services but due to their work load they won't have a chance to see or speak to him anymore soon either.

sangie595

Retrogamer wrote: »

Note sure how best to proceed now.

As he's being fired, he won't have any income at all now. House rent is due shortly.

Will be in hospital still for a while before we can speak to CAB and the likes to try and arrange some sort of income he can claim

The stress of losing his job and going into rent & council tax arrears along with his condition is taking it's toll on him. He's started to say he wishes he wasn't here anymore. Hospital have referred him to social services but due to their work load they won't have a chance to see or speak to him anymore soon either.

He hasn't been sacked yet. so don't depend on gossip. It may happen, but it hasn't. No point crossing hurdles until you get to them.


You are probably best off taking the benefits issues to the benefits boards instead of here, as they will be better able to answer your questions and may be able to advise how he can claim whilst still in hospital.

Undervalued

Retrogamer wrote: »

I always thought that was a breach of DPA as they're sharing sensitive information about his personal circumstances with people that don't need to know (i.e either commis chefs, the KP etc)

Really making me angry how they're going about it.

It may be but more relevant is what, if anything, can you usefully do about.

You might, with a lot of effort, be able to get them a minor slap on the wrist but that isn't really going to help your brother.

Sometimes you have to pick your battles.

lisyloo

Sorry if this is a dumb (or insensitive) question.
But can you carry on being a chef or involved in commerical food preparation if you have a bag?
I don't know the exact details of how they are handled or how frequently they need to be emptied. I know you can get tiny ones that can be worn with a bikini so maybe you can get bigger ones too that wouldn't have to be handled during the working day?