Benefits available for mentally unwell friend?

kitrat

tomtontom wrote: »

What is her salary? She may be entitled to WTC but that would depend on her earnings and her meeting the criteria as a disabled worker.

A phased return would not usually be on full pay, but rather she will be paid for the hours she works and the other hours she would be on sick pay, so half pay. She should check the Trust policy on this though, they may have different rules.

This is where I'm struggling with the entitlement questions. Her salary is £23,000, but it's going to be going down to half pay if she stays off. I don't know if that pay is the the same as SSP. She's not here with me so it's a lot of guesswork.

I think she counts as disabled as OCD is a recognised disability. She has never mentioned this to them though, she has a meeting this week with HR and manager and I'm trying to get her to bring this up. wish I could do the talking for her.

She is not in a union I don't think, I did ask her about this but I think she gave some reason why she didn't want to involve them. I think it would be sensible at this stage though as it reaching crunch point. Tearing my hair out as I can't make her do anything.

elsien

https://www.gov.uk/employment-support-allowance/eligibility

ESA may be possible if she works under 16 hours when she returns to work, but again will depend on her earnings.

kitrat

Darksparkle wrote: »

What questions are you finding difficult?

What to put for her pay and SSP, don't know if what she's had is SSP. I think I need to go through it all as if she is unemployed because despite that I've put she has a disability it is not giving me any answers on disability related allowances.

Darksparkle

The criteria for the disability element of WTC is here - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/460516/TC956.pdf

She must meet all 3 conditions.

She'd also need to have returned to work to receive it.

However due to her income, it's unlikely she would be entitled to anything at present from them.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tax-credits-entitlement-tables-working-and-have-no-children/tax-credits-entitlement-tables-working-and-have-no-children

Caz3121

kitrat wrote: »

This is where I'm struggling with the entitlement questions. Her salary is £23,000, but it's going to be going down to half pay if she stays off. I don't know if that pay is the the same as SSP.

based on standard tax code and PAYE
23,000 salary £1,560 per month
11,500 salary £910 per month
SSP £88.45 per week (£383 per month)

You say she is in her 30s. If over 35 housing benefit calculations would be based on the one-bedroom rate. If under it would be based on the shared accommodation rate

jetplane

Employment wise your friend should be visiting occupational health who can look at what is needed to help her return to work, including a phased return, this needs to be a planned arrangement with a review period. Usually in NHS and LA an employee is paid as though they are working their full hours.

occupational health can enable your friend to access counselling services through her employer rather than through the GP referral system. There may also be other programmes on offer which could help. I would never advocate giving up work as your friends condition may improve, they may be able to have a transfer within their workplace, or move on elsewhere.

Should your friend not be returning to work yet they can claim contribution based ESA, if they have enough NI contributions, and this is in addition to their half pay. There may also be entitlement to housing benefit or council tax support and a discretionary housing payment. PIP can be claimed and be paid to someone with OCD and depression. A good start would be for your friend to keep a diary of when they need support, not all care is physical and they will need supporting evidence from their GP.

Perhaps contact a mental health orgainisation, welfare rights or advice agency for help and advice with a PIP claim, they can advise on other financial support available.

edit; my post crossed, your friend needs to be with you and answer questions when you go to a support agency otherwise any advice you are offered could be useless as the finer detail does matter when making claims.

Poppie68

kitrat wrote: »

Yeah I worry about her disconnecting from work entirely, she coudl do with a bit more time though. She keeps up with lots of social things now and is going to groups arranged by GP etc. (this has ended now though). Her GP says she is not ready to go back to work and is disappointed that she is going back in two weeks.

Her line manager is awful, HR have been hit and miss. Friends and GP can give her encouragement but her parents are emotionally absent on this.

If she can't communicate effectively with her line manager she needs to seek help from elsewhere in the workplace, if HR are accessible paying them a visit in person will be helpful, Occupational health can also help, I was phased in on 8 hrs and paid just for those hours.

kitrat

Thank you all I have a millions tabs open and I'm utterly confused, (God help anyone actually suffering from an illness get through all this) but you've all given me some info I can work with. This PIP looks appropriate and I personally think she meets the criteria for the disability working tax credit, would this be used to top up part time work presumably?

Poppie68

kitrat wrote: »

What to put for her pay and SSP, don't know if what she's had is SSP. I think I need to go through it all as if she is unemployed because despite that I've put she has a disability it is not giving me any answers on disability related allowances.

No the NHS pay your normal full pay for 6 months then halve her normal pay for a further 6 months.

kitrat

Poppie68 wrote: »

No the NHS pay your normal full pay for 6 months then halve her normal pay for a further 6 months, she would then claim SSP for up to 28 weeks which is £88 per week.

Ah brilliant thank you.