Leaving job due to stress- what can I claim?

Detroit

From a benefits perspective, Sangie's advice to remain in your job until you are dismissed is good.

Resigning from a job can cause issues with benefit sanctions, which even if challenged successfully can be stressful to go through.

Provided you are remaining off work sick,and so not facing the pressures that are impacting on your health, there is no benefit to you from resignation.

When your contractual/ statutory sick pays runs out you should move to employment support allowance provided you remain too sick to work.

If you want an idea of your potential benefit entitlement https://www.turn2us.org.uk is a good start, as is CAB.

sangie595

love_lifer wrote: »

Thanks for all the comments.

yes Im public sector and in a union, who advised occupational health interview and request redeployment on grounds of ill health

I requested an occupational health referral in June. Im still waiting.

The situation at work is unrelentingly awful and no improvements imminent. New boss estimated 12-18 months before things improve. Im being cagey here because so many people have 'disappeared' in the past 8 months as well as left and been off sick. Im scared I'll be recognised.

Yes I want to leave because of the stress and its effect on me- Im on medication. Ive been in the profession more than 25 years and this situation is truly the worst Ive experienced. I reluctantly accepted a sick note when I realised it was pretty much killing me

densol- i sympathise completely and thank you for your comments, really helpful. I am dismayed to be in this position but I am.

Even though it's the main holiday period, that is way too long for an occupational health assessment. Ask again and make sure the request is in writing. Either somewhere in management the referral hasn't been made, or its got lost in the system. I've seen that happen before.

What are the union doing about this? They should be actively seeking an early resolution. Redeployment should be an optio, and it's in the employers interest to proactively seek this.

If you have 25 years under your belt, you do not want to leave local authority employment. You need another five years for full pension entitlement. Your pension was mostly accrued under the old pension rules, so early retirement is an option, and with that last few years under your belt, you can be comfortable. Given the new system doesn't massively affect you, you can afford to drop salary a bit - it would have a minimal affect on your pension. That gives you more redeployment options.

Just don't resign. You have too much to lose, and there are other things you could do. You just need to push for that occupational health appointment. It should be turned around in a couple of weeks at most, but given it has fallen down somewhere, on a priority basis, they can often turn things around in days.

love_lifer

Thanks again.

I've requested an appointment again in writing- last week- and in person twice before this.

I get the message about resigning. I wanted to because I have felt so bad but as time goes on I'm feeling angry at how I and colleagues have been treated. So I will stand my ground and keep looking at options and trying to get back on an even keel

TELLIT01

As others have said, don't resign. That would have a knock on effect on pension entitlement, benefit entitlement etc. If your GP will give you a certificate, take it and continue to press for OH assessment. Do everything in writing, including making notes of any meetings / conversations with your managers or HR.

sangie595

love_lifer wrote: »

Thanks again.

I've requested an appointment again in writing- last week- and in person twice before this.

I get the message about resigning. I wanted to because I have felt so bad but as time goes on I'm feeling angry at how I and colleagues have been treated. So I will stand my ground and keep looking at options and trying to get back on an even keel

In that case, since you aren't that bothered about burning bridges, go over their heads. Try to be as polite as possible, but I am sure that if you check the policy, you have the right to refer yourself. That's fairly common in such policies. Ask the union - they can get a copy of the policy.

You should never make important decisions when you are feeling bad. Resigning in your circumstances means you let them off the hook. Can you tell me what the doctor has written on your fit note, and how long you have been off sick. Were you sick before this (bot necessarily off sick) but feeling pretty bad. It would help me to advise you if I know.

love_lifer

Hi Sangie my sicknote says work related stress. I was advised to go off sick a few months before but tried upping my anti depressants dose to avoid it.
I've been off sick for 7 weeks, current sicknote ends 8th September

And you're absolutely right, I was in no fit state to make life changing decisions, probably still not, so I need this time to recover

sangie595

love_lifer wrote: »

Hi Sangie my sicknote says work related stress. I was advised to go off sick a few months before but tried upping my anti depressants dose to avoid it.
I've been off sick for 7 weeks, current sicknote ends 8th September

And you're absolutely right, I was in no fit state to make life changing decisions, probably still not, so I need this time to recover

Hi again. So, you have had 7 weeks off sick. Assuming no previous periods, you have over 10 months of sick leave left. Don't think twice about taking it all if it is needed - you have worked 25 years for that entitlement, and the employer will not move to dismiss without honouring your contract (mainly because there is case law to say they can't!). Have they started or mentioned managing attendance processes yet?

Your only job right now is to get better. Another job is useless if you don't. Get yourself out in the sunshine before it's gone. Take a holiday if you can - you should ask your GP to confirm it will be good for you, and notify the employer just as you normally would of any intention to take holiday. Most local authorities still count it as sick leave, not holiday, but check to be sure. Reinvent an old hobby, start a new one; take up colouring books - they really pass the time. Just do not sit around and let yourself mope about how bad things are. That won't help you and won't change anything.

Some more questions I am afraid - sorry, but I am a senior trade union official for local authorities, so my mind works from one thing to another, and tends to stick to the situation instead of remembering to say "nice things". Occupational hazard! You have mentioned upping meds - does that mean you have suffered depression or anxiety related issues before? Since when? Does the employer know, as in, have you spoken to your manager about mental health issues previously? How long ago?

I am assuming that you work on the front line of child protection - so a social worker or similar? And can you broadly explain - why now? This kind of work requires extraordinary resilience from people. What has changed that has pushed from you coping with it to not coping with it. You mentioned that your manager says "it won't change" for 12 - 18 months - what is the change that is needed? Why can't it change faster?

And one final question - you will be in a team of XX (how many?) - how many of them are currently off sick, suffering from anxiety related problems, or have been off sick recently? Are you all picking up workloads for sick colleagues?

And sorry to everyone for kidnapping the benefits board!

love_lifer

Hi Sangie

Ah, that's useful as you obviously know your stuff

Ive had 3 short periods on medication in the last 13 years. Im on my 5th manager so Ive discussed it before and talked about stress and support but it has been not forthcoming. Or recorded. Im no longer frontline, am in management. The sickness problem is across the service, some in my section but not at my level in my workplace at the moment. Immense amounts of stress though and Ive been under a little more than the other managers for a number of reasons.

The changes are root and branch. The authority is in crisis and run by agency managers, no new structure or plans in place as yet though they should be soon but clearly it'll take time to pull round.

I am looking after myself, thank you for your concern. Partly this is a final straw situation- it really is grim at work but I have had enough of the sector, it is getting worse and I dont feel I make a difference or do anything useful, reasons i first went into the profession. It's extremely helpful getting this out in the open- I have felt under pressure to find something else but I can see standing still for a while may be more useful. Friends and family are supportive thankfully but not knowledgable.

Thanks again

densol_2

I have some links that I will post shortly

sangie595

Unfortunately local authorities do not have such a scheme. The only similar scheme is tied to the pension, and enables the drawing of full pension if someone is unable to work. However, they are strict on the "unable to work" - that means unable to work at anything. So few people qualify.

OK. For what it is worth, you are covered by the Equality Act. Mental health problems don't go away. As you have discovered, they just come back. So your depression is covered because you have had it longer than a year already and it is expected to continue ( that is, it will not be cured, and the best you can hope for is that it "settles"). You should make your manager and occupational health (and the union) aware of this.

I think you are right - you can afford to stand still for a bit, and let others do the running. You just need to stir the pot occasionally, always in writing. And call your union reps to account if they are not giving you proper support. Some are better than others, although, to be fair, from what you describe here they are probably pulled in thousands of directions.

At the same time, you have a lot of time to look for another job- nothing stops you applying whilst off sick. And redeployment is still an option.

If you think about it, things could be a lot worse, so grab what you have going for you and make it work for you. The mistake people make in your situation is not using the breathing space they have. They sit on the sick, worrying about the futur, and doing nothing about it!

One suggestion may be to look at adult safeguarding? It uses the same toolkit that you have, but tends to be less stressful. With children toy gave the continual ' damned if you do and damned if you don't' about every decision you make. With adults you can make a huge difference in quality of life for people, and I won't pretend it's easy, but you find that adults isn't a boiling pot of risk in the same way that your job is. Otherwise, look at what your management skills may otherwise suit you for. If you can stay in the public sector you will be better off because chucking in your pension now makes it a big hit to take.