unable to claim for my self isolation to help my daughter with cancer even though MSE says i can.

bigmatt68

last week I put myself into self isolation, this was to protect my teenage daughter who has cancer and is currently having chemotherapy. this means she basically has no immune system and is very susceptible to catch anything going and as I work in retail, dealing with customers and handling cash, I couldn't take the chance of passing on the coronavirus.

I have sent in a SSP to cover me to receive sick pay at £94 a week but read on the MSE website that I should be able to receive furlough due to my daughters illness/self isolation (or maybe I read it wrong). I have got in touch with my employers but they refuse to do this as it is not on the official gov.com website.

any suggestions or help would be appreciated.

robbiez

You cannot be furloughed because you need to self isolate for 7-14 days. You would only be able to get SSP.
MSE/Martin Lewis is providing false hope based on his strong expectation the government will allow employees to be furloughed if they need to self isolate for 3 months of if they need to look after children. Thus far, this is simply not the case.
The government has suggested businesses can consider furloughing employees where possible, including those who need to look after children. I understand this to mean, if a business needs to furlough employees(as opposed to making them redundant), they should consider which employees needs are greater. You could take this government information and ask if they will furlough you for 3 months so you can look after your daughter - see https://www.businesssupport.gov.uk/business-closures-and-stay-at-home-faqs/<br>(about 3/4 down the page)
The government also provided further clarity recently and confirmed the minimum term an employee can be furloughed is 3 weeks. This means anyone self isolating for 7-14 days cannot be furloughed and then return to work. They must be on SSP. 

Very sorry to hear about your daughter and I pray she will recover.

bigmatt68

Due to my daughters vulnerable state of health, my doctor has advised me to take the next 12 weeks off and says she will sign me off if the government don't do anything to help me, there must be plenty of others that are in the same position. 

looks like I will just have to bite the bullet and rack up debts on the credit cards for now. My daughters health is more important than money.

robbiez said:

You cannot be furloughed because you need to self isolate for 7-14 days. You would only be able to get SSP.
MSE/Martin Lewis is providing false hope based on his strong expectation the government will allow employees to be furloughed if they need to self isolate for 3 months of if they need to look after children. Thus far, this is simply not the case.
The government has suggested businesses can consider furloughing employees where possible, including those who need to look after children. I understand this to mean, if a business needs to furlough employees(as opposed to making them redundant), they should consider which employees needs are greater. You could take this government information and ask if they will furlough you for 3 months so you can look after your daughter - see https://www.businesssupport.gov.uk/business-closures-and-stay-at-home-faqs/<br>(about 3/4 down the page)
The government also provided further clarity recently and confirmed the minimum term an employee can be furloughed is 3 weeks. This means anyone self isolating for 7-14 days cannot be furloughed and then return to work. They must be on SSP. 

Very sorry to hear about your daughter and I pray she will recover.

gary83

Matt, what area of retail do you work in?

bigmatt68

I work in a local convenience store, probably serving 500-800 customers in a shift.

gary83

So it’s selling food, an essential retailer that won’t shut. I’m expecting they’re probably fairly busy at the moment and wouldn’t have been making anyone redundant due to a lack of work for you to do as a result of the virus. 

Unfortunately for you, that’s what the furlough system is intended for, you’d could have been furloughed if you worked in a clothes store or somewhere that had to shut & the company could have applied to the government to pay you 80% of your wages, however, because you work in the food sector this won’t be possible.

Keep your daughter safe, maybe ask on the benefits boards about what else you could look into, perhaps Universal credit.

bigmatt68

thanks Gary, 
I have applied for universal credit but it will be April 23rd before they make a decision to whether I am entitled or not.
not to worry, I didn't think I could claim but reading MSE made me think I could.

robbiez

The job retention scheme should(and probably will) only be available to businesses whose turnover has taken a substantial hit due to covid-19. Businesses which have not seen any significant decline in turnover(mine included) should not be able to furlough workers. 
That doesn't mean it is fair on bigmatt68.

Mrsn

I’m so sorry for the situation you find yourself in, unfortunately furlough as confirmed by the other answers won’t be an opinion.

Your best bet would be to get signed off by the GP as advised and then you have at least something coming in. 23rd of April for a decision for UC? Or is that when your first assessment period will end...

bigmatt68

UC said it would let us know by the 23rd April and any payments would start on the 27th April.
Just going to have to grin and bare it by the looks of it.

HornetSaver

@bigmatt68 - it's a gut-wrenching situation and you have my deepest sympathy.

But just wondering, does your daughter have sufficient care at home if you weren't there? Is it possible for you to live somewhere else during this time (this explicitly would not be going back and forth, but picking somewhere new, making a single journey there with the stuff you are able to take in one journey, and sticking with it until the danger has passed, which could prove to be a long time). It would be a hard sell to whoever you'd be approaching given that you are going to be interacting with hundreds of people a day in your job and then living with them, and also emotionally would be very hard to be distancing yourself from your daughter, but am just mentioning it for completeness.