Received letter saying I am at risk and shouldn’t work

TylerDurden36

Today my partner who is a nurse in a private care home received a letter from the government telling her that she has been deemed at higher risk of contracting Coronavirus and should not attend work.  She had an organ removed a few years ago and this is why she is high risk.
The question we have is regarding her options with pay from work. Would she be entitled to the 80% pay scheme the government has set up? Or would she only be able to get Statutory Sick Pay? We would never be able to survive on sick pay so if she can’t get the 80% pay then she will have no choice but to work.
We are quite worried about all this. 

Any help or ideas on the subject would be greatly appriciated. 

Thank you. 

poppy12345

No one is automatically entitled to furlough. It's the employers decision whether they furlough her or not and she will need to speak to them.

calcotti

She ie entitled to SSP. Whether or not she is furloughed is up to her employer but there is doubt about whether an employer who has work available can furlough employees.
Use a benefit calculator to see what you might get if you claimed Universal Credit (which there may be entitlement to in addition to SSP depending on your joint circumstances).

Information here https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/universal-credit/. 
Claim online https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/how-to-claim

There are online calculators to help you assess entitlement  https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators

You will be excluded from claiming UC if you have capital/savings over £16,000.

Be aware that claiming UC will end any Tax Credits, Housing Benefit or other means tested benefits you currently get.

gary83

the letter doesn’t entitle her to furlough, nobody is entitled to it, some are eligible. she should speak to her employer and explain the situation they could give her SSP, they could give her furlough though it’s unlikely she would be made redundant as a result of the company struggling due to Coronavirus, which was the original intent of the scheme. It’s evolved a bit since then however the one thing that hasn’t changed is it’s the employers choice.

calcotti

gary83 said:

... they could give her SSP, ..

As a minimum they must pay SSP. Anyone with a shielding letter is entitled to be treated as sick and to be paid SSP. https://www.cipp.org.uk/resources/news/shielding-entitled-to-ssp.html
(I am assuming she is not able to do any work from home.)

TylerDurden36

Thanks for the replies everyone.