Can I resign from my job and claim universal credit?

Awdio

Hi,
So I am a retail worker and have worked all the way through the pandemic so far. I have been employed for 5 years and really had no choice but to work or take unpaid leave. That for me was unsustainable and I took the risk to continue working through the pandemic.

Now, in the wake of round two of the pandemic. I really don't want to work through another peak as the situation is much worse this time. I am in a tier 4 area and have had 2 periods of isolation since November from close contact via the covid app. I work in a supermarket, not going to name them but their corporate greed really showed during the Christmas period by increasing the amount of customers allowed in the store at one time. Throughout the whole lockdown we permitted 200 customers in at one time, which increased to 440 during Christmas.

Staff raised their concerns, so did union representatives but it was completely ignored and deemed a 'safe' amount. It clearly wasn't safe, aisles were rammed and social distancing was non existent. It's no surprise that 9 of us were notified to self isolate for 10 days shortly after Christmas.

The only PPE we get is a cloth face mask and hand sanitizer. That's completely useless because people are ignoring the rules. If a customer refuses to wear a face mask, we are not allowed to challenge it in case of "discriminating" people with hidden disabilities. I get that people have hidden disabilities and the vast majority of these people wear a sunflower lanyard or have an exempt card often show it upon entering.

Awdio

Continued from original post as ran out of space.

A lot of people who refuse to wear face masks are often young and don't wear them because they don't care. We also get abuse regularly and having 5 years under my belt, in that period before the pandemic experienced 1 occasion of abuse. Since March, nearly every member of staff has been abused once or more.

I no longer want to work. I don't feel it is safe and the stress is becoming worse. I know people will say I'm lucky to have a job but that job is with a serious risk that I no longer feel is worth taking. I want to claim universal credit but I doubt I'll be allowed.

Grumpy_chap

If you simply resign, you will have made yourself intentionally unemployed.

Awdio

Grumpy_chap said:

If you simply resign, you will have made yourself intentionally unemployed.

I know but under the current circumstances I think there's a genuine reason for resignation.

Brynsam

This might make helpful reading: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/leaving-a-job/resigning/deciding-whether-to-resign/

FBaby

I thought that statistics had shown that transmission rate in supermarkets were very low. 
My sun works in a supermarket and has done so since the first peak. Not one employee has had covid. We're in tier 4 too.

Awdio

FBaby said:

I thought that statistics had shown that transmission rate in supermarkets were very low. 
My sun works in a supermarket and has done so since the first peak. Not one employee has had covid. We're in tier 4 too.

Ours has not faired so well. We've had 3 cases, of which 1 required hospital treatment. This was before the release of the app, and the managers at our store covered it up and no staff knew about it until a couple of weeks after and when challenged by the union about this they played the data protection card and said they would review the situation in the case of a positive case next time around.

KatrinaWaves

The thing is benefits are administered by the govt. The govt is hammering the fact that people need to keep working in 'covid safe' environments. Its all been about work.

It is highly unlikely you can resign from work 'due to covid' and claim govt benefits from a govt that is actively doing all it can to keep people at work no matter what.

elsien

Athough it's entirely possible that covid was caught elsewhere and not at work. And people do have a right to confidentiality, so staff may need to be told that there has been a confirmed covid case but not who it is.

If you want to resign that is your decision. But there are also steps you can take for yourself with regards to taking your own mask and changing them frequently, washing/sanitising your hands regularly etc.
And the lanyards/exemption cards are completely meaningless - I could download one tomorrow if I wished although I have no need to. They are not backed by any medical evidence to say the person can't wear a face covering, so challenging people isn't really going to make any difference. 

[Deleted User]

Awdio said:

Grumpy_chap said:

If you simply resign, you will have made yourself intentionally unemployed.

I know but under the current circumstances I think there's a genuine reason for resignation.

If everyone used that basis to resign no one would be left working. 

Mickey666

Awdio said:

Continued from original post as ran out of space.

A lot of people who refuse to wear face masks are often young and don't wear them because they don't care. We also get abuse regularly and having 5 years under my belt, in that period before the pandemic experienced 1 occasion of abuse. Since March, nearly every member of staff has been abused once or more.

I no longer want to work. I don't feel it is safe and the stress is becoming worse. I know people will say I'm lucky to have a job but that job is with a serious risk that I no longer feel is worth taking. I want to claim universal credit but I doubt I'll be allowed.

Do you honestly think that would be fair?
What if everyone did the same thing?

If you don't like your current job why not look for another one with less risk of Covid?  Something outdoors perhaps?