Partner Unable to work, Need help please!

[geministar2007]

Hello,

 

Firstly i do not know if i am posting in the right area? Please move if in the wrong area.

 

My partner has discovered he is unable to work, for how long is uncertain.

 

He is currently claiming SSP from his employer. Has been for about a month now.

 

Firstly how long can he claim this, before his place of work becomes annoyed with his absence? He had hoped to return very soon.

 

What benefit if any can he then claim if his SSP comes to an end?

 

A bit more info.....

 

We currently rent our home, i work and receive working tax credits, which brings me onto another point. How long can my partner receive working tax with me if he is off sick?

 

I work 30 hours a week and bring home around £160. We have no children and currently claim no other help.

 

What help is available?

 

Our household has around £290 a week coming in, £1252 a month. Our rent is £433 a month, council tax £94, which we are behind with, due to clear arrears next month.

 

Can i claim working tax along, although living with a partner?

 

Very worried as my job is seasonal and will end in September.

 

Look forward to hearing some advice.

[surprise]

Personally I would telephone your local Welfare Rights Office, their number is on your local council's website. they will ensure you are obtaining all the benefits you are entitled to.

 

With regard to his employement, I suspect this would depend on how long he has been employed there and how reasonable they are and his previous attendance record.

[geministar2007]

ok thanks, he has been there 5 months before beginning absent.

[geministar2007]

i believe SSP is paid for 28 weeks, on week 22 the employer issues a form in order for the employee to claim incapacity benefit from week 29. From what i have read and heard today, that is across the board you cannot be sacked in the 28 week window.

[surprise]

There isn't much anyone can advise at this stage regarding his employment as it all depends upon the company he works for. Its really a case of you hope they do things by the book.

[ErikaPNP]

Contrary to popular belief he CAN have employment terminated whilst signed off sick. If someone is too ill to perform their work they can have their employment terminated on grounds of capability. As he has been employed there less than 12 months they can terminate his employment at any time and does not have the right to take them to an employment tribunal unless the grounds of termination were discriminatory, for example he was terminated due to his age/sex/race or disability and someone else who was not his age/sex/race or had his disability would be treated more favourably in the same situation.

 

In addition a sick note is only advisory; an employer can refuse to accept it and insist a person attends work.

 

Incapacity benefit no longer exists for new claimants. It would be employement and support allowance he would need to claim once the statutory sick period expires.

 

You can make a claim for working tax credit whether you live with a partner or not but you must be aged over 25 and both must be working more than 16 hours per week.

[Zamzara]

You can make a claim for working tax credit whether you live with a partner or not but you must be aged over 25 and both must be working more than 16 hours per week.

 

I agree with the rest of your post, but this part isn't quite right.

 

To get WTC either partner (or both) must be aged 25 or over and working at least 30 hours per week (and their hours cannot be added together).

 

If a claimant has children or a long term disability, he/she need only work 16 hours, and be aged 16 or over.

[ErikaPNP]

Oh sugar lumps! I mixed it up with the childcare element of WTC....that's 16 hours per week for a single person and for a couple both have to work over 16 hours per week.

 

For WTC alone, Zamzara hit the nail on the head

[geministar2007]

any ideas what happens with something like Emphysema? This is what he has been diagnosed with. Told he cant do physical work. Is this classed as long term disability?

[installspark]

My partner has discovered he is unable to work, for how long is uncertain.

 

He is currently claiming SSP from his employer. Has been for about a month now.

 

Firstly how long can he claim this, before his place of work becomes annoyed with his absence? He had hoped to return very soon.

 

What benefit if any can he then claim if his SSP comes to an end?

 

A bit more info.....

 

We currently rent our home, i work and receive working tax credits, which brings me onto another point. How long can my partner receive working tax with me if he is off sick?

 

I work 30 hours a week and bring home around £160. We have no children and currently claim no other help.

 

What help is available?

 

Our household has around £290 a week coming in, £1252 a month. Our rent is £433 a month, council tax £94, which we are behind with, due to clear arrears next month.

 

....any ideas what happens with something like Emphysema? This is what he has been diagnosed with. Told he cant do physical work. Is this classed as long term disability?

 

To deal with the last part first.

Definition of 'disability' under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)

 

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) defines a disabled person as someone who has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

 

The definition

 

For the purposes of the Act:

 

• substantial means neither minor nor trivial
  
• long term means that the effect of the impairment has lasted or is likely to last for at least 12 months (there are special rules covering recurring or fluctuating conditions)
  
• normal day-to-day activities include everyday things like eating, washing, walking and going shopping
  
• a normal day-to-day activity must affect one of the 'capacities' listed in the Act which include mobility, manual dexterity, speech, hearing, seeing and memory
  

 

 

Some conditions, such as a tendency to set fires and hay fever, are specifically excluded.

People who have had a disability in the past that meets this definition are also covered by the scope of the Act. There are additional provisions relating to people with progressive conditions.

The DDA 2005 amended the definition of disability. It ensured that people with HIV, cancer and multiple sclerosis are deemed to be covered by the DDA effectively from the point of diagnosis, rather than from the point when the condition has some adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

 

 

In terms of SSP and benefits.

 

 

SSP is payable for 28 weeks only, when SSP comes to an end your husband's employer will send a SSP1 form stating the reasons why they cannot pay SSP. At this point your husband can claim ESA (Employment and Support Allowance).

 

 

 

IB (Incapacity benefit) is no longer available to new claimants unless they satisfy the 104 week linking rules; these are that a previous claim for IB had been in payment in the 104 weeks prior to claiming ESA and that the claimant started work within one month of the IB claim ending.

 

 

 

There are two types of ESA, ESA(Cont) and ESA(IR).

 

 

 

ESA(Cont) will be based upon your husbands NI contributions in the previous 3 tax years prior to the benefit year. This is known as the FCC (First Contribution Condition) and SCC (Second Contribution Condition); both the FCC and SCC have to be satisfied in order to get ESA(Cont).

 

 

ESA(IR) is income related and not dependant upon NI contributions. However, a partner of an ESA claimant cannot work more than 24 hours per week, and the income from work will be deducted (net of tax and NI) from the ESA(IR) payable. Given your current circumstances your husband will be disallowed ESA(IR).

 

 

ESA(Cont) and (IR) are paid at two separate phases, the assessment phanse and main phase. The assessment phase is payable for the first 13 weeks of the claim, the main phase is payable from day 92 of the claim subject to a satisfactory WCA (Work Capability Assessment); you will also be paid a component in the main phase, the amount of which is dependant upon which group you are placed into - Work or Support.

 

 

A WCA is usually carried out by week 8 of an ESA claim, and the WCA focuses on what work a person is capable of doing rather than how ill a claimant is.

 

 

 

You can claim HB (Housing Benefit) and CTB (Council Tax Benefit) now as this is also an "in work" benefit. The amount of HB/CTB you willl get will depend upon the amount of excess income to the applicable amount, the LHA (Local Housing Allowance) and how much your Council Tax is. The applicable amount, given your circumstances, is £100.95. For excess income above the applicable amount there is a taper of 65% for HB and 20% CTB, so you may well find that you get awarded HB but not CTB (or very little). All income and capital is taken into account for HB/CTB purposes unless you are receiving an income related benefit.

 

 

 

[surprise]

You should contact your Welfare Rights Officer, number can be found on your Local Authority's Website, with regard to completing a DLA Form. These are always very tricky to complete and often depend on how you describe the day to day effects of the illness. Often DLA is refused on first application but you can appeal.

 

Just as example on how difficult it can be claiming, my daughter had a breakdown in 1996, she was actually refused DLA on two occasions, a CPN was appointed to her in 1997 who couldn't understand why she wasn't receiving DLA. She filled in the form and she got awarded lower rate care. Last year I was talking to someone who had exactly the same illness as my daughter who was receiving middle rate care and mobility. I approached our local Welfare Rights Officer who came and visited her in December and my daughter has now been awarded middle rate care and lower rate mobility and this has been back dated six months.

 

Dealing with DLA is very frustrating so all the help you can get to complete the form is the way forward.