I find it difficult to work full time and worrying

jacintawhite

I  am a 54 year old lady. I  work full time  with children.  I  have a lot of health issues which I  have coped well with but a couple of months ago I was diagnosed with fibromyalga.  I  find it really difficult to work full time and worry about what would happen if I cannot work any more.

iza

Hi Jacintawhite, Is sad to here you medical state is worsening. I think you could talk to employer to reduce your hours (do not forget the letter from dr. confirming the recommendation to reduce hours). In terms of benefit please repost to one of advisers here as they will more accurate on those subject. As we all know the government is no appreciated and recognising peoples medical problem and even the one with sever disadvantages were forced to go back to work. Not saying that instead seeing increasing trends of employment we see the opposite in UK - decreasing the number of workplaces. I hope I helped a but. Enjoy the weekend as much as you can. 

jacintawhite

iza said:

Hi Jacintawhite, Is sad to here you medical state is worsening. I think you could talk to employer to reduce your hours (do not forget the letter from dr. confirming the recommendation to reduce hours). In terms of benefit please repost to one of advisers here as they will more accurate on those subject. As we all know the government is no appreciated and recognising peoples medical problem and even the one with sever disadvantages were forced to go back to work. Not saying that instead seeing increasing trends of employment we see the opposite in UK - decreasing the number of workplaces. I hope I helped a but. Enjoy the weekend as much as you can. 

jacintawhite

Thank you  Iza for your reply. I  don't know how to  forward to an adviser.  I  will see about reducing my hours at work .It's the fatigue that gets me most and can't do anything to sleep any better. Hope you are well.
Regards Jacinta. 

iza

Hi Please follow the link https://community.scope.org.uk/categories. 

When you scroll dawn at the end of page  is the advisers section. 
Perhaps, you will find someone who is professional adviser on asked question. 
Good Luck. 

Sam_Alumni

Hi @jacintawhite I have moved your post to the Ask a benefits advisor page, can you give a bit more detail so they can help you?

BenefitsTrainingCo

Hello Jacintawhite

We may need some more information before we can give more definite advice, but we can hopefully  start putting your mind at ease with some general advice.

If your health is such that you are unable to work, you may be eligible to claim Employment and Support Allowance.  To claim this benefit you will need a fit note (formerly called a sick note) from your GP to say that you are unable to work.  Income and savings may effect entitlement to this benefit. 

If you reduce your hours of work, you may still be eligible to claim Working Tax Credit. (WTC)  Depending on your circumstances you may still qualify for WTC even if your hours of work reduce to 16 hours a week.

Then there is a benefit called Personal Independence payments (PIP).  This benefit recognises the extra costs incurred when someone has ill health.  This benefit is not related to the work place, and is mainly about help a person needs with personal care such as dressing, cooking, washing, budgeting and interacting with others. It also recognises if people have problems with mobility outside of their home.  Do you have any such problems? This benefit can also be claimed regardless of what your income is.  It is just about what difficulties you have.  This also means you can claim this benefit in or out of work.

Do you have a partner that you live with, and if so, do they work? and how many hours a week do they work?  I ask this as a partner’s income and working hours may effect benefit entitlement.

Finally, do you rent your home, or do you have a mortgage?

I hope this information helps, and please post back with more information.

Maria