Dismissal of employment on Capability I’ll health

Charjay1989

Advise needed!! Sorry long post 

My partner has been signed off work since June 21, he woke up one morning and with in a few hours couldn’t stand or move. His been employed by this company for over 5 years. His job is all repetitive manual work, lifting,bending,pushing heavy cages ect 

He was diagnosed with Left foraminal L5/S1 disc prolapse with general degenerative changes at L4/L5. 

His has had countless meetings with work though out this 16 month period, including 2 Occupational Health assessments which have stated his unfit to work and they can’t give a Prognosis of if he will be able to return due to the type of work his employed to do. 

His been doing physio for the last 14th months (physio kept being changed due to pain increasing and causing static nerve compression) and intensive classes (made condition worst). 

He can now walk about 100 meters but needs to stop and start with pain killers. 

Last meeting he attended at work 3days ago to go over latest OH report they had HR in the meeting and have now said they want to do Capability hearing with grounds to ending employment. 

They are doing this over the phone next week due to 
•It was evident today that you are in a constant pain. It is difficult for you to walk or sit for more than 10 minutes. Quote from their report on last meeting. 

• OH report could not provide us with any reasonable adjustments that could potentially help you to return to work.

We are on universal credit and waiting on assessment for limited capability for work. They lost first form so had to send new form off!  

Will him being let go effect our benefits? 

I work full time and we have four children so really can’t deal with our benefits stopping. 

I am so stressed and exhausted that it’s starting to effect my mental health. 

Any advise would be amazing. 

janer1967

Hi and welcome to the community 

It won't affect your uc as I presume he is no longer getting paid from work 
The only thing is if he gets any payment from work as a result of being dismissed on health grounds or payment of accrued holiday pay 

If he does it could affect uc payment for the assessment period he receives any pay 

Charjay1989

janer1967 said:

Hi and welcome to the community 

It won't affect your uc as I presume he is no longer getting paid from work 
The only thing is if he gets any payment from work as a result of being dismissed on health grounds or payment of accrued holiday pay 

If he does it could affect uc payment for the assessment period he receives any pay 

Thank you janer1967 

His ssp ended in December 21 so his not received  any pay since then. 

He has 240 holiday hours not used. 

Just received email from his manager at work! This is part of it so not looking good!! 

• I must make you aware that if you are unable to return to your role and we are unable to identify any reasonable adjustments or alternative roles that may be suitable, one possible outcome of this meeting may be your dismissal with notice on the grounds of capability through continued ill-health.

UC have stated that he will have to look for a new job if his contact is terminated. 

His also dyslexic and can’t write properly so it will be down to me to fill in new job applications.

sorry for the venting 

janer1967

No problem vent away 

His employers are following all required process and unfortunately it seems dismissal is the only option now 

Yes he will be classed as a job seeker until a decision is made on his work capability assessment 

His work coach can turn off his work commitments till a decision is made but it is at their discretion 

It seems he will have a large payout with his holiday and notice pay so this could affect his uc but I'm no expert on this I will ask another member to help with this bit @poppy123456 sorry to tag you but could you help with this 

poppy123456

No problem @janer. Final pay and holiday pay will affect your UC because it's classed as earnings in the assessment period in which it's received.

Redunancy payments are not classed as earnings, they are classed as savings/capital and the savings rule will apply. This means if it takes your savings to more than £6,000 there's £4.35/week deduction for every £250 or part there of over that amount. For savings of more than £16,000 then entitlement to means tested benefits ends.

Please also note that paying off any debt is not classed as deprivation of capital and won't affect your UC, although you do need to report any redundancy you have.

bluefox

What would happen if you had a payout on ESA earnings?

poppy123456

bluefox said:

What would happen if you had a payout on ESA earnings?

They don't affect your ESA because you are not currently working. However, as you're also claiming UC as well then this will apply.

poppy123456 said:

No problem @janer. Final pay and holiday pay will affect your UC because it's classed as earnings in the assessment period in which it's received.

Redunancy payments are not classed as earnings, they are classed as savings/capital and the savings rule will apply. This means if it takes your savings to more than £6,000 there's £4.35/week deduction for every £250 or part there of over that amount. For savings of more than £16,000 then entitlement to means tested benefits ends.

Please also note that paying off any debt is not classed as deprivation of capital and won't affect your UC, although you do need to report any redundancy you have.

Charjay1989

poppy123456 said:

No problem @janer. Final pay and holiday pay will affect your UC because it's classed as earnings in the assessment period in which it's received.

Redunancy payments are not classed as earnings, they are classed as savings/capital and the savings rule will apply. This means if it takes your savings to more than £6,000 there's £4.35/week deduction for every £250 or part there of over that amount. For savings of more than £16,000 then entitlement to means tested benefits ends.

Please also note that paying off any debt is not classed as deprivation of capital and won't affect your UC, although you do need to report any redundancy you have.

Thank you 😊 

It will be pay his owed for holidays and notice pay if his entitled, not redundancy. 

Good to know it will effect our UC so we can try save as much as possible to cover that period. And any period after as he will struggle to keep up with looking for work commitments and we will probably be sanctioned. 

Thank you all for the advise 

janer1967

It will only affect the uc for the assessment period he gets the pay from work 

Also he will get the pay from work to cover any loss of uc 

poppy123456

janer1967 said:

It will only affect the uc for the assessment period he gets the pay from work 

That will depend on how much they receive from their employer. Surplus earnings may apply, if they do then other payments may also be affected. Surplus earnings rules are complicated. More information here. https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/universal_credit_surplus_earnings

janer1967

Thanks for that @poppy123456 learn something new every day 

poppy123456

janer1967 said:

Thanks for that @poppy123456 learn something new every day 

You're welcome. Yes, that's very true.

Charjay1989

Thank you both for the advice. 

He got dismissed on grounds of Incapability effective immediately. Will contact UC tomorrow to see how it’s going to effect us. 

janer1967

Hi again 

Contacting uc isn't the best as they are not benefit advisors they administer benefits 

Of course you need to inform uc of the change but you can't go wrong with advice from poppy or welfare rights

poppy123456

I agree with Janer, contacting UC is not the best idea. If he’s not been working since last year then UC Will obviously know this. He can report his employment ending, which won’t affect his UC. He should do this by reporting a change of circumstances. 

When he receives his last pay then his employer should report the earnings to HMRC and UC will check the RTI so they will know he will have received some earnings.
His UC will be affected as previously advised. Whether future payments will be affected will depend on how much he receives and your maximum UC entitlement.