Actual Earnings Threshold and health condition

Hi bit of a complicated one for my friend. She has a term time job and had to reduce her hours a few months ago due to health issues and edging on the side of a break down. Her work reduced her hours under a reasonable adjustment. So now she works 19.5hrs a week. She is just under the AET so is being called in every 4 weeks to try and get above it. However from looking at it she is above the WCA earnings limit for an assessment to consider an AET exemption. She only has to earn £50 a month more to meet the AET but the pressure this is causing is making her health worse. She doesnt get LCW or LCWRA or pip. But cant be referred for a WCA due to her earnings so therefore cant be looked at for an exemption for the AET. What can she do? She has a long history of mental health and had to reduce her hours to cope and keep her job (as she has had a lot of sickness absence). Things are a bit more stable now shes doing one less day a week. But increasing it through pressure is only going to result in how things were before and probably losing her job. She also has a vulnerable teenage child (15) who is currently under CAMHs and with the local authority being involved as her child has missed a lot of school. The school did threaten prison so she has had a lot to contend with caring wise. Her child doesnt get DLA or anything but suffers with severe anxiety and emotional based school avoidance. So she cant apply for the carers element due to not getting DLA. What are the options? Shes a single mum and only gets UC. To also add more complications it will mean she has to pay more council tax to and get less rent help due to being asked to earn and extra £50 a month. Shes already in a lot of debt and has nearly lost her house a few times. Thanks
Comments
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Hi @JP231, that does sound like a complex case. Sorry to hear about all your friend is going through, that sounds like a lot to deal with and I can totally understand why she's stressed out by it all.
As it's quite a complex case, it may be worth speaking to a professional benefits adviser. They'll be better placed to take a look at her benefits and see if there's anything that could be put in place to help her. Turn2Us have an advice finder here to find local support:
I hope she's able to get things into a more manageable place soon.
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She can ask her work coach to adjust her claimant commitment. I supported someone in a similar position who was being put under more pressure to increase her hours but wasn't able to do so because of her health. She wasn't receiving PIP. She asked that her work coach change her claimant commitment reducing the number of hours that she was expected to work on health grounds. She offered to provide medical evidence but in the end wasn't asked to do this and the hours that she was expected to work were reduced. As your friend has both health issues and is acting as a carer I would advise her to ask for the hours that she is expected to work to be reduced.
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