Hi, my name is applecrumble! Can I ask my employer to finish me on ill health grounds? — Scope | Disability forum
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Hi, my name is applecrumble! Can I ask my employer to finish me on ill health grounds?

applecrumble
applecrumble Community member Posts: 4 Listener
edited March 2021 in Work and employment
I have been off work for the last 7 months due to ill health with a long term condition that I will not recover from. My ssp has ended and i am on half occupational sick pay due to end in a couple of months.   However I can’t see me being able to go back to work and I don’t want my employer waiting any longer to see if I’m going back. I don’t have a works pension . 
 I now want my employer to finish me on ill health grounds as I can no longer deal with the stress of being off on long term sick knowing I will never be able to return anyway. Can I ask my employer to finish me on ill health grounds - rather than just waiting for them to finish me. By this I mean I would ask them to say that they are finishing me rather than me asking to finish. I don’t want to just be sitting at home waiting until they tell they have to let me go on health grounds.  I am worried that if I just say i am not returning on health grounds I won’t be entitled to any benfits I might need in the future. 
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Comments

  • janer1967
    janer1967 Community member Posts: 21,964 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi there welcome sorry to hear you feel no longer able to work any more

    Now your ssp has ended you could look into applying for new style esa if you are eligible 

    The best way is to speak to your employer and ask to be referred to oh for a work place assessment they will then recommend what should happen 

    Get a copy of the company policy on medical dismissal and see what the process is 

    Or speak to your employer tell them you cant see yourself returning so what are your options going forward 

    Hope it all works out if you have any other questions just ask 


  • chiarieds
    chiarieds Community member Posts: 16,007 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi @applecrumble - & welcome to the community. Scope has some info that you may find helpful. Please see: https://www.scope.org.uk/advice-and-support/stopping-work-ill-health-retirement/   as well as the great advice given above.
    I would also suggest looking into benefits, as something like Personal Independence Payment (PIP) currently takes several months to get a decision. This is not means tested, nor dependent on any previous employment. There's some advice here: https://www.gov.uk/pip      I would look into that for a start. Please also have a look at the following link which gives a list of the activities/descriptors that are looked at with PIP:
    There's also a benefits checker here, to see what else you may claim such as New Style ESA. Please see: https://benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk
    Hope some of this helps. :)
  • applecrumble
    applecrumble Community member Posts: 4 Listener
    Hi Thanks for the reply. I did have n OH referrral and a telephone conversation with them after the first 5 months. They understood I would not recover from my illness. They did mention that maybe in the future we would need to discuss ill health finishing but no follow up appointment was made with them. I am now in limbo so to speak and despite the earlier conversation with OH I didn’t think,it would be appropriate for me to ring OH myself and say I would like to be finished on health grounds. However I wondered if it would be appropriate to ask my employer ( occ health is contracted  out) to finish me on health grounds. 
  • janer1967
    janer1967 Community member Posts: 21,964 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi again 

    I wouldn't ask the question outright what I would do is asbo said above get the policy first and read it 

    Then say you dint think you would be able to return and would like to discuss your options 

    They need to look at any reasonable adjustments or alternative roles b4 they look look at medical dismissal 

    I'm not saying they would be options but there is usually a process to follow and a medical dismissal should be prompted by them not you . 

  • Ross_Alumni
    Ross_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,652 Disability Gamechanger
    Hello @applecrumble (great username) and welcome to the community :) 

    Glad you've joined us, and I hope you have found the replies so far helpful. I just wanted to let you know that I have moved your discussion to our employment category.
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  • calcotti
    calcotti Community member Posts: 10,010 Disability Gamechanger
    You are at liberty to leave your job yourself if you wish to. You don't need your employer to end it for you. If you have a health condition and this is the reason you have left it does not affect your eligibility to apply for sickness related benefits such as new style ESA or UC.
    Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Rules may be different in other parts of UK.
  • janer1967
    janer1967 Community member Posts: 21,964 Disability Gamechanger
    @Username_removed I agree but the op states they do not have a pension so this wouldn't be a ill health retirement more just leaving on health grounds or medical dismissal 

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