DH about to get the sack, I’m so worried. Can anyone reassure me that we’ll be ok please?

[Ocre729]

I can’t go into details but it’s looking very likely that he’ll get the sack next week. I feel sick to my stomach. I don’t think we’ll be entitled to anything! I earn £1300 a month for 23hrs work, our mortgage payments are £500 a month and we have one DC who’s 12.

We have £4k in savings which I think we could make last for 4 months if we watched every penny. I’ve been going through our outgoings and we’re already very frugal. The only saving I think we can make is our phones.

I just feel horrible. We’re a really hard working family, never claimed benefit before (apart from our £80 a month child benefit).

Has anyone been through this and it worked out ok?

Have you looked at the MSE website? The forums are full of information and there is a SOA (statement of accounts) you can fill in and post which people can then pick over. Example - arrange to pay your council tax over 12 months instead of 10 so it's less per month.

I’m so sorry you’re going through this op.
I haven’t any constructive advice to give you but hope it helps to know others are wishing you the best

@Ocre729 Sorry but I don’t think he’ll get JSA if he’s been sacked.I think his best bet is it get any job he can to minimise impact on your savings, whilst still looking fir a better one.

Can he resign? Might that be better? What has he been told?

You will get UC £381 a month.

Length of employment
Any previous sanctions
What does disciplinary procedure define as gross misconduct?
Is he suspended
Are there any protected characteristics
Previous performance record/appraisal

If he's cruising towards dismissal how about an apology, I'd like to minimise grief time for the org - can we please agree a mutually agreed exit what I get a reference and some notice and you save mgt time and we close off risk to each party.

Even if he resigns that will impact on his JSA entitlement. And if approached for references the company may still reveal he was under disciplinary process. OP my advice is to throw all your efforts into jobsearch. Focus on the future and not the relationship with the employer which is obviously broken either way.

Have they said he will be sacked? If he has been there for 20 years and been a good member of staff, they might give him a stern disciplinary. Is what he’s done gross misconduct and sackable on the spot? How long ago did it happen and how long ago did they find out? Did he admit it or did someone else find it? Sorry for so many questions, just trying to get a better understanding of the situation

@Penniless121

How can you say you’re a hard working family when you only work 23 hours a week 😂 I earn less than you and work 38 hours as a carer, and most weeks I am mentally and physically exhausted. Get some perspective please

Have you missed the bit where OP says she has a medical condition meaning she can’t work longer hours? Or did you see it and decide to be a twat anyway?

We've had a few bumps over the years. My husband has been laid off with no notice/no redundancy/no owed wages/Holiday time owed three times now. Each time the company has gone into administration/folded over night and he's gone into work as normal, only to be sent home immediately. The last time this happened was just before we went into lockdown. On top of this, three years ago, when I had a young baby and small child, he developed Sepsis and ended up in a coma on life support for weeks. He was then off work for 6 months and was still only working part time when he lost his job recently. He was offered a new job two weeks before lockdown, but then they kept stalling and stalling, leaving the possibility that he would be out of work yet again for months. Yet, two more months ago, the company that had initially offered him a job, decided to take him on. I don't work due to having been made redundant after my first DC was born and had been off ever since being a sahm. I also suffer from anxiety/insomnia and bouts of fatigue, which has knocked my confidence. When my husband was on life support, I lay there night after night worrying about mortgage breaks, bills, selling the house, moving in with my mum etc. Each time we somehow got lucky. Obviously the biggest stroke of luck was my husband surviving relatively unscathed. His organs had started to fail, his kidneys shut down and he was on dialysis, his lungs collapsed, his chances of survival were not great. We didn't know whether his kidneys would recover/whether he would lose limbs. He had to relearn how to sit up, swallow, feed himself, walk again and still suffers from fatigue. I think that I've now learnt to roll with the punches. I find that it helps to focus on the basics. I remind myself what it is like to get caught out in the rain, to get cold and wet; to be hungry (not that I've ever experienced real hunger). I try to imagine being on a survival show with no roof over my head, no comfortable bed, no food, feeling unsafe or in danger. Then i remind myself how lucky I am; how all of my basic needs are being met, how i'm unlikely to starve,how it would be ok if we had to downsize etc. I've also been massively fortunate because my mother has been in a position to help us out if needed. Sorry for the long rambling post. I appreciate that times right now are very uncertain. However, he will most probably find another job within a few weeks/months. And you will still somehow manage, even if it takes a little longer. Whenever my husband has been laid off I also think about all the consultants I know who live from contract to contract. Yet they still survive. Good luck. It is daunting, but the most stressful part is the uncertainty. Once he starts looking for work you will feel more in control again.

Oi! ocre729, cast yer mincers over this site !!!

www.acas.org.uk/

@Penniless121

How can you say you’re a hard working family when you only work 23 hours a week 😂 I earn less than you and work 38 hours as a carer, and most weeks I am mentally and physically exhausted. Get some perspective please

Honestly what kind of response is that ? Both of them are working up until now !

Perhaps he will get his wrist slapped and receive a formal warning. Visit the Turn2Us website and input your info to see how much you could receive if things turn out the way you think they might.

@Arthersleep

We've had a few bumps over the years. My husband has been laid off with no notice/no redundancy/no owed wages/Holiday time owed three times now. Each time the company has gone into administration/folded over night and he's gone into work as normal, only to be sent home immediately. The last time this happened was just before we went into lockdown. On top of this, three years ago, when I had a young baby and small child, he developed Sepsis and ended up in a coma on life support for weeks. He was then off work for 6 months and was still only working part time when he lost his job recently. He was offered a new job two weeks before lockdown, but then they kept stalling and stalling, leaving the possibility that he would be out of work yet again for months. Yet, two more months ago, the company that had initially offered him a job, decided to take him on. I don't work due to having been made redundant after my first DC was born and had been off ever since being a sahm. I also suffer from anxiety/insomnia and bouts of fatigue, which has knocked my confidence. When my husband was on life support, I lay there night after night worrying about mortgage breaks, bills, selling the house, moving in with my mum etc. Each time we somehow got lucky. Obviously the biggest stroke of luck was my husband surviving relatively unscathed. His organs had started to fail, his kidneys shut down and he was on dialysis, his lungs collapsed, his chances of survival were not great. We didn't know whether his kidneys would recover/whether he would lose limbs. He had to relearn how to sit up, swallow, feed himself, walk again and still suffers from fatigue. I think that I've now learnt to roll with the punches. I find that it helps to focus on the basics. I remind myself what it is like to get caught out in the rain, to get cold and wet; to be hungry (not that I've ever experienced real hunger). I try to imagine being on a survival show with no roof over my head, no comfortable bed, no food, feeling unsafe or in danger. Then i remind myself how lucky I am; how all of my basic needs are being met, how i'm unlikely to starve,how it would be ok if we had to downsize etc. I've also been massively fortunate because my mother has been in a position to help us out if needed. Sorry for the long rambling post. I appreciate that times right now are very uncertain. However, he will most probably find another job within a few weeks/months. And you will still somehow manage, even if it takes a little longer. Whenever my husband has been laid off I also think about all the consultants I know who live from contract to contract. Yet they still survive. Good luck. It is daunting, but the most stressful part is the uncertainty. Once he starts looking for work you will feel more in control again.

What a lovely post, sorry you've had so much bad luck and glad your husband recovered. We are lucky in this country to have a great safety net, knowing our basic needs will be met and it's horrible having money worries, it just grinds you down. Hope things improve for your family soon.

Of course you will be entitled to unemployment benefit, why not? You're not self employed.

apply for universal credit, you wont get help with mortgage but will have a higher work allowance, you can also apply for the work capability with them, you need to disclose health condition and hand in sick notes to them and they will send you a form. its not what condition you have its how it affects you- same as PIP. you may as well apply for both. the worst is they will turn you down for pip and work capability but you can always do a mandatory reconsideration.

meal plan as well and see if you can cut back on bills such as sky, phones etc, change suppliers for gas/electric etc also.

as already suggested speak to ACAS

hope things work out for you

Your partners need to claim new style JSA based on his contribution record. You need to both claim UC.

You’d get about 450 per month across both benefits.

Sorry missed the bit about sickness. In which case it’s new style ESA.

@imamum21

apply for universal credit, you wont get help with mortgage but will have a higher work allowance, you can also apply for the work capability with them, you need to disclose health condition and hand in sick notes to them and they will send you a form. its not what condition you have its how it affects you- same as PIP. you may as well apply for both. the worst is they will turn you down for pip and work capability but you can always do a mandatory reconsideration.

meal plan as well and see if you can cut back on bills such as sky, phones etc, change suppliers for gas/electric etc also.

as already suggested speak to ACAS

hope things work out for you

Op wouldn't be able to apply for the work capability process because she earns more than 16 x nmw per week and isn't in receipt of PIP ??

Arthersleep what a post

@CornishTiger

Sorry missed the bit about sickness. In which case it’s new style ESA.

It's op that is sick and she is still working.

@CornishTiger

Your partners need to claim new style JSA based on his contribution record. You need to both claim UC.

You’d get about 450 per month across both benefits.

new style Jsa is deducted pound for pound from Universal credit.

@jessstan2 Have you even read the OPs circumstances.? There’s no such thing as unemployment benefit and certainly not just because you are unemployed. How much you’ve paid in NI, other family income and reasons you are unemployed all have a bearing on what you can receive

I am sorry you are going through this but there is some good advice on here. You sound lovely and very practical. I hope your Dh finds new work soon. On the plus side I think I would rather be looking for work now than in a few months’ time. I hope it works out for you