To ask if you can keep you job when you are no longer getting sick pay

[User604]

Only was entitled to Statutory sick pay. This is now comeing to an end. Will I have to give my notice in and claim benefits?

How long have you been off for? Are you likely to be able to return soon?

I've been off six months. My doctor thinks I may need another month or two.

If you’ve been signed off by the doctor then you don’t have to hand your notice in but your employer might not be happy about you having another two months off. I guess it depends on the reason etc. My husband worked with someone who has serious mental health issues and he was off work for a long time but they kept his job open

I would not recommend handing in your notice unless you have another job lined up or you are under clear pressure to resign. Leave it up to your employer how they want to handle it.

Where I worked, we would work with the employee to get a date for phased return when their sick pay ran out but the pressure would be on for them to be working towards returning otherwise we would terminate their employment.

Would your doctor think it appropriate for you to start a phased return soon?

Have you been working there for more than 2 years?

You don't have to give your employer notice - surely you're maintaining contact with them and formulating a return to work plan etc?

You can claim Benefits when your SSP ends - it would either be UC or new style ESA (or both). In fact you can claim UC before your SSP runs out but it depends on your circumstances (partner, children, housing etc) as to whether you'll get anything as SSP will be treated as wages and deducted from UC.

Thank you for all replies. Will I definitely be able to get esa as I've heard the threshold is quite high? Can I still keep my job and be on esa?