resigning and benefits

[fairy67]

Hi can anyone help me??I have worked for my employer for 11 years but took a grievance in Octoberlast .The grievance is now down to the final stage and my employer will not accept it or even move me to another dept. to help the situation. I will have no choice but to resign in the end. But the jobcentre tell me this means 6 months without ANY benefits i am a single mum in a rented house three months and we would be on the street can anyone help??Has anyone had a similar experience???

you don't have to resign because of a grievance and you should go to tribunal before resigning - but if you are resigning because of conditions that make work impossible - ie. constructive dismissal - it is a breach of contract and if employment tribunal agree you should still get benefit as well as compensation. the ET will make outcome clear to employer re reinstatement/moving you etc.

My union says that its really hard to win a tribunal especially asno one will come forward over the bullying and harrasment as they areafraid too and i cant afford to finance a tribunal myself

Not that I'd suggest this but you could always get fired which I believe doesn't carry the 6 month penalty.

Tribunals aren't that expensive and you are allowed and cannot be punished for bringing forward a grievance that is unsuccessful, so at worst you might have to go back to your job. Your Union needs a kick up the arse as even if you won't win, they should support you - that is what they have signed up to do. If you are in a bullying situation prove the pattern and any measures you have taken to try to resolve. I have won cases where there are no other witnesses - a win not in the sense the employer admitted bullying, but in the sense compensation was offered. You may have to move on, but with a settlement and good reference. Your union should help negotiate this for you, and if they are not doing so, go to regional, then national exec. and remind them of their duties.

As a caveat though, employment tribunals are very helpful and understading to people who represent themselves - your employer might make all sorts of noises about costs, but they will be bullshitting to try to scare you out of progressing - ETs do not award costs and each side pays their own.

also start registering with temp agencies, but request no references sought until position open, and look for temp bar work, or office work etc (eg on the census??) - if you resign from a main job then take a temporary for a few weeks/months then you can sign on when that contract ends and get benefit straight away - a much more secure situation...

Thank you heroine thats really useful

Some inaccurate advise here about benefits.

Will post later when on Dps laptop

How old are your dcs?

Hi grevling i thought if you got dismissed you got penalsed??Does anyone know??

Hi oadcb last one only at home now he is 12

Fairy67 yes dismissed equals penalty.

Just wanted to check whether you could claim I.S but due to Childs age it would be JSA.

Hi oadcb i know they can penalisemy jsa but do you know if i could claim housing benefit please?

That's difficult would need to research to give full answer and haven't got good access to net (on iPod) or time at mo. I would advise cab ans your situation is more complex and requires special advice do you can make an informed choice

What I can say is you will almost certainly get hardship payments if no savings.

Thanx to everyone for your help ;-)

re hardship payments - no you won't - the employment service will not pay hardship loans to people who have no income.. ie also not to people who have no benefit.. because there is no mechanism to get the loan paid back - one of the most ridiculous parts of the benefit system - and the one that caused someone to get so frustrated at the idiocy they put an axe into the table of a benefit officer's table to make the point. Understandably in my opinion.

Heroine with respect please dont advise on benefits if you clearly have no professional knowledge.

Hardship payments are for people who have been sanctioned yet would suffer severe hardship if payments no received.

They are not Loans and not repayable.

The amount is a reduced amount of JSA.

And violence and threats and never acceptable.

The benefits office simply carries at rules and regulations according to the laws that MPs pass. If s

If someone disagrees with the laws MPs make then maybe addressing that with a letter to their MP would be the way forward.

sorry, but if you have no food money and no rent money and you are refused money because you have no money a letter to the MP hoping for a change in government regulation is a ridculous 'solution'. I know that the employment service do have hardship loans (now called 'crisis loans') that they won't pay out on unless you are getting benefit. As regards direct action, sometimes it is good for faceless bureaucrats to realise the personal damage and anger their pettiness causes, rather than expecting them to suck it up and humiliate themselves for months under great stress because they worked for a bad employer or whatever. Some aspects of our benefit system are disgusting and insulting to legitimate claimants and this exclusion period effectively for people who challenge poor employers shouldn't be allowed to push people towards homelessness.

However there is some good news in that even if your employer states that they dismissed you reasnably, there is an appeals panel that will decide the sanction and they don't have to automatically view your situation at face value - they can assess that you were reasonable to challenge your employer and resign, for the purposes of providing benefit, even if the employment tribunal dictates otherwise.

You are talking perhaps about a reduced JSA for hardship reasons - but that too is hard to get as it undermines the sanctioning process.

Heroine you talk complete rubbish.

do I? Been through these benefit hoops - got benefit stopped for 'missing' an interview when I went to the building and it was closed up, and had to go to a tribunal where the employment service solicitor tried to crush my case. Applied for hardship/crisis loan during period of stopped benefit (walked three miles to the office) was told no decision same day, walked in three miles again next day, told 'we don't give hardship loans if you have no income to pay it back- you have no benefit, so no loan.