DP unable to work, need advice on what to do next!

[Drogon]

Hi everyone, this will probably turn into a long one but I'd really appreciate some advice as I'm in panic mode.

DP works around about 40 hours per week in a restaurant, zero hour contract (all employees are on zero hour contracts)

There was a fire a few days ago and obviously the restaurant is closed. His manager has not given him (or any of the staff) an indication of how long it could take to open up again. His wife said to one colleague it could be up to 4 weeks before they're back open. The damage wasn't extensive in the restaurant area but a back room was quite badly damaged, the rest being smoke damaged.

The problem is the manager has said he would contact DP when he knows more about when they should open again but so far we've heard nothing. DP only worked one shift this week, luckily we can scrape by paying the bills this month but next month is a different matter. My wage and tax credits don't cover all our outgoings. I've told my manager the situation and luckily he has given me some extra shifts but it won't be enough.

I'm not sure if because DP isn't currently getting any hours he'd be entitled to job seekers allowance or income support or something similar? I've tried googling but get conflicting answers.

We also do not know if the insurance the business has will cover the staffs wages or not, so have no idea if staff will be getting paid. Either way we just need to know asap to try and get things sorted but the manager has ignored all messages and calls so far. I have a feeling he is going to fob the staff off telling them it won't be long, for fear of staff searching for new jobs.

DP has got his CV brushed up and plans to go out tomorrow handing them out but in the meantime we can't manage on one wage alone and are left in limbo.

So this long rambling thread basically is, does anyone know if someone on a zero hour contract who is not getting any hours would be entitled to any type of benefits? I have a feeling that because he is still employed he won't be entitled to anything.

So stressed out at the moment but trying to think of practical things we can do to prepare ourselves!

Worth looking into jobseekers/income support - I know when my brothers hours were reduced to under 16 hours he was eligible to claim that. But he had to take in a payslip and copy of the rota to prove it and also show he was actively looking for full time employment too. When they put him back up to 38 hours he cancelled his claim.

I would suggest he makes an appointment with job centre to start a claim. If he's on 0 hours any significant payout is unlikely. Insurance, assuming there is done, could take a while.

Has he accrued any holiday pay he could use ?

Thank you all for replying 😊

Qforcucumber thank you, that is reassuring! I had read that under 16 hours you may be entitled to claim job seekers allowance but was told by someone else it is only something you can claim if you have a child under 5 (we have a 2yo) but was told by someone else he wouldn't be eligible for anything at all. I think tomorrow he'll need to ring up to confirm either way.

Thanks LIZ, I'll make sure he does that tomorrow. It did occur to me that any insurance payout may take a while, we definitely couldn't afford to wait. DP has been unhappy at work for a while now so on the upside it's given him the motivation to actively look for something different.

notapizzaeater unfortunately he doesn't have any holiday time left. He never actually uses his holiday but gets paid for it on top of his usual pay. I really wish we hadn't used the last week of his holiday now and that we hadn't used the little amount of savings we had to buy new furniture!

DP has received a message from his manager asking everyone to attend a meeting tomorrow afternoon so fingers crossed everyone will get a clear idea of what will happen. Either way we need to know, if it's going to be a long term closure at least I can arrange some extra shifts with my manager and try and make the figures work.

Apply for housing benefit and council tax support. Although it's backdated and by the time it's processed is inevitably paid on the previous months income, it is one of the few things that can change monthly without too much difficulty. Also worth him applying for jsa if the meeting doesn't result in pay/ shifts for this week.

He can make the jsa claim online. They'll then contact him for a face to face meeting. You don't get anything for the first seven days of the claim so do it ASAP, even if he then finds work and cancels it. Good luck!

Just wanted to update and thank you for replying! DP had his meeting and it's good news! They will be closed for 5 weeks and DP will be getting a good percentage of weekly wage paid (he signed a document agreeing not to leave work during this time) which means we will be £40 worse off per week. We can manage on that but I will hopefully be arranging to do an extra shift per week to make up the short fall as DP will be at home looking after DD. I honestly feel so relieved right now

Oh that's fantastic news! At least you can know where your stand now, is your dp maybe able to offer to help out getting the place back to normal too and get paid for his help when it reopens? Might be worth a try if they doing some of the work themselves?