Opinions please UPDATE :)

[Bunnipowder]

Just wanted to hear people's opinions on this, I know no one can give me a definate answer but... (sorry so long I do just wanted to give you all full picture)

Coming upto the end of my maternity leave with Callum (i got maternity allowance as I only work 12 hours, so my employee "Newlook" was not paying me whilst I was off) I started a job with a new company which would still be working in Newlook but being employed by another company selling a differnt range of clothes, I got pregnant and had a risk assesment done by my manager from the new company all was fine. I handed my notice in for the new company and returned to Newlook as it was better for me in the long run. From day one of me being back at "newlook" I asked for a risk assesment each time it was "O yeah we will do it tomorrow or next week" it never got done, and there was a few comments I wished to add in the meeting when they would of done it risks I wanted to bring up myself that wasnt in the standard risk assesment such as over members of staff pushing past me behind the till area (just rude members of staff). I have been having spells of dizzyness and fainting I made the managers aware of this and when I felt hot and sick I asked if I could have my break half hour early and that was fine the "nice manager" allowed this. Well the week after I asked if I could have it bit early as I hadnt eaten all morning thanks to MS and It was the manager who seems to have something agaisnt me anyway she said No I cant change the rota that was it and she walked off, she didnt offer me a quick 5 minutes to grab something, I was so angry would she rather me pass out on the floor? I kept on asking for a risk assesment as after losing Callum im not taking ANY risks or pushing myself further then I feel I can so I decided I would hand my notice in I never said because I wasnt having a risk assesment but because I had been fainting I couldnt keep on phoning in sick when I was having a bad day id end up getting the sack, and the "head manager" agreed and said with what happend before with Callum she dosent want me taking risks, so I felt like screaming "Why wont you do me a risk assesment then" but I never I dont want people to think I go round expecting special treatment and sympathy just because I lost Callum. She even said I didnt have to give as much notice as anyone else normally would. To be honest felt like they was glad to get rid of me

So today I went to the job centre to sign on and because I left newlook voluntarily i may not be able to claim job seekers or housing benefit, because being "pregnant" was not a good enough reason so I explained why I felt that the risk assesments was important to me I got a bit upset and the women i had meeting with didnt know where to look she thought I had a good enough reason and she wouldnt of stayed there if she was me without a risk assesment but obviously it isnt upto her to decide, I had to write my reason down and it will be sent off. I did say i didnt really want to leave my job id been there 3 years but i didnt want to keep taking risks until they was ready to spare me 5minutes for a risk assesment. If it gets denied then I dont have a clue what I will do for money because I will work if a company does me a risk assesment but not many companies will take me on just for me to leave again in a few months, but what else was I spose to do stay at my job where i was worrying about over doing myself

Do you think I had a good enough reason for leaving work ?

Update
Well I finally got a reply and thankfully I have been accepted for both job seekers and housing benefit! I really did think Newlook might try and be funny and say that I didnt ask for a risk assesment even though I shouldn't of had to. Iv not been in the shop since (also wont be spending much in there anymore now i dont get my 50% discount )

BUT they sent me my p45 or whatever it is when you leave and a payslip. I didnt open the payslip as I assumed it would have been from the month I left few days later I opened it and they had paid me my holiday pay!!! Wasnt expecting it as
1. when I was still working there and asking them if I could book holiday off they said they wasnt sure if I would be entitled to anything seen's as I had been on maternity leave would only be back few more months and then leaving again.

2. When I left for my maternity leave last year I had a choice off them in a letter whether I wanted to take my remaining holiday before I left (my manager said this wasnt possible because I would have to take 3 weeks off before xmas and the rule is 2 wks before xmas and 2 weeks after xmas) or have the holiday pay in my last wages which is what I opted for. Well suprise suprise when it came to the wage slip which they should of been in there wasnt there I phoned up head office and was told I should of took it before I left!! She didnt even listen when I said that they had sent me a letter and gave me a choice!! I phoned up my manager who agreed with me and said she would sort it. When I called her week after she wasnt there so a manager (the nasty one) under her phoned head office and phoned me back and said if you want that holiday pay you need to come back to work by April (my mat leave didnt run out until August) or you will lose it. I didnt chase it up even though I knew I was in the right!!

So now they have actually paid me my holiday for this year, Im thinking they panicked a bit when they had letter off job centre and knew they was in the wrong so was trying to butter me up incase I wanted to take it further!
Either way Im glad I got the housing benefit AND my holiday pay which was a bonus, finally can relax a bit

 

[nightkd]

Do you remember how it was worded on the form they sent off? This makes a big difference in some cases... I used to work in the decision making department at the JCP, not for the actual decision making, but I sent off those forms, had forms back, input decisions into the computer, so I saw everything but the part where they actually made the decisions.

Employer will probably tick "left voluntarily" on their form which won't be great, but if the decision makers sympathise with the reasoning then you could be allowed... I'll warn you they can be pretty harsh at times..

On the other hand if you really put across that there was a health risk for you to stay there, it could veer the other way. I'd hope that it would and they'd allow you the JSA, because from my point of view, you didn't really have much choice - they were refusing you the right to a risk assessment, and as a vulnerable person that means that your work could've been a health risk.

Hopefully it will have been a good enough reason for the decision makers, you can never say one way or the other.... If you do get refused though, you can appeal against the decision, so if you have a contract that says you're entitled to a risk assessment, get a copy, write a really good letter etc to support your side - if the employer can be seen as breaching your contract, then that'll of course look better for you!

As I say, fingers crossed the decision makers will be on your side from the beginning, can't say for sure is all, I really hope they are and you don't have to go through all the appealing and stuff because that'll delay your money unnecessarily! I would be on your side because your employer was breaching contract by not offering you a risk assessment within a certain timeframe after you'd requested it. Good luck!! And don't get too stressed about it or anything, because it could go through really smoothly, no problems at the end of the day.

ETA: Sorry that wasn't really very helpful. Just they can go either way, even in cases I read about which I thought "Bloomin' heck the employer shouldn't have been able to get away with that!" they can get denied. In your case though, my opinion would be, as long as the decision makers have the full reasoning to consider - they SHOULD allow your claim.

Also on the Housing Benefit front, I'm not completely clued up on that myself, but I didn't think that this sort of thing would effect that. It's not related to the JCP, it's the council...they may have meant that you can't put in a claim for HB with your JSA - but you should still be able to claim straight from the council... I'm a little ignorant on this particular area though, so I can't say for sure. Maybe claiming JSA is a requirement for the council to consider HB??? I'm sure someone with first-hand experience'll be along in a while to help though!!

 

[Bunnipowder]

Thankyou for your reply, was very helpful! I did try in as much as space as I could to give the full picture about the risk assesment and being flexible with my breaks, I think I worded it pretty well but I had to fill the form in on my lap in the waiting area! Just have to wait and see, fingers crossed I guess.

 

[cazza1982]

Hello!

Just a quickie; I claimed JSA after leaving my job and they paid it to me, but I did get a letter saying that a dispute has arisen with my claim as I left my job volutarily and this could affect the JSA. But I then switched to Maternity Allowance which they can't touch so they just said that should I wish to claim for JSA in the future, I could be declined. I have never claimed for a benefit in my life before and I think they have a cheek to say this given the sheer amount of tax I have paid into the system since I started working. Grrrr!

Anyway, with regards to Housing Benefit, you do need to be claiming a benefit in the form of either JSA or Income Support in order to qualify for Housing Benefit. I claimed for it for a couple of months until my Maternity Allowance kicked in. However, don't expect it anytime soon as it took about 4 months for my application to be processed and by that time, I had lost my rented house and had to move back in with the parents for a short while!!

I am thinking of you because I was in that similar situation and hope that it will all work out for you in the end.

xxx
xxxx

 

[nightkd]

Just a quickie; I claimed JSA after leaving my job and they paid it to me, but I did get a letter saying that a dispute has arisen with my claim as I left my job volutarily and this could affect the JSA. But I then switched to Maternity Allowance which they can't touch so they just said that should I wish to claim for JSA in the future, I could be declined.

They make a decision from the date you leave, so if they decide you left voluntarily on 01/01/09 but you stop claiming JSA before the decision comes back, they may say "Jobseeker is not claiming anymore, if new claim is put in within 6 months please resubmit decision" So basically, if you put in a claim a month after, the decision will be sent back in to be reviewed so they again decide whether you're entitled to JSA or not... If you put in a new claim AFTER the 6 months (or just before and by the time they make the decision it's after the 6 months) they'll scrap the decision and say that since you've already gone past the 6 month pointer, they can't do anything and that you're entitled - unless another decision has to be made on something else.

Just a little (probably useless) titbit of information for you.

 

[cazza1982]

Just a quickie; I claimed JSA after leaving my job and they paid it to me, but I did get a letter saying that a dispute has arisen with my claim as I left my job volutarily and this could affect the JSA. But I then switched to Maternity Allowance which they can't touch so they just said that should I wish to claim for JSA in the future, I could be declined.

They make a decision from the date you leave, so if they decide you left voluntarily on 01/01/09 but you stop claiming JSA before the decision comes back, they may say "Jobseeker is not claiming anymore, if new claim is put in within 6 months please resubmit decision" So basically, if you put in a claim a month after, the decision will be sent back in to be reviewed so they again decide whether you're entitled to JSA or not... If you put in a new claim AFTER the 6 months (or just before and by the time they make the decision it's after the 6 months) they'll scrap the decision and say that since you've already gone past the 6 month pointer, they can't do anything and that you're entitled - unless another decision has to be made on something else.

Just a little (probably useless) titbit of information for you.

Ah thanks! It all makes me feel uneasy this benefit malarky!

xxx

 

[nightkd]

That's okay. I know, they like to make it as complicated as possible. I know I found out a LOT of stuff I didn't know, which would have been beneficial when I was claiming JSA, AFTER I started working for the JCP! After that I tried to pass on any knowledge to my customers that I knew I would have appreciated being told when I was claiming! A few people I worked with just couldn't be bothered explaining things in detail to the customer, which I found very frustrating. I had ONE decent officer when I was signing on, he actually HELPED and ENCOURAGED me instead of just signing me and getting me out ASAP.

xx

 

[UKMummy]

Sounds a bit like constructive dismissal to me i.e, making it so uncomfortable for you that you had no choice but to leave. You were not treated well at all. Not good.

I hope you get it all sorted with the JSA etc because from what I can see you were almost left no choice but to leave your job anyway.

 

[GersPrincess]

That is shocking treatment of you by new look and I absolutely agree with UKMummy, and was going to say the same as her, that this is a case of constructive dismissal.
You could contact ACAS and see if they can help you to take this further, as they should not be allowed to get away with this kind of treatment, and even more so if you are turned down for JSA.
I would also keep appealing any decision you get if it comes back saying you are not entitled as you cannot be expected to work in a place which wont take into account your health and safety.
Hope you get it sorted x

 

[Shireena__x]

HUNNNYYYY STOP RIGHT THERRREEE!!!

IF UR NOT GETTING ONE RED SENT ( U ENT GOT SAVINGS OR WORKING FOR ANOTHER EMPLOYER) + UR PAST 12 WEEKS PREGNANT+ U LEFT WORK DUE TO ''PRGNANCY RELATED REASONS'' UR INTITLED TO INCOME SUPPORT NOT JOBSEEKERS....I HAD TO GO DOWN THE SAME ROUTE AS U AND WAS FUMING!!!! WEN I HAD TO FILL OUT ONE FORM AND WAS ON IS LIKE THAT!!!!

i cnt honestly tell u wat the second form was BUT i filled out income support form and this form then i had a interveiw to go fru the form and asked if i would attend work focused interview every 6 months after baby said yes checked my bank a month later and had income support paid in for the last 3 weeks!!!!

theres a loop hole basiclai say u felt liek u kudnt PHYSICALLY cope (not lying as u did feel dizzy;faint) and they bring out some next posh words which basically means u wer to ill to work.

dont make them fool you hun i was down the job centre everyweek for AGES!!! till one day i wudnt shut up til SECURITY CAME OVER!!!! and asked if i wanted to fill out a incom support and see a ''blah di blah form'' insted. after filling them both out having ANOTHER inteview, were she basiclaly just computerd everyfink on the form. i then found out (without no letter in the post) i was successful

dont let them bast*ds fool u