Urgent advice needed about claiming ESA

Hi All

I have joined in the last few minutes and need help in understanding if my current position would entitle me to ESA.

I am married with 4 children between the ages of 12 and 20 - 3 are in full time school/college with the 20 year old on JSA for last 8 months. My Wife does not work and is a full time Housewife.

I have been working in the Finance Industry for the last 16 years. I was doing well in all of my jobs until I moved to a new Team in Nov 2008. I was discriminated against, treated differently and set up to fail. My Employer had a system of appraising Staff using the "Bell Curve" - this is an imported system from USA which has been discredited however large Companies are still using it to this day. It works by allowing the Manager to use their own bias in choosing who they want to fail. The system is graded 1 to 5. 1 is top performer, 2 is excellent, 3 is OK , 4 is inconsistent and 5 is total failure. The manager has to choose the bell curve in the format of 20:70:10- 20% of Staff will be awarded a 1 or 2 rating, 70% of Staff a 3 rating and 10% of Staff a 4 or 5 rating. For 9 years from 2003 to 2008, I was getting 2's or 3's - never had a 4. However, when I joined this new Team in Nov 2008, I got a mid year 2009 of 3, an end of year 2009 4 and a mid year 2010 rating of 4 again. There is no doubt whatsoever that my Manager set me up to fail over 20 months - she deliberately placed me on the most menial task on the team, did not offer me any training or training plan.

I am 42 years old. I was diagnosed with Diabetes Type 2 and high blood pressure in Feb 2008. From Nov 2008 to July 2010, I suffered under this Manager until 20/07/10 when I could not take it any longer. I spoke to my Union Rep. She advised me to go to my GP. The following day 21/07/10, my GP signed me off with Stress Related Illness (Work Related). I got monthly sick notes from 21/07/10 to present and have exhausted 6 months of full pay (which finished in Jan 2011). I was also referred to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy by my GP which meant speaking to a stress counsellor. My GP advised against tablets for depression as the first course of treatment for work related stress was to have CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy). He mentioned that the depression tablets could do more harm than good to my health due to the chance of being hooked on them and with them interfering with the other 6/7 tablets I take daily. I then received 60% reduced pay via the Company Insurance Company which covered me for Feb and March 2011 payslips. However, as of yesterday, 21/03/11 I am not going to get anything from my Employer. In between the last 8 months, I was ordered to go through an Occupational Health Assessment paid for by my Employer on 30/09/10 - their findings and recommendations were that I was indeed suffering from stress due to work and recommended my Employer to transfer me to another role in a different department. I also raised a grievance against my Manager on 03/11/10 which was heard on 18/01/11 - they took the side of the Manager. I appealed the decision which was heard on 04/03/11 - again they did not budge. Last Thursday 17/03/11, my Employer fixed a meeting with me and my Union Rep and advised me to come back to the same department under the same Manager. I declined due to the fact that I could not compromise my health as going back would exacerbate my symptoms of stress. My Union told the HR people in the meeting that if I am not transferred to another job in an other department then we could potentially go down the Employment Tribunal Route. Upon hearing this the HR person advised that she could not create a job for me, however if a suitable internal job is advertised on the intranet which is updated every Friday, I could apply for it and she would then speak to the recruiting manager to give me the job without an interview due to my exceptional circumstances. I have applied for a suitable internal job and am awaiting news on it. I am due to have a meeting with the HR Person in 2 months time (17/05/11).

So in a nutshell, I am still employed by the Bank, I have exhausted 6 months full pay and two months of reduced 60% pay and as of yesterday 21/03/11, I am not going to be paid from work. This leaves me with only 142 pounds of child tax credit and 47 pounds of child benefit to survive on which are paid weekly. During the last two months of reduced 60% pay, I have managed to get most of my rent paid for with housing benefit and majority of the council tax has been paid.

I urgently need advise on whether I will be able to qualify for ESA based on the above circumstances.

Thanks.



PS.I have called Jobcentre Plus and ordered the ESA Form which I will receive in a few days time.

Hi Gordon

Thanks for your advice.

I am no longer entitled to SSP which was exhausted on 20/01/11. I received two months of reduced 60% pay on 20/02/11 and 20/03/11. As of 21/03/11 I will not get any pay.

I have completed the online ESA Medical and the result is that based on my self assessment I would be placed in the support group. I assessed myself as being eligible for the support group under exceptional circumstances and likewise for work related activity group.

The only parts of the online ESA Medical that apply to me are listed below -

SUPPORT GROUP: EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES
You assessed yourself as being eligible for the support group because you are covered by the following exceptional circumstances:

Because of your physical or mental health condition or learning disability, there would be a substantial risk to the mental or physical health of any person, including you, if you were found not to have limited capability for work-related activity.

WORK-RELATED ACTIVITY GROUP: EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES
You assessed yourself as being eligible for the work-related activity group because you are covered by the following exceptional circumstances:

Because of your physical or mental health condition or learning disability, there would be a substantial risk to the mental or physical health of any person, including you, if you were found not to have limited capability for work.

My interpretation of the above is that due to my mental state (stress related illness), this would seriously exacerbate my illness if I am found not to have limited capability for work related activity and limited capability for work.

Any further advice is appreciated. I will go to CAB as recommended.

Thanks

Steve

Hi, I just wanted to advise that it is a good idea to go to the CAB with your ESA50 form uncompleted. They are more likely to help if you are only just starting the process.

Wishing you good luck,
Rachel

Thank you for the advice Rachel. Much appreciated.

I went through a similar kind of thing when I was TUPEd in my last job. Raised a grievance which was not upheld, and the plan was to go to Employment Tribunal claiming constructive dismissal because TUPE had been breeched. In the event I was too stressed to face this, and took early retirement on the grounds of ill health. I do have bi-polar and the stress triggered a major depressive episode.

There seems little recognition in the system that, far from being good for a person, the wrong type of work can cause serious ill health.

Hope things work out for you.

best!
pikelet