Shielding and work advice

jamesthemod

Good afternnon ,

I do hope everyone is well, I am just looking for a little advice, I am currently on the shielding list in Scotland.

My question is I have been offered a new job and I am really struggling financially, but am thinking regarding risk of being seriously ill if I take this post due to covid.

I really dont want to refuse a job because I was Paid off from my last post last March due to this and was not put on furlough and had to claim benefits, and jobs are difficult at the best of times to get hold of .

I am barely scraping by on benefits and can't rely on benefits because they can be stopped at any time .

I would be very grateful to hear if anyone is having the same issues.

I have psoriatic arthritis and have not had the vaccine yet, but I recieved a letter today from the nhs telling me to continue to shield regardless if have had the vaccine or not.

All the best

James

Shell_H

Hi James,

In my experience of looking for work post-covid, a lot of the jobs I've seen have been work from home most or all of the time, and then say they'll become more normal going in to work after lockdowns finish. This may partly be because the work I'm looking at is office based, so your mileage may vary, but is there any chance you could ask if you could work from home full or part time due to you shielding?

I'd also check you're getting all the benefits your entitled to. I know in England I have Universal Credit, which includes Housing Benefit, but I have to apply for Council Tax support separately. And of course you may be able to apply for PIP (Personal Independence Payments, which is for people who have a chronic condition which means they need support or need to make adjustments to "normal" life) - PIP is a benefit you can get if you're in or out of work, so long as you have a chronic condition which affects you. It would definitely be worth investigating if you could get PIP, and if there are any other benefits you can get to help you in the meantime.

I'm going to ask someone else to have a look and see if they can help you more!

Shell

helpline_team

Hi James

Thank you for posting on the forum, I’m sorry to hear about your financial struggles and your concerns regarding your risk of being ill due to covid if you take the new post.

I can see Shell has responded to you which I hope you will find helpful, you are very welcome to call us on our helpline: 0800 5200 520 (weekdays 9am – 8pm) if you would like to talk things over.

For the experiences of others, you would be best reposting on our ‘living with arthritis’ forum where you will get more responses.

https://community.versusarthritis.org/categories/living-with-arthritis-forum

I am also giving you a couple of links that you might find useful:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/covid-19-updates/covid-19-employment-and-work-information/

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/living-with-arthritis/financial-support/

Best wishes

Lynda

Helpline Advisor

jamesthemod

Thank you for your kind response I will look into all the info you suggested,

Thanks Shell and Lynda

😆James