Covid and Work, Covid Advice and General Chat

[Fairygodmother]

Schools I believe are also exempted from the work from home if you can

They seem to want schools open above everything else. Which from an economy point of view makes sense as kids at school allow parents to work

The problem is that some parents will have to leave or work from home when Covid comes to the school. Most schools just don’t have the facilities to put decent social distancing in place, and Covid doesn’t send an email to warn a school when it’s coming.

 

[JohnEGreen]

Hmmmm, I suppose you can 'choose' to give up your job but how realistic is this?, more of a Hobson's choice I think. That would be like going back several decades to a time when there was NO health & safety in place and it was a 'like it or lump it' scenario.

Yup I agree a bit like the choice the old highway men used to give their victims your money or your life.

Also if we remember the dark old days when the government of the day took the coal mines under public ownership basically because mine owners refused to modernize in order to save lives as it was too expensive to do so.

 

[JRT]

It is indeed very true. I am currently battling with employers whose actions over the past 6 months have been awful. I work in a care home which I have to access by 4 buses a day. Employers so far ignored requests for individual risk assessment,alternative roles etc. They havent paid me since March. Refused to furlough without a shielding letter. GP signed me off grudgingly with anxiety. Dont think will again. She did however cheerily admit that she has loads of patients with the same concerns and facing the same risks and Covid with us for at least six months. So off I go,in theory. 4 buses and 12 hours in a poorly ventilated care home with young potentially asymptomatic staff,that failed it CQC on cleanliness and more high use contact surfaces than I care to mention. Social distancing is impossible. PPE available at moment. Testing stopped.
Some people have choices in how they are exposed to the virus. Some can choose to work from home or if retired limit their social contact.im not saying these choices are easy, but it's a choice and you are in control of it.
I consider myself lucky. My mortgage is paid and I have a small amount of savings and a very small amount of Universal Credit to live off. If I resign I lose the Universal Credit. It's an enormously stressful game. Ideally they would sack me,release me on health grounds,make me redundant. Something needs to happen very soon as I could face 6 months sanctions by UC if resign.
As I say,I'm lucky,I may be stressed but I can stay safe. Many poorly paid,high risk frontline workers are not. Carers. Bus Drivers. HCAs. Totally unprotected.

 

[lucylocket61]

havent paid me since March.

Why not?

 

[JRT]

Why not?

Long story. I thought that I would get SSP, they didnt process self certifying certificate. In their defence were bit busy. Succession of managers sacked. By time managed to get any sense out of them it was early May. By then as had been off since mid March they claimed I hadn't worked enough hours in previous 2 months so not entitled to SSP. Managing Director looking into it,and consulting their legal team. My Union representing me. Mentally exhausting game.

 

[JRT]

Long story. I thought that I would get SSP, they didnt process self certifying certificate. In their defence were bit busy. Succession of managers sacked. By time managed to get any sense out of them it was early May. By then as had been off since mid March they claimed I hadn't worked enough hours in previous 2 months so not entitled to SSP. Managing Director looking into it,and consulting their legal team. My Union representing me. Mentally exhausting game.

I should add that in March it was on Gov.UK that all those in receipt of flu jab would be asked to self isolate, also on medical website for GPs. Work happy that isolating. Like many I assumed shielding letter drop on mat.

 

[Max68]

Hi all well some interesting news that some may find helpful. It's pretty much also made my mind up to leave as today the school announced that with so many staff off we don't have enough support in the school. So from tomorrow different year groups will be not at school on different days. Teachers will teach them remotely from the classroom although the rest of the staff are expected in. However I will have one more throw of the dice and see if now there is a chance of working from home considering remote teaching is now back on the menu. If not then that's it as it's been two weeks only and staff are dropping like flies so I don't fancy negotiating the winter months when it's obvious things are going to get worse.

I therefore spoke to the Department of Work and Pensions., Lovely lady who told me that policies have changed due to the pandemic. By all accounts if I leave my job as a higher risk person who does not feel safe in the workplace then it will not affect me claiming and receiving Universal Credit. The fact that I cannot hear what's going on as a deaf person with all the masks is another perfectly good reason which I can claim for as I cannot do my job properly.

I can also apparently try and claim some sort of medical conditions benefit via a UC50 form. Not quite sure what it is and will look into it more but by all accounts I can get more information from my claims handler from last time.

Unlike pre-covid they also do not insist you sign a load of work search commitments and you do not have to accept any job that is not suitable if at all from what she said as underlying conditions are accepted by the DWP as a reason why you can't work if you are not safe at work. You did not have to be shielded only at a higher risk to be able to claim.

I will double check all this with the Citizens Advice Bureau but it does seem that the old "you can't claim UC if you leave your job voluntarily" has been dropped whilst the pandemic is going on.

However please don't take my word for it I would contact the Department of Work and Pensions Universal Credit advice line yourself and ask about your specific circumstances.

I'll be a few hundred quid down but will save £250 per months petrol and I can apply for a Council Tax reduction. Others I believe will be able top claim rent payments or help with the mortgage.

Must say they surprised me being so helpful.

 

[NicoleC1971]

Hi all well some interesting news that some may find helpful. It's pretty much also made my mind up to leave as today the school announced that with so many staff off we don't have enough support in the school. So from tomorrow different year groups will be not at school on different days. Teachers will teach them remotely from the classroom although the rest of the staff are expected in. However I will have one more throw of the dice and see if now there is a chance of working from home considering remote teaching is now back on the menu. If not then that's it as it's been two weeks only and staff are dropping like flies so I don't fancy negotiating the winter months when it's obvious things are going to get worse.

I therefore spoke to the Department of Work and Pensions., Lovely lady who told me that policies have changed due to the pandemic. By all accounts if I leave my job as a higher risk person who does not feel safe in the workplace then it will not affect me claiming and receiving Universal Credit. The fact that I cannot hear what's going on as a deaf person with all the masks is another perfectly good reason which I can claim for as I cannot do my job properly.

I can also apparently try and claim some sort of medical conditions benefit via a UC50 form. Not quite sure what it is and will look into it more but by all accounts I can get more information from my claims handler from last time.

Unlike pre-covid they also do not insist you sign a load of work search commitments and you do not have to accept any job that is not suitable if at all from what she said as underlying conditions are accepted by the DWP as a reason why you can't work if you are not safe at work. You did not have to be shielded only at a higher risk to be able to claim.

I will double check all this with the Citizens Advice Bureau but it does seem that the old "you can't claim UC if you leave your job voluntarily" has been dropped whilst the pandemic is going on.

However please don't take my word for it I would contact the Department of Work and Pensions Universal Credit advice line yourself and ask about your specific circumstances.

I'll be a few hundred quid down but will save £250 per months petrol and I can apply for a Council Tax reduction. Others I believe will be able top claim rent payments or help with the mortgage.

Must say they surprised me being so helpful.

Hi. I am so sad to hear that you are giving up being a teacher and that your school is sending so many staff and pupils home.
You have to do what is right for you of course but I hope you do get to keep your hand in somehow even if its doing Google Classroom/Zoom stuff at your home. We need good teachers and it is sad you have felt so anxious and unsafe in your job.
More time for the forum I guess though?

 

[lucylocket61]

Hi all well some interesting news that some may find helpful. It's pretty much also made my mind up to leave as today the school announced that with so many staff off we don't have enough support in the school. So from tomorrow different year groups will be not at school on different days. Teachers will teach them remotely from the classroom although the rest of the staff are expected in. However I will have one more throw of the dice and see if now there is a chance of working from home considering remote teaching is now back on the menu. If not then that's it as it's been two weeks only and staff are dropping like flies so I don't fancy negotiating the winter months when it's obvious things are going to get worse.

I therefore spoke to the Department of Work and Pensions., Lovely lady who told me that policies have changed due to the pandemic. By all accounts if I leave my job as a higher risk person who does not feel safe in the workplace then it will not affect me claiming and receiving Universal Credit. The fact that I cannot hear what's going on as a deaf person with all the masks is another perfectly good reason which I can claim for as I cannot do my job properly.

I can also apparently try and claim some sort of medical conditions benefit via a UC50 form. Not quite sure what it is and will look into it more but by all accounts I can get more information from my claims handler from last time.

Unlike pre-covid they also do not insist you sign a load of work search commitments and you do not have to accept any job that is not suitable if at all from what she said as underlying conditions are accepted by the DWP as a reason why you can't work if you are not safe at work. You did not have to be shielded only at a higher risk to be able to claim.

I will double check all this with the Citizens Advice Bureau but it does seem that the old "you can't claim UC if you leave your job voluntarily" has been dropped whilst the pandemic is going on.

However please don't take my word for it I would contact the Department of Work and Pensions Universal Credit advice line yourself and ask about your specific circumstances.

I'll be a few hundred quid down but will save £250 per months petrol and I can apply for a Council Tax reduction. Others I believe will be able top claim rent payments or help with the mortgage.

Must say they surprised me being so helpful.

Yaay!!!!

But also sad for the situation at your school.

 

[JRT]

Hi all well some interesting news that some may find helpful. It's pretty much also made my mind up to leave as today the school announced that with so many staff off we don't have enough support in the school. So from tomorrow different year groups will be not at school on different days. Teachers will teach them remotely from the classroom although the rest of the staff are expected in. However I will have one more throw of the dice and see if now there is a chance of working from home considering remote teaching is now back on the menu. If not then that's it as it's been two weeks only and staff are dropping like flies so I don't fancy negotiating the winter months when it's obvious things are going to get worse.

I therefore spoke to the Department of Work and Pensions., Lovely lady who told me that policies have changed due to the pandemic. By all accounts if I leave my job as a higher risk person who does not feel safe in the workplace then it will not affect me claiming and receiving Universal Credit. The fact that I cannot hear what's going on as a deaf person with all the masks is another perfectly good reason which I can claim for as I cannot do my job properly.

I can also apparently try and claim some sort of medical conditions benefit via a UC50 form. Not quite sure what it is and will look into it more but by all accounts I can get more information from my claims handler from last time.

Unlike pre-covid they also do not insist you sign a load of work search commitments and you do not have to accept any job that is not suitable if at all from what she said as underlying conditions are accepted by the DWP as a reason why you can't work if you are not safe at work. You did not have to be shielded only at a higher risk to be able to claim.

I will double check all this with the Citizens Advice Bureau but it does seem that the old "you can't claim UC if you leave your job voluntarily" has been dropped whilst the pandemic is going on.

However please don't take my word for it I would contact the Department of Work and Pensions Universal Credit advice line yourself and ask about your specific circumstances.

I'll be a few hundred quid down but will save £250 per months petrol and I can apply for a Council Tax reduction. Others I believe will be able top claim rent payments or help with the mortgage.

Must say they surprised me being so helpful.

Max I cant believe it's ok for teachers to teach remotely but TAs expected to carry on regardless! By that I dont mean I dont believe you,I dont believe how outrageous this situation is getting. If it isnt resolved so that you can work from home tomorrow I hope you can leave asap. I know you are being super careful but it sounds bad there.
Thankyou for sharing info re benefits. I had heard about you could leave if felt not safe but didnt know to what extent you had to prove it. The situation sounds better than I thought. I certainly can almost physically feel the weight lift off my shoulders. Thankyou.

 

[Robinredbreast]

Today I will try to ask the teacher who comes out into the car park area, if there have been any positive covid cases within the school.

I asked the teacher today if there were any cases of Covid and he said that none have been reported, but if a child had a temperature/felt unwell they would immediately call the parent to take the child home.
As the children are in their bubbles, that is more manageable, but with SEN children, at this school, challenging behaviour involving altercations with other children is not so manageable, regarding unwanted contact.

 

[KK123]

Hi. I am so sad to hear that you are giving up being a teacher and that your school is sending so many staff and pupils home.
You have to do what is right for you of course but I hope you do get to keep your hand in somehow even if its doing Google Classroom/Zoom stuff at your home. We need good teachers and it is sad you have felt so anxious and unsafe in your job.
More time for the forum I guess though?

I think Max is a Teacher's assistant so it does make me wonder whether they are being treated differently to the Teachers.

 

[HSSS]

I asked the teacher today if there were any cases of Covid and he said that none have been reported, but if a child had a temperature/felt unwell they would immediately call the parent to take the child home.
As the children are in their bubbles, that is more manageable, but with SEN children, at this school, challenging behaviour involving altercations with other children is not so manageable, regarding unwanted contact.

Bubbles don’t exist anymore. They only isolate those classed as contacts, ie within 2m. .gov guidance dated 15 sept.

 

[NicoleC1971]

I think Max is a Teacher's assistant so it does make me wonder whether they are being treated differently to the Teachers.

I know they have a different professional standing but count them as teachers non-the=-less.
I suppose that if you are classroom based as opposed to someone with management responsibilities it is harder to work from home since your job involves helping the teacher leading the lesson or working 1-2-1 I believe though I am sure Max may also be involved in delivering lessons too.

 

[Max68]

Thanks all, yep I'm a Learning Support Assistant so not all that important!

@JRT, I probably didn't phrase that well. The teachers are teaching remotely from the classroom. So I assume the timetable will be normal but once a teacher has the class that isn't in school then they will zoom the lesson to that class, so teachers will be in school teaching other groups then remotely with the year group not in. However that means if they thought about it a bit then I could work remotely from home supporting each of those lessons throughout the day just as a support as we did a couple of months ago but I suspect if they did that another one of the vulnerable would ask why they were in?!

I'll ask the question though without a doubt,. I'll just query with this new plan is there now homeworking available. If not I'll take my chances on UC.

I hope sincerely that if I leave on good terms if and when this all finishes I may be welcomed back to apply for a position in the future. When I asked the Head that a couple of weeks ago he seemed all for that but of course it was a hypothetical question at the time. If now pandemic reality becomes part of the thinking of an employer those with vulnerabilities could find themselves side-lined in the future the same way as someone with a debatable sickness record has today,. But I'd like to be around with the opportunity to check that out.

It's really difficult and as I have said before I might breeze through Covid if I were to get it but who knows and I've just got a funny feeling of doom inside my gut that I need to trust.

The interesting thing now is how much notice they will want as usually it's till the end of term and that's four weeks away!

 

[Max68]

I know they have a different professional standing but count them as teachers non-the=-less.
I suppose that if you are classroom based as opposed to someone with management responsibilities it is harder to work from home since your job involves helping the teacher leading the lesson or working 1-2-1 I believe though I am sure Max may also be involved in delivering lessons too.

I do deliver a mean PE session I must admit but even the gloss has been taken off that with my mask and visor flapping about in the wind!

I feel that I am pretty good at my job and that's another reason for my decision. Being deaf I really am struggling with hearing due to all the masks and visors the staff wear. That in time will mean that I won't do my job as well. It will begin to irritate teachers if I constantly don't hear or mis hear their instructions. In Science it could be dangerous if I mis hear what sort of acid I have to bring from the prep room or totally mis hear another instruction and do the wrong thing. I'd rather leave now than either give them the opportunity to sack me because I can't do my job properly or in three months feel that I have deteriorated as an LSA due to not being able to hear properly. With a bit of luck I'll leave being remembered as a decent LSA and might be reconsidered when things one day are on the up again.

 

[NicoleC1971]

I do deliver a mean PE session I must admit but even the gloss has been taken off that with my mask and visor flapping about in the wind!

I feel that I am pretty good at my job and that's another reason for my decision. Being deaf I really am struggling with hearing due to all the masks and visors the staff wear. That in time will mean that I won't do my job as well. It will begin to irritate teachers if I constantly don't hear or mis hear their instructions. In Science it could be dangerous if I mis hear what sort of acid I have to bring from the prep room or totally mis hear another instruction and do the wrong thing. I'd rather leave now than either give them the opportunity to sack me because I can't do my job properly or in three months feel that I have deteriorated as an LSA due to not being able to hear properly. With a bit of luck I'll leave being remembered as a decent LSA and might be reconsidered when things one day are on the up again.

I am sure you're more than decent and the kids love PE ( as do the teachers who get the lesson time off to do admin or prep etc. if you're doing it) but it concerns me that you'd be discriminated against in this new 'abnormal' because of your hearing impairment. I know that kids with hearing impairments are also struggling with the mask thing. I have good hearing and I am too!

 

[Max68]

I am sure you're more than decent and the kids love PE ( as do the teachers who get the lesson time off to do admin or prep etc. if you're doing it) but it concerns me that you'd be discriminated against in this new 'abnormal' because of your hearing impairment. I know that kids with hearing impairments are also struggling with the mask thing. I have good hearing and I am too!

Which is why I'm sticking with the safety issue and my conditions as a reason for leaving. Don't want to bring something else up that no-one yet might notice!!

 

[Tannith]

Hi. I am so sad to hear that you are giving up being a teacher and that your school is sending so many staff and pupils home.
You have to do what is right for you of course but I hope you do get to keep your hand in somehow even if its doing Google Classroom/Zoom stuff at your home. We need good teachers and it is sad you have felt so anxious and unsafe in your job.
More time for the forum I guess though?

I imagine there will be an exodus of teachers who are able to find any other means of supporting themselves while the govt is treating them with such contempt. It is clearly not possible for 30 kids and a teacher (or 2) to stay 2m apart in the average size classroom. It is just not reasonable to ask teachers,especially those who are vulnerable or over 45 ish, to work in these conditions just so as to provide a free babysitting service for those parents who would (naturally), prefer to go back to work, or find the kids get under their feet when they are trying to WFH. None of us asked for this pandemic, and most of us are in difficulties of some sort as a result of it. Our grandparents put up with far far worse than this in WW2. And for 5 whole years! I think the reckless conditions under which teachers are expected to work may be the "new" care home crisis, and cause a great deal of illness even if fewer actual deaths.

 

[Mr_Pot]

just so as to provide a free babysitting service for those parents who would (naturally), prefer to go back to work, or find the kids get under their feet when they are trying to WFH

I think teachers probably claim to do more than just mind the children for a while.