Meet Winston
Winston had an appointment with one of our Crisis advice caseworkers.
He had been dismissed from his job but felt this was unfair due to health problems that weren’t taken into consideration.
Our adviser explored what support was available for help with the various health problems and gave information about different services they could access and benefit from.
After being dismissed Winston had had to claim Universal Credit and was on a much lower monthly income compared to being at work. He was starting to struggle to pay his bills and rent. Stress about his mounting bills was starting to affect his mental health too. We checked all the low income tariffs and extra support and benefits he could apply for, going through the eligibility criteria and explaining clearly what he needed to do.
We also looked into the employment issue, explaining about reasonable adjustments employers should make and giving details of ACAS – the employment service who give advice on employment law, early conciliation, arbitration and workplace relations. We signposted Winston to the National Careers Service for future and made sure he knew what support was available to him to seek new employment.
In just one appointment we gave Winston the information and tools he needed to deal with his employment issue, to maximise the support he could receive while searching for new work and to have greater understanding of his rights moving forward.