Written 12th of September
Not that every day is cloudy here, but there has been quite many lately. Actually I am already getting used to it. Not that Estonia has a sunny and clear climate. No. But here you feel it with bones.
Not that every day is cloudy here, but there has been quite many lately. Actually I am already getting used to it. Not that Estonia has a sunny and clear climate. No. But here you feel it with bones.
About my previous post. I do not like to complain much, I better try to do things better next time. Sadly, some moves I made, were not all wrong decisions made by myself.
Statutory Sick Pay - actually I do not know why, but I like the sound of it. What I don't like, is all the mess around it.
After first week of my sick leave I visited my employer's office and I was told that for getting the SSP I need to bring a note from my doctor, GP. Sure - I completely agree with that.
I went to the doctor, he gave me Statement of Fitness for Work with marked note: you are not fit for work. He also put me to cue for additional nose surgery, because first attempt of healing - by nose itself - failed.
Well, I took that note to my employer, where another man told me that they do not pay my SSP. So I walked to JobCentre, explained my little problem. Representative there was quite surprised and finally he gave me SSP1 form for the employer to fill. Adding with grim look, that probably it will work.
I took the SSP1 back to my employer (who supposed to have these forms in their office, but they didn't) and then I was told, that they do not need to fill it because they will pay me SSP and I will get my Sick Pay on Friday (that is tomorrow).
I was quite happy, because no income during past two weeks has a power to make you happy about every amount of income. So I danced - so to say - home.
Today I got some letters by mail and one among those surprised me. It was a filled SSP1 form my employers main office, saying that they will NOT pay my Statutory Sick Pay. Now I have to take these papers to JobCentre and, really, I cannot imagine, what twist may come out from there.
Either way - thanks for that wast of time and 25 mile walk through to solve that issue sooner, I still lost more than a week, because none at my employer really knew what they were supposed or not to do. It makes me both sad and mad. How can you keep up the business if your workers, who has to manage the issues of the employees, do not know the company's policy for usual situations like that?
Anyway - dance around the SSP is just one little part of this big machine of bureaucracy, I have heard about before from the British TV-series "Yes, Minister"
***
Now as the time passed by, it's 26th of September
... and still no Sick Pay or whatever. Not that I long for it, but it is part of the way I could pay up my late rent, not to tell having normal rations of food and so on.
But in a while another interesting topic has come to life. The Housing Benefit.
When I started running though all those institutions to get my Sick Pay, I also heard about the Housing Benefit possibility.
I repeat - I did not came to UK to look for benefits and easy life, but this one had certain reasons I thought, why I should apply for this.
I live in one room in the house that has 5 rooms with different households in every of them. So we share the kitchen and bathrooms and toilets and so on. And I am paying 85 pounds per week for that one room in this "clearly not finished house I mentioned before in my blog, but that is the whole topic for my next post".
We even did the calculations other tenants that our landlord gets about 1850 pounds monthly for this house. Clever businessman, if to think that the same type of apartments in this area cost approximately 270-360 per month.
Well - as I understood that I pay way above the fair price for my housing, I though that it's worth to try the Housing benefit option.
And trying that is.
Two week ago I gave in the application and now I am waiting for the result.
In a while - after I got back the SSP1 form my employer that I took to the JobCentre, I had to apply for the ESA - another thing that took more than 10 pounds of my phone credit. Don't ask why - I already know that I have lousy provider.
And after the two weeks of applying for two things the current situation is - as I understand it - the Housing Benefit decision is not made because they wait for the decision about the ESA that is not made because they wait for the decision about the Housing Benefit.
That is kind of funny to me. Maybe I have misunderstood or misinterpreted something, but it is still funny :) Sad, but hilarious. And stupid...
Everywhere where I have been and told about my family in Estonia, told that I have a loving wife and 1 year, 5 months old son Oskar there waiting for my support, everybody has asked when they will come over here.
They will never come over, that was never the plan.
And even if they would change their mind about it, I would stop them in making decisive steps towards that. I do not want them to come over here just because of the bureaucracy.
There is no way I will ever put my family to risk in a society where papers are more important than people, where one could die out of hunger before any decisions would be made because of the slow moving papers in case of any accident. So - I still like the United Kingdom for it's possibilities, but for sure not for the ways official things are moving here.
The world is in 21st century, you know, maybe UK should join it and use internet for moving information, not the snail-post (that is how we call old postal service back home). I actually have sent more letters by post here in the UK during last few weeks than I did in Estonia during last 15 years.
Too much criticism? Well - one might take the criticism as an offence and reply sharply than if someone like me does not like the way things go around here, someone may go back wherever hell someone came from. True that, I agree.
But smarter one may take criticism how it should be taken and learn from it - maybe there is really time to move on and try to make things faster and more efficiently.
Anyway - I just yesterday started to write and article about the same topic, and I would like to put its first paragraphs here.
*
One might say that papers needed to be done correctly because there are some many of those who want to take advantage of the social security network.
One might say that there are actually people who are living only of social benefits without giving anything back to the society.
One might say that those people are parasites weakening the social security network in its very basic economical levels.
One might be even right in most cases - the common "pot of soup" will be emptied finally when there are less those who put their share in, than those who eat from it without thinking how the "soup" got into the "pot" at first place. Parasites are not tended to think and look outside themselves. That is why they are called parasites.
But - one might go to hell in my case.
It is always so easy to judge people without bothering oneself with the facts, little details or the whole story. It is so easy to make the judgement out of the first glance.
"Hey, there's another damned immigrant moved into our country and there he is demanding the benefits already," cries one out of desperation about the immigration politics that allowed immigrants into the country at all.
Though that is not the topic I am interested in writing today, I still want to make a little remark about it - there weren't be so many in United Kingdom if local people were willing to do the work the immigrants are doing now. It is out of comfort zone for local people to hard work for lousy salary? Well, guess what - it's out of the comfort zone for immigrants, too, but at least they are trying something to make things better not only by crying about the politics.
Back to the main topic. As I said, one might go to hell in my case. By the way, not only in my case, but in more cases. Why?
Because even if there were 8 deceivers for of every 10 benefit applier, who and in what rights is the judge to let down those 2, who really need quick help, and to to it only because there may be someone out there trying to get a advantage of the same system?
I do not say that it is not fair, because fairness actually has no place in any social structure. I say that is not just, and justice is all that every system has to be based on.
*
I will continue writing this article and when it's ready, I will let you know it.
But my next post will be about my housing, my landlord, about trash, crack and about little poisoness mold. keep in touch!
***
Now as the time passed by, it's 26th of September
... and still no Sick Pay or whatever. Not that I long for it, but it is part of the way I could pay up my late rent, not to tell having normal rations of food and so on.
But in a while another interesting topic has come to life. The Housing Benefit.
When I started running though all those institutions to get my Sick Pay, I also heard about the Housing Benefit possibility.
I repeat - I did not came to UK to look for benefits and easy life, but this one had certain reasons I thought, why I should apply for this.
I live in one room in the house that has 5 rooms with different households in every of them. So we share the kitchen and bathrooms and toilets and so on. And I am paying 85 pounds per week for that one room in this "clearly not finished house I mentioned before in my blog, but that is the whole topic for my next post".
We even did the calculations other tenants that our landlord gets about 1850 pounds monthly for this house. Clever businessman, if to think that the same type of apartments in this area cost approximately 270-360 per month.
Well - as I understood that I pay way above the fair price for my housing, I though that it's worth to try the Housing benefit option.
And trying that is.
Two week ago I gave in the application and now I am waiting for the result.
In a while - after I got back the SSP1 form my employer that I took to the JobCentre, I had to apply for the ESA - another thing that took more than 10 pounds of my phone credit. Don't ask why - I already know that I have lousy provider.
And after the two weeks of applying for two things the current situation is - as I understand it - the Housing Benefit decision is not made because they wait for the decision about the ESA that is not made because they wait for the decision about the Housing Benefit.
That is kind of funny to me. Maybe I have misunderstood or misinterpreted something, but it is still funny :) Sad, but hilarious. And stupid...
Everywhere where I have been and told about my family in Estonia, told that I have a loving wife and 1 year, 5 months old son Oskar there waiting for my support, everybody has asked when they will come over here.
They will never come over, that was never the plan.
And even if they would change their mind about it, I would stop them in making decisive steps towards that. I do not want them to come over here just because of the bureaucracy.
There is no way I will ever put my family to risk in a society where papers are more important than people, where one could die out of hunger before any decisions would be made because of the slow moving papers in case of any accident. So - I still like the United Kingdom for it's possibilities, but for sure not for the ways official things are moving here.
The world is in 21st century, you know, maybe UK should join it and use internet for moving information, not the snail-post (that is how we call old postal service back home). I actually have sent more letters by post here in the UK during last few weeks than I did in Estonia during last 15 years.
Too much criticism? Well - one might take the criticism as an offence and reply sharply than if someone like me does not like the way things go around here, someone may go back wherever hell someone came from. True that, I agree.
But smarter one may take criticism how it should be taken and learn from it - maybe there is really time to move on and try to make things faster and more efficiently.
Anyway - I just yesterday started to write and article about the same topic, and I would like to put its first paragraphs here.
*
One might say that papers needed to be done correctly because there are some many of those who want to take advantage of the social security network.
One might say that there are actually people who are living only of social benefits without giving anything back to the society.
One might say that those people are parasites weakening the social security network in its very basic economical levels.
One might be even right in most cases - the common "pot of soup" will be emptied finally when there are less those who put their share in, than those who eat from it without thinking how the "soup" got into the "pot" at first place. Parasites are not tended to think and look outside themselves. That is why they are called parasites.
But - one might go to hell in my case.
It is always so easy to judge people without bothering oneself with the facts, little details or the whole story. It is so easy to make the judgement out of the first glance.
"Hey, there's another damned immigrant moved into our country and there he is demanding the benefits already," cries one out of desperation about the immigration politics that allowed immigrants into the country at all.
Though that is not the topic I am interested in writing today, I still want to make a little remark about it - there weren't be so many in United Kingdom if local people were willing to do the work the immigrants are doing now. It is out of comfort zone for local people to hard work for lousy salary? Well, guess what - it's out of the comfort zone for immigrants, too, but at least they are trying something to make things better not only by crying about the politics.
Back to the main topic. As I said, one might go to hell in my case. By the way, not only in my case, but in more cases. Why?
Because even if there were 8 deceivers for of every 10 benefit applier, who and in what rights is the judge to let down those 2, who really need quick help, and to to it only because there may be someone out there trying to get a advantage of the same system?
I do not say that it is not fair, because fairness actually has no place in any social structure. I say that is not just, and justice is all that every system has to be based on.
*
I will continue writing this article and when it's ready, I will let you know it.
But my next post will be about my housing, my landlord, about trash, crack and about little poisoness mold. keep in touch!
No comments:
Post a Comment