Electrician told 'to quit his £40k a year job' after he broke his leg in order to get DWP help
The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has apologised after telling a Shropshire electrician to quit his £40k position and find another job after he broke his leg and needed to claim benefits while he was off sick.
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Martin Flowers from Newport had only been at a building firm in Wolverhampton for three weeks when he had an accident at work in January.
Due to his injury, Martin had to sign-off sick from his £40,000-a-year position but his employers said they would welcome him back in July when he is expected to be declared fit to work by his doctor.
In the meantime, the 60-year-old, who has been living off £415 a month Statuary Sick Pay (SSP) since January, put in a claim for Universal Credit to help pay his bills.
He said: “Since I have had my accident, my employer has been as good as gold. While I had only been there for three weeks, they have kept me on while I recover. They even laid staff off earlier this year but still kept me on.
“I'm keen to get back to work a soon as possible but obviously in the building trade there are health and safety rules and you can't walk around a construction site on crutches so I need to be declared fit by my consultant who has said I should be able to start back from around mid-July.”
