Advice on early retirement due to ill health

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dragonmonk18

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Hi, if this is not the correct forum please let me know..
Someone I know would like to retire at an earlier age due to deteriorating mental health over the past few years, to the point where he can no longer function in a workplace. He is currently on extended sick leave for more than a year now, not receiving any pay, social welfare has been delayed for whatever reason, so the severe lack of income has been adding on a lot of stress. He would like to retire early and very soon, he has been on the job for more than a decade. He is trying to contact his union rep for any assistance or advice on early retirement but they have been busy lately. I am worried that this early retirement process might not be so straightforward. He is certainly not in the right mental state to deal with this entire situation on his own. Other than a union rep, is there anyone else who can assist in this kind of situation or where we can get help (e.g. local authority)? Any useful advice on where to start, or how to deal with this in the best possible way would be extremely helpful. Thanks in advance
 
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First things first, resolve the social welfare issue and if he is getting nowhere, then Citizens Advice should be able to advise.

Secondly, define "retire". There is nothing to stop him resigning right now if he wanted to but if he is looking to draw down on a pension early, then HR and the company pension advisors may be able to help. If he is looking to be "paid off" by either the employers or their insurance company on the grounds that he is unable to go back to work then the company should have a process for that for him to apply also but it takes a number of months.

As for the union rep, I presume your friend has paid his subs and like any business providing a service, if the person on the ground is not delivering, escalate, ring the union and speak to someone there.
 
Ideally they need to apply for invalidity pension. Reasonably high threshold, but it seems they are an ideal candidate.

Their GP will need to supply a report and medical history and being out of work for over 12 months and unlikely to be able to return to work in the next 12 months are some of the requirements.

Takes about 12-14 weeks at present. It is not means tested. But first port of call is the GP and it is their report that is most important. If he has seen a consultant - their reports (usually sent to the GP) will form an important part of the GP report.

If he hasn't seen a consultant, it might be worth getting a referral to see if medication can alleviate some issues as mental health is a phenomenally difficult thing to diagnose correctly and in many cases getting to the medication that suits the patient is trial and error combined with the expertise of the consultant.
 
More info, please. Are we talking Private Sector or Public/Civil
Service?
 
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