Employers/HR/Colleagues
Top tips on how to support a colleague during and after cancer treatment
Posted: 22nd March 2017
Cancer is having a huge impact within the workplace and this will continue and increase for the foreseeable future. Although long-term absence[1] (lasting over four weeks) only accounts for 5% of all absence episodes, it typically accounts for 30–40% of total working time lost. In 2013 it was estimated to cost the UK £4bn per… [Read More]
Managing the performance of people affected by cancer
Posted: 6th December 2016
Here are a couple of case studies to get you thinking: can you spot what the employers should have done differently in the two case studies below? Case 1: A friend of mine, relatively new in a senior role, was diagnosed with cancer. Keen to keep on working during her chemo and with no real… [Read More]
Is your long-term sickness policy fit for work and cancer?
Posted: 23rd September 2016
Returning to work is not a sprint, it’s more like a marathon and sometimes there need to be pauses along the way to draw breath. It’s not a seamless progression, but a long and winding road. Is your long term sickness policy fit for purpose? Read full article here Written for Macmillan Cancer Support, September 2016
Managing someone coping with the long term side effects of cancer
Posted: 15th March 2016
If you read my last blog you’ll recall that I wrote, ‘returning to work is not a sprint, it’s more like a marathon and sometimes there needs to be pauses along the way to draw breath. It’s not a seamless progression but a long and winding road’. In most cases this is a journey which… [Read More]
Why is managing cancer at work different? Because it’s cancer.
Posted: 1st March 2016
Part of the work we do at Working With Cancer is to support the line managers of those with cancer. Managing the return to work process of a person with cancer can be like walking a tightrope. You want to do the right thing, to show compassion in what are incredibly difficult circumstances. But you’re… [Read More]
What does the Equality Act mean for Employers?
Posted: 7th September 2015
Line managers, as the statistics show*, often don’t realise that the Equality Act 2010 (Disability Discrimination Act 1995, Northern Ireland) covers cancer or understand what is meant by ‘reasonable adjustments’. So, for example, after six to eight weeks of a phased return, they typically expect an ‘employee’ recovering from cancer treatment to be ‘back to… [Read More]
Preparing line managers to talk with staff affected by cancer
Posted: 11th June 2015
For many managers, probably the most difficult aspect of managing employees diagnosed with cancer is having that first conversation – of dealing with the news and offering support. It is a critical moment because how a line manager reacts to the news, at first and then afterwards, has been shown to have a significant impact… [Read More]
Protecting a Returning Employee from the Expectations of their Colleagues
Posted: 28th May 2015
It’s a common assumption amongst employees recovering from cancer and their employers that having followed a phased return to work – for example working three hours a day for one week, four hours a day the next week and so on – the majority of cancer survivors will be back at work and pretty much… [Read More]
Supporting a successful return to work after cancer
Posted: 27th April 2015
We all know that the incidence of cancer is increasing. Cancer Research UK recently reported that 1 in 2 people in the UK born after 1960 will be diagnosed with some form of cancer during their lifetime. By 2030 it is estimated that there will be 4 million people living with cancer. So dealing effectively… [Read More]
What should employers consider when appraising an employee affected by cancer, including carers?
Posted: 10th March 2015
As you know individuals who have cancer are covered by the 2010 Equality Act (or the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act if living in Northern Ireland) from the point of diagnosis. As part of this, employers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments if existing working arrangements put the affected person at a substantial disadvantage compared… [Read More]