I have had 3 primary cancers in last 10 years, last one diagnosed Feb this year. Haven’t been at work since Jan this year. I am now waiting for double mast and removal of ovaries due to Brca1 gene.
If the op isnt going to be until next year i am hoping to have a staged return to work using my holiday entitlement over November and December. I was working for NHS before and did this ok. Now i am employed by a PCT, there is some confusion over what my entitlements are.
I understand and have found on Directgov.com that I accrue holidays as long as i return to work by Dec. Our holiday year runs from jan to dec. If i don’t return then I lose holidays or may be able to carry 5 days over at employers discretion.
Does anyone know anything that might help, am off to meet with employers soon to discuss matters.
Also can an employer sack you after a certain period of time off… ?
Hi Wendy,
I moved to a new job(within local government) last November-I have worked for LG for 34 years.I was dx bc in May of this year and subsequently had 2 lots of surgery within 5 weeks.I asked for a phased return to work which was arranged for 2 weeks,thereafter I wanted to use my leave entitlement to enable me to work shorter days whilst undergoing chemo-however personnel said there wasn’t a facility to monitor this (?) and I wouldn’t be able to use my leave in hours on a daily basis-the upshot of it was that I was referred to occy health which was the best thing out-they have been so supportive in enabling me to continue working while having chemo and they have actually agreed a shorter working day for me-max 5 hours per day-to be reviewed in 6 weeks time(with no pay reduction.)
I was a little anxious about being referred to occy health and was unsure of their role but they have enabled and supported me to continue working whilse having treatment.Hope this helps.
I’m glad your being treated with care and your having all the help you need. I am in contact with the Occy health nurse, who is helping me along. However the services are bought in from the NHS and they have different policies, so she doesn’t know what my employers rules are! Having said that my employer hasn’t been in this situation so they are in the dark as well.
Hopefully will have some more answers by the end of the week and will feel more settled.
As far as I am aware, you are entitled to take all holiday leave due to you whilst off sick.
I return to work in January and will work 2 days per week (taking 3 days off per week as holiday leave) until mid March (I get 37 days leave per year!)
I work for NHS and know I can only carry 1 week forward to next year (after April). Altho I will be hopefully using holidays, my boss has told me that they do not HAVE to give me the holidays if the ward staffing does not allow it!!
Thank you ladies for you help and advice, will see how I get on on Friday. Fiona - that brings back memories ‘if ward staffing allows’ I go all cold thinking about it!! Best of luck
I too work for the NHS and was off work for 16 months starting at the end March last year. (My A/L goes from April to March). I had gone into unpaid leave when I returned and had lost all the leave from the paid year. I was allowed to have 5 days towards a phased return and also chose to reduce my contracted hours. The PCT should have an HR department that should be able to give you the answers. The words ‘ward staffing’ I think will evoke lots of thoughts in many of us ‘ward staff’.
I do not think that the employers can legally sack you for being off sick and should all follow procedure…I think generally the NHS does do this though of course I am aware that after a very long period they can look at other options. Occupational Health are meant to be supportive though yet again this does depend on who you see and the area etc that you live in.
I hope that you manage to solve your problems with your employers. Try to get everything in writing about terms/options offered and you are entitled to take someone with you when you meet management/HR.
Take care.
Angela
when you have been diagnosed with cancer, you are legally classed as a disabled person and thereby have all of the protection provided by the Disability Discrimination Act. Consequently, an employer cannot sack you simply because you have cancer. If you are off a long time, they may decide to assess your situation from a competency point of view. They would have to be able to prove that you were no longer competent to do your job and would have to have a report from a doctor to state that you were unfit. If a doctor says you are fit or will be following treatment or a certain period of time, they can’t dismiss you.CancerBACUP do a really useful booklet on cancer and work.
I went back to work on 2nd April this year. The company’s holiday year runs from Jan to Dec and I’ve had to use 12 months holiday in 9 months. Whether or not you can carry over holiday is at my employers discretion and they won’t let you carry over more than 5 days. I was diagnosed in August last year and lost 15 days holiday last year as I was off sick from then until i went back this year. It is usual practice and within the law for an employer to decide that you have lost holiday due to your sickness absenc i.e not been at work to be able to take it.
Hi Wendy - I work for the NHS too - a PCT actually - I am due back in December after 3months sick and have arranged a phased return through my boss and occy health. When on a phased return you are entitled to your full pay and you don’t have to use your holiday for a phased return.Don’t let them con you out of holiday or pay - we have enough to contend with without extra stress of money worries and work!!
It also doesn’t matter how long you have worked for a trust they have to keep you job open and can’t sack you - the first time I was diagnosed 4 years ago I started the job on the Wednesday morning and had to go for my biopsy results that afternoon - had only worked for 3 hours and then had to have 9 months off sick !! nightmare as you can imagine- I had already been with the NHS for 2 years previously in another job but was obviously worried about my new job. Because I had already started the contract my job was safe - didn’t get loads of sick pay though but did have a phased return on full pay.
Heres one to be wary of that has just happened to me.
I have worked in a hospital path lab for 18 years . For the past year I have been very unwell and took a lot of sick leave but I was not diagnosed till July and then with mets 3 weeks later.
I decided to apply for early retirement through ill health when I went onto six months of half pay in June as I was worried what i would live on come December. (At 57 my old age pension does not kick in for 3 years). I thought by applying at this point it was giving everybody plenty of time to put wheels in motion. It was subsequently granted at the end of September.
I was then visited by a general manager in early October who stated that as I was unfit to return to work he was “sacking” me as of then!
Effectively he was keeping 2 months of my half pay…I should have kept my mouth shut and waited till my zero salary pay conditions kicked in!