At work with MS Questions you may have
There are numerous questions that you may have and the answer to many of these depends on your employer's policies and the relationship you have with your employer.
The key is maintaining contact with the
relevant person at work rather than just sending the required paperwork. Keeping people informed will allow
dialogue and negotiation to find the best solution for everyone.
I have found it is essential to open the lines of communication with your manager to talk about what you can do, so there is not just an assumption about the things you can't manage."
What happens to my job when I reach the end of one year off sick?
How do you retire due to ill health?
How can I organise returning to work flexibly?
Is it better to go back to work earlier and perhaps take longer to return to full capacity or stay at home longer and wait for more improvement?
Your employer may have a return to work policy that includes a phased return to work programme, usually over a set time scale. However, if this is not suitable for you, discuss it with your GP as part of your fitness to work certification, your employer or Disability Employment Advisor from Jobcentre Plus. A return to work policy that is not modified to suit your condition could be challenged under the Equality Act. By building up your hours and duties over a period of time you should be better able to sustain your return to work rather than trying to return too quickly and risk overdoing things.
Think about how you can build up your stamina for daily activities before returning to work.
Think about how you will manage any symptoms that are new or have got worse, particularly in relation to your work tasks and your work environment.
Think about how you will manage home-life demands once you return to work.
When there is a time of change, either in symptoms or how you manage them, or a change in your job, this may require further or different adjustments and can be a time of renegotiation. Change in management within an organisation can be a difficult time if the new manager does not fully understand adjustments that have been made. It is best to take action early and contact the Disability Employment Advisor or other support rather than allow problems to escalate, when communication could become more difficult. Problems can appear too big to resolve when you are in the middle of things; sometimes talking things through can help to break down the problems into more manageable pieces.