New research by Aviva UK Health has revealed that employers are finding it challenging to help employees with complex conditions such as cancer to return to work.
New plans announced under the Welfare Reform Bill 2011 will see cancer patients no longer being eligible to receive Employment and Support Allowance after a year if a spouse or partner is working. Aviva claims the new legislation will encourage people to return to work before they are ready, which will put increased pressure on employers to support them.
One in five employers questioned in the study said they have experience of staff being diagnosed with cancer, and 11 per cent said they were concerned about getting the employee back to work.
The research also showed that 17 per cent of employers admitted that they would find it difficult to manage both the needs of the business and the needs of their employee if the employee returned too soon. One in ten were worried about finding the money to support the employee and to ensure the business was unaffected.
Nearly a quarter of the employers questioned, who have supported staff through serous illness, revealed that the experience prompted them to review their HR policy to ensure that they know how to deal with future cases. Aviva says this demonstrates the need for regular reviews to ensure companies are able to effectively support employees living with complex conditions such as cancer.€
In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, ‘Burnout, stress and being human’, Heather Beach is joined by Stacy Thomson to discuss burnout, perfectionism and how to deal with burnout as an individual, as management and as an organisation.
We provide an insight on how to tackle burnout and why mental health is such a taboo subject, particularly in the workplace.
