Hello Community,
It’s Polly and Emma here. Welcome back to our Work Support blog. Today we thought we’d do something different and share the experience of two people we’ve spoken to on the Macmillan Support Line. We’ve changed the names of our customers to keep their identities confidential, however we hope you’ll be able to compare their experiences see how they dealt with them to help your experiences at work remain positive.
Mary’s Story:
Mary started to work for a large supermarket 17 years ago. Before her cancer diagnosis she worked night shifts in the petrol station.
Mary was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had to go on sick leave because she needed surgery and chemotherapy. Mary was daunted by returning to work nights as she felt very fatigued and it took her a long time to get over her treatment.
At first Mary’s line manager rang every month. Her line manager was very supportive and kind and there was a good relationship between them.
When Mary reached the sixth month of her sick leave, her pay dropped to zero and she received stern letters from work.
One letter was an invitation to an occupational health assessment and it contained a consent form. Mary signed it and sent it to work. The following week she attended the appointment. She told the Occupational Therapist that she remained unwell and was expecting further surgery. She did not know when she would come back to work, and she thought she could not do night shifts anymore.
She was soon invited to a formal meeting. The letter explained that an outcome of the meeting could be dismissal, and she could bring a colleague or a Union Representative to the meeting. Mary could not believe that someone with cancer and 17 years’ service could be sacked.
Throughout the meeting she felt that she was the one who was in the wrong. They asked her several times “when are you coming back to work?” They reminded her about what she said at the occupational health appointment. They said that the business cannot sustain her absence and she must go. She was dismissed.
When Mary called us, the dismissal took place over 3 months ago and she was out of time to apply to an Employment Tribunal. This might have been a successful unfair dismissal and disability discrimination claim.
Margaret’s Story:
Margaret worked for the same supermarket. She knows Mary because they started work for the supermarket at the same time. She was shocked when Mary was sacked and was frightened when she too was later diagnosed with breast cancer. Margaret also worked nights, however she worked in a role re-stocking the shelves.
Margaret took a different approach to Mary. She contacted the Macmillan Support Line and spoke to the Work Support Team (0808 808 0000 – option 1 followed by option 3). We were able to talk her through every step.
We suggested the following steps:
So, what happened to Margaret?
Margaret successfully delayed the Occupational Health referral until she felt well enough to make positive moves to return to work. It was good that she received a copy of the Occupational Health report before the employer because she noticed several mistakes and was able to ask that they be corrected before the report was sent to the employer.
The Union Rep went to formal meetings with her.
Together with her Union, she successfully obtained a phased return to work when she was ready and was able to start on light duties on day time shifts.
The Union Rep successfully raised Health and Safety concerns about night shifts and the possible link to cancer. This meant the store manager reviewed and changed the rotas, allowed staff to be employed flexibly and not be on permanent night shifts unless they chose to.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading our blog. If you do require any support, then please do call us on the Work Support Team. We can be reached on 0808 808 0000 – option 1 followed by option 3. Or you can ask us a question using the Ask a Work Support Advisor page of the Community.
