Going back to work after cancer treatment

Meeting with your employer Back to top

When you plan to go back, it will help to have a meeting with your employer, human resources department or occupational health staff. If you’re still coping with some of the effects of cancer treatment, you can discuss any changes that can be made to your work to help you.

If your workplace has an occupational health adviser, your manager can arrange for you to see them and agree a ‘return to work’ plan. The adviser can see you from time to time until you are fully back at work.

If you feel that things have moved on while you were away, you may want to ask for time or training to catch up with the developments.

Job flexibility Back to top

If you feel that you can’t cope with your old job and would like to reduce your hours (go part-time) or need to change your job description, you should discuss this with your employer or the HR manager as soon as possible. They should be willing to be flexible about your work arrangements to allow you to go on working as much as you can. They are required to consider this under the Disability Discrimination Act|.

Financial considerations when going back Back to top

If you are considering going back to work after treatment, it’s important to think about the following:

• The option of full-time or part-time work. Look at how much income you need to cover your monthly outgoings.
• You may have had your mortgage, bank loan or credit agreement paid by an insurance policy while you were ill. This will end when you go back to work, so remember to include it in your calculations.
• If you’ve been out of work for a long time you may have financial problems and possibly be in debt. The National Debtline can give you advice.
• You can keep claiming some benefits even when you go back to work, but others will stop. For example, you might still be able to receive Disability Living Allowance while working, but Employment and Support Allowance could be affected.
• There are ‘top-up benefits’ for people on low income, especially for part-time workers, such as Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, and Council Tax Benefit.
• Help is available for self-employed people or people who want to be self-employed – contact your nearest Citizens Advice Bureau or the Department for Work and Pensions.
• Do you have income from occupational pensions, private pensions, life assurance – can you freeze a pension, transfer a pension or cash-in a pension?
• It may help to contact an independent financial adviser.

If you have been claiming benefit Back to top

If you want to go back to work after some time away and you have been claiming benefits, there are options you will need to consider. Factors other than financial ones that may affect your decision are covered elsewhere in this booklet.

It’s important to realise that there are many issues to take into account when assessing benefits and so it’s only possible to give general information here. Each person’s entitlement has conditions specific to their situation, taking into account age, savings, income, hours worked, number of people in the family, childcare costs, and housing costs.

Some benefits automatically entitle you to other benefits. It’s possible to be eligible for more than one benefit (such as Income Support and Working Tax Credit) but not both at the same time.

It is essential that you take advice from an independent benefits adviser. You could call one of our cancer support specialists|, a Citizens Advice Bureau or welfare rights worker. You can check if there’s a benefits adviser in the social work department at your hospital.

You should check out your entitlement to benefits and tax credits to work out whether your income will be higher with these or if you go back to work. You will need to know:

• if you will be better off financially
• if savings affect your eligibility for certain benefits
• how much you would need to earn to compensate for the loss of benefits you may be receiving at present
• how the number of hours you work will affect your eligibility for certain benefits
• how claiming a different benefit would affect your situation
• who should make the claim for benefit if you’re living with a partner. There could be occasions when it’s beneficial for one partner rather than the other to claim.

Benefits not affected if you go back to work Back to top

Disability Living Allowance (care and mobility components) and Attendance Allowance can both be paid whether or not you are working.

Eligibility for both allowances depends on your care needs (care component) and your inability to walk (mobility component). If your walking improves and/or you need less help with personal care, this could affect your entitlement to Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance. The Department for Work and Pensions may re-assess the rate you are paid.

The higher rate of the mobility component of the allowance allows you an exemption from road tax and entitles you to a Blue Badge parking concession. You can also use the higher rate of the component to buy or lease a car under the Motability Scheme.

Prescription charges

Prescription charges for people with cancer are changing.

England Since April 2009, cancer is one of the conditions that make you exempt from paying prescription charges. You can apply for an exemption certificate, which lasts for five years, by asking your doctor for the relevant form.

Scotland Prescription charges are being phased out in Scotland over the next three years (to be abolished by 2011). In line with this, the cost of a pre-payment certificate (see below) is going down.

Northern Ireland Prescription charges and pre-payment certificates reduced in price from January 2009 and are free from April 2010.

Wales Prescriptions are free to people who live in Wales.

If you need a lot of prescriptions but can’t get them free, you may consider buying a pre-payment certificate for four months or for 12 months. You save money if you need more than five prescriptions items in four months or 14 items in 12 months.

Council Tax reduction

You can claim a reduction of your council tax if you have special provisions for the disabled in your home.

Benefits that can top-up a low income:

• Working Tax Credit
• Child Tax Credit
• Income Support
• Housing Benefit
• Council Tax Benefit
• Pension Credit
• Educational Maintenance Allowance
• free school meals
• help with NHS costs, prescriptions, hospital fares, dental or eye treatment.

Benefits affected if you go back to work Back to top

If you receive Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) from the Department for Work and Pensions, this will stop if you go back to work. It’s important to review your situation after a few weeks. If you are finding it difficult to continue to work, you may re-qualify for ESA at the same rate and on the same basis as before, if you make a fresh claim within 12 weeks.

Permitted Work

Generally, ESA is paid on the basis that you are unable to work. But there are some types of work you may be able to do within certain limits. This is called ‘Permitted Work’ and allows you to see how you get on with some types of work and maybe learn some new skills.

You will need to check that what you want to do is covered by the Permitted Work rules. These say you can:

• work for less than 16 hours a week on average, with earnings up to £92.00 a week for 52 weeks
• work for less than 16 hours a week, on average, with earnings up to £92.00 a week if you are in the support group of the main phase of ESA
• work and earn up to £20 a week, at any time, for as long as you are receiving ESA
• do Supported Permitted Work and earn up to £92.00 a week for as long as you are receiving ESA, provided you continue to satisfy the Supported Permitted Work criteria.

If you do Permitted Work, you may be liable to pay tax on the extra income. You will need to tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) when you start work. Other benefits such as Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit may also be affected. It’s best to discuss this with a personal adviser at your local Jobcentre Plus office. They can also tell you about local schemes to help people back into work.