Taking time off during treatment

You may need to take time off for appointments and follow-up. In most cases, your employer will give you a reasonable amount of time off work to attend necessary hospital appointments. If you have been diagnosed with cancer, you are protected by the Disability Discrimination Act|.

A reasonable adjustment your employer can make may be to allow you to attend hospital appointments. However, there is no absolute right to paid time off unless your contract of employment specifically states this.

Obviously it will help to give your employer as much warning as possible if you need time off, because if you give very short notice they may be unable to agree to the request.

You may also need to take time off during your treatment. This time off may be taken as sickness absence, or an agreed reduction in working hours or days per week. See financial issues| for information about taking time off sick, sick pay and other financial issues.

It will help to talk about your need for time off with your employer, so that they can support you in the best way possible.

Emotional effects

Having to take time off can make you feel a range of emotions|. You may feel angry that you can’t be at work when you have a lot to do. You may also feel guilty if others have to take on some of your work when you’re not there.

Taking a lot of time off can make you feel out of touch with what’s going on at your workplace. You may lose confidence in your ability to do your job well, or you may think that your colleagues are annoyed with you or feel that you’re not pulling your weight.

Some people can lose a sense of ‘normality’ when they’re not working and some find that they lose confidence and self-esteem.

All of these emotions are natural and normal when you have to take time off for cancer treatment. It can help to talk honestly about these feelings to your manager and colleagues as well as family and friends.

Support

Sometimes counselling can help people to cope with these feelings and to find ways of talking to colleagues. Counselling can also help to restore self-confidence. Some companies or GP surgeries provide counselling. You can also have face-to-face or telephone counselling from the Cancer Counselling Trust|.