‘The financial impact was huge’ – Cancer survivor says diagnosis affected her career

A woman who returned to work after a cancer diagnosis says she took a ‘huge’ financial hit.

It comes as a new study has shown that almost half of people returning to work after a cancer diagnosis reported that it had a negative impact on their career.

Females, younger workers, the self-employed and those working in the public sector were more likely to report a negative impact.

Nearly half of those who returned to work identified health issues which affected their ability to return to work, according to the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).

In general, respondents reported high levels of support from their organisation and manager on returning to work.

But one-third of cancer patients and survivors reported negative experiences – such as a reduction in salary or bonus or being overlooked for promotion.

Anne Marie Davy from Galway returned to work in 2018, following major cancer surgery.

She told The Hard Shoulder the employer was accommodating, but she lost out in other ways.

“I returned in 2018, and for them to facilitate that they put it in a process of a phased return – which I found helpful, because my confidence had gone”.

“I went in for one day for a week, and then two days a week and up to until I was full-time at five days a week”.

“I had a great manager, a supervisor who’s very understanding just little things that they put in place.

“They changed my role, so I wasn’t on a shift where I was standing all the time – they moved me into more of a quality inspection role, where I could sit down for the entire shift.”

But Ms Davy said she took a big financial hit in the process.

“The financial impact was huge for us as a family – although I had all that time off and I was able to go back, it was unpaid time off.

“And I didn’t qualify for any type of welfare payment or illness benefit, because I was reliant on the PRSI payments in the relevant year which was two years previous

“I had been a stay-at-home mammy for 10 years, so I didn’t qualify.

“So that was huge for us, it was a huge impact because I’d only recently returned to work.

“I was looking forward to being more than just a mammy, contributing again – and you never know what’s around the corner.

“It knocked us for six”.

She said the Government and employers can learn from this.

“I would like to see some form of statutory sick pay introduced.”

“But I’d also like employers to take note of this survey as well, and ensure they’re all up to date with the legal obligations about implementing reasonable accommodation to facilitate employees returning to work”.

“I think there maybe a lack of understanding, and I have found that, I think there maybe a kind of unconscious bias with regard to… what I’m capable of doing.

“And it can be quite frustrating sometimes, I feel I always have to fight my own battles – it’s within the workplace and outside the workplace”.

Source: newstalk By Jack Quann

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