 |
|
 Essex and Herts unionlearn forum Unions and Employers helping to build Working Communities  |
Embargo: 00.01 July 2 How do you tell your boss that you have cancer?How do you tell your line manager that you have cancer? What is the best way to break your news to your colleagues? How will you feel about coping with the side effects of the treatment, such as tiredness and hair loss? What are your employment rights while you are having treatment? Who can help you in the workplace? The answer is that your union rep can help with all these issues. TUC Education, part of unionlearn, the TUC's learning and skills organisation, has launched an awareness raising and support programme with the charity Macmillan Cancer Support to help reps improve the experience of people living with cancer and carers in the workplace. It also helps them to work with HR departments to put in place fair policies to help those with the condition and to raise awareness among staff. Each year in the UK, 90,000 people of working age are diagnosed with cancer. The HR department of a large employer will see more new cancer diagnoses in a year than a GP. There are currently 774,000 people of working age living with a cancer diagnosis. Many will continue to work after, or even through, their treatment for cancer. Ciarán Devane, chief executive, Macmillan Cancer Support, said: 'There's a desperate lack of support and information to help the growing number of people living with cancer remain in or return to work. For many people, going back to work is an important step towards getting their lives back on track, but we know that employers are unaware of what support people who have recently completed cancer treatment will need in the workplace. Union reps could play a pivotal role in helping to ease patient's transition back to work and so it's great they'll have access to this exciting new learning resource.' Brendan Barber, TUC General Secretary, 'There is enormous scope for well-informed trade union reps to ensure that employers support their staff effectively, thereby reducing anxiety for trade union members and increasing the likelihood of a successful return to work. We are delighted that our two organisations have worked together to produce such practical and useful learning materials, and we're confident that our partnership will improve the lives of many thousands of people living with cancer.' Of the complaints made to the Disability Rights Commission (now the Equality and Human Rights Commission) related to cancer, 82 per cent were about employers not making reasonable adjustments. A union rep can take a short face-to-face course, Cancer in the Workplace: A Course and Guidance for Union Representatives with TUC Education. There is also an online version of the course available through the Macmillan website. Your trained union rep will be able to help us by:
Often a family member will have to become carer for a partner, child or relative who has been diagnosed with cancer. Under the Work and Families Act (2006) a carer can request flexible working. The union rep can help those who lack the confidence or knowledge to raise these issues. A June 2007 Investors in People survey found that 17 per cent of employers believed it would be too expensive for them to improve their workers' well being. Another 24 per cent of bosses said they did not know what action they should take. From the workforce side, almost a third (30 per cent) of employees said that their employers think healthy working is either a wasted investment, a waste of time, nothing to do with them, or that it doesn't mean anything. There is a DVD for employers Cancer in the Workplace produced by Macmillan and a booklet resource to be used in conjunction with it - the DVD shows five powerful case studies and the potential situations that employees and employers may experience in the workplace. Now union reps perspectives have been added and are available online. Case Study Susan, 51, from London was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was treated with chemotherapy and surgery to remove lymph nodes, and then five weeks of radiotherapy. 'I was brought up to be strong and to suffer in silence so I just tried to get on with it after all the treatment was over. But I found it a real struggle and lost a lot of confidence. I was signed off sick from work for five weeks after the radiotherapy. I do an office job but I really didn't feel physically or emotionally ready to return but, equally, felt guilty about taking more time off. 'I'd have preferred to start off part time but no one was there to talk me through the possibilities so I'm back full time, struggling with chemo brain and energy levels.' NOTES TO EDITORS: 1. Cancer in the Workplace. A Workbook for Union Representatives can be downloaded at http://www.unionlearn.org.uk/publications/index.cfm?frmPubID=175 2. Macmillan's Learn Zone - www.macmillan.org.uk/learnzone gives access to interactive online learning about cancer and consider how to support union members diagnosed with cancer and their carers Media enquiries: Rebecca Openshaw, Media & PR Officer Macmillan Cancer Support T: 020 7840 4699 M: 07801 307068 ROpenshaw@macmillan.org.uk All unionlearn press releases can be found at www.unionlearn.org.uk Press release (1,100 words) issued 2 Jul 2010  Occupational Health and Wellbeing in the workplace Trade Union Education in Preston Provided by Manchester College Union rep courses Scotland – January to June 2012 |
|
unionlearn Telephone 020 7079 6920 |
|
