Employment and IBD Part 3 - Travelling to Work and Returning to Work After Time Off

If you have Crohn’s Disease or Ulcerative Colitis – conditions collectively known as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) – you may be concerned about your employment position. You may be employed or looking for a new job. You may be on benefits and are thinking about returning to work. While IBD is a chronic condition, with appropriate treatment it is often possible to remain well for long periods and many people with IBD are able to work full-time.

This series of articles sets out to answer some questions you may have about your possible options and how you may be protected by law. The quotations that are included are all from people who have IBD who responded to a 2011 Crohn’s and Colitis UK survey on IBD and employment

Travelling to work

Many people with IBD tell us that travelling to work or jobs that require travelling are particularly difficult. You may find it helpful to obtain a key for locked public toilets for disabled people from RADAR (The Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation). RADAR runs a National Key
Scheme for people to access specially adapted toilets that are kept locked to avoid vandalism.

They also provide a location guide to approximately 7,000 toilets throughout the UK. You may also get help with travel costs from Access to Work, as mentioned in the previous article.

“Because of lack of toilets I have to be

careful about my route and avoid

stressful situations like tube

stoppages. I dread being stuck on

the tube. Once I am in work I am

generally OK.”

Returning to work after a long absence 

If you have been off work for several weeks or months because of your IBD, you may feel anxious about returning to work. It is common for people to lose confidence about being able to return to work even after a relatively short time away on sick leave. Keeping in touch with an employer can help, and it may be helpful to set up an agreed procedure, if possible in advance, for how your employer will maintain contact with you whenever you are absent. This could specify a timescale, for example, suggest contact once you are absent formore than two weeks and/or specify the method by which you would prefer to be contacted e.g. phone, email or personal visit. You may prefer contact from a coworker, close colleague or union representative rather than your direct line manager.

It is important not to feel pressured into returning to work too soon before you are well. You might want to discuss a phased return to work, as you may not be able to work a full day at first. For example you might want to start working only a few hours each day and gradually increase your hours over time. Or perhaps you may want to ask for a reduced work load or lighter duties to begin with. Generally the more open you are about your needs, the more likely it is for your employer to be open and willing to make reasonable adjustments to help you back to work.

If you have to remain away from work until reasonable adjustments are in place (for example, moving your work station close to a toilet), arguably this should not be recorded as ‘sick leave’. 

“My employer is very supportive and

gave me full pay when I returned to

work from operations, and asked me

to return on a phased basis for the

good of my health e.g. two hours a

day first week back, three hours a

day the second week etc., until back

up to seven hours a day.”

If you are absent from work because of a disability-related sickness, it is important that this is recorded separately from other sickness absences, such as having a cold. This is to make sure that you are not discriminated against if, for example, decisions about promotion or bonuses take other sickness absences into account.

In Part 4 - Leaving Work and Financial Help