Returning to work

Many people return to work after treatment. But some people have ongoing treatment side effects, which can affect their work. These are called late effects or long-term side effects and may include:

• fatigue (tiredness) for months or sometimes years after treatment
• soreness or limited movement
• eating problems
• needing to use the toilet more often due to bladder or bowel changes.

You may need support from your employer to agree to some reasonable adjustments that may help you.

You and your manager can agree on a return-to-work plan. This should be as flexible as possible. You should agree to meet regularly in case you need to change anything.

Make sure you are fully involved in any decisions about your return to work. It can be helpful to write notes in your meetings. You may also want someone to come to the meetings with you. They can support you and help you remember what is said.

You can also ask your doctor or another healthcare professional for a fit note. This explains how your health affects what you can do at work. It can be useful to have when talking to your employer about changes to your job. For a guide on fit notes, visit gov.uk.

Before you go back to work, you may need to think about how this will affect your finances.

If your mortgage or any loans were being paid by an insurance policy, this will end when you go back to work. If you are thinking of working part time, check how much money you need to cover your monthly outgoings.

Check if you have any income from occupational pensions, private pensions or life assurance. You might be able to freeze, transfer or cash in a pension.

If you have been out of work for a long time and have money problems, StepChange Debt Charity can give you advice.

We want everyone affected by cancer to feel our information is written for them.

We want our information to be as clear as possible. To do this, we try to:

• use plain English
• explain medical words
• use short sentences
• use illustrations to explain text
• structure the information clearly
• make sure important points are clear.

We use gender-inclusive language and talk to our readers as ‘you’ so that everyone feels included. Where clinically necessary we use the terms ‘men’ and ‘women’ or ‘male’ and ‘female’. For example, we do so when talking about parts of the body or mentioning statistics or research about who is affected.

You can read more about how we produce our information here.