“I’d like to say all our employees felt their managers had treated them with dignity and respect at a difficult time in their lives,” says John Wrighthouse, HR director at Nationwide. “But I suspect some wouldn’t.”
Wrighthouse is talking about cancer: more specifically, employees who are diagnosed with cancer and how he, from the perspective of an employer, has handled this.
It seems there is no easy answer. Wrighthouse has been working on cancer policies at Nationwide for some time, but says: “I don’t think Nationwide is exemplary. We could do far more, far better.”
In this situation, most employers could do far more, far better. Which is why Macmillan Cancer Support has teamed up with PM to launch a “Working through cancer” campaign, to help employers handle the situation more effectively.
Research has shown why such help is needed. A YouGov poll of 2,223 UK adults conducted on behalf of Macmillan found that 77 per cent of respondents were not aware that their organisation was doing anything to support cancer sufferers. And 25 per cent of respondents in supervisor roles said they would “not be that confident” about managing a person with cancer.
Joan Coyle, director of central services at Macmillan, tells PM: “There’s growing evidence that staff with cancer are not getting the support they need. Many employers want to do the right thing but feel out of their depth.”
This is where the “Working through cancer” campaign comes in, directing employers and employees alike towards sources of information and support.
According to Coyle, HR is in a prime position to make good practice in this area really work for an organisation.
She says: “HR professionals know about the soft side of dealing with people and supporting them through practical means, but they know about the hard side too – issues such as law and entitlements. HR is key in lots of ways.”
That may be so, but there is room for improvement. The CIPD’s Working with Cancer report, published in November 2006, found 73 per cent of organisations had no formal policy in place for managing employees affected by cancer.
Those figures should show Wrighthouse that Nationwide’s policies are actually leading examples of a business making life better for staff with cancer. His statement that the company is not “exemplary” only demonstrates how strongly he feels about the subject.
“I’m very passionate about it,” he concedes. “This isn’t an absence issue to be dealt with – it’s about looking at the long-term relationship with an employee.”
Nationwide offers free health screening for employees every two years, for which there is a take-up of between 60 and 70 per cent. The screening is broad-based, looking for a range of conditions, but it has identified cancer in staff.
“I don’t want to sound too dramatic,” Wrighthouse says, “but because of that screening, treatment has been accessed early and it has saved lives.”
Nationwide also pays for a free, confidential helpline open to staff and their partners, offers six months’ full occupational sick pay and 18 months’ half pay, and trains managers in how to communicate with employees who have the disease.
“There is a stigma that makes people scared to talk about cancer,” Wrighthouse adds. “But if you haven’t had regular conversations with someone it makes the situation more difficult to deal with.”
Wrighthouse advises employers to talk through options with an employee, such as phased return to work and reduced hours. If long-term sick leave does occur, he says contact must be consistent to be truly supportive. But he points out it is the manager’s job to keep in touch, not HR’s. “The job for HR is to ask managers when they last made a call and to keep checking best practice,” he says.
Regarding best practice, Nationwide will further improve its policies by working with Macmillan on its “Working through cancer” campaign. “We want to see what else we can learn,” Wrighthouse explains.
A strong focus on people works well for Nationwide, but what about what Joan Coyle calls the “hard side” of HR? Worryingly, the YouGov research found only 51 per cent of employers knew cancer sufferers in employment were protected by the Disability Discrimination Act.
The law, which was updated in 2005, requires employers to make “reasonable adjustments” to accommodate the needs of staff with, or in remission from, cancer.
A spokesperson for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) reveals: “The former Disability Rights Commission [now under the umbrella of the EHRC] had something like 70 complaints a year because employers weren’t aware of their obligations under the law.”
The government is working towards making employers more aware of their responsibilities via its “Health, work and well-being” programme. A partnership between the DWP, the Department of Health, the Health and Safety Executive, the Scottish Executive and the Welsh Assembly Government, one of its main priorities is to keep people with health problems in work and fulfilling their potential, which a DWP spokesperson admits is “possibly not happening at the moment”.
The EHRC argues that retaining employees with cancer yields better business benefits than paying to hire replacements. But the spokesperson adds: “Individual cases are exactly that – everyone is different. Best practice is to come to a mutually supportive arrangement.”
Ben Willmott, CIPD adviser, employee relations, agrees. “It’s down to the individual to decide what is appropriate for them,” he says. “There needs to be sensitivity about how people want to deal with it. But organisations should ensure the issue is covered at policy level. It’s a good starting point for making sure the situation is dealt with in a consistent way.”
This is also Macmillan’s view. Coyle stresses: “It’s important not to be too prescriptive, because every organisation is different.”
She recommends operating within a framework that knits together three crucial aspects – policies covering terms and conditions, the law and creating a supportive environment – and says the framework should be adaptable according to both employer and employee needs. Most importantly, she wants to hear about it.
“Tell Macmillan what you’re doing,” she urges. “Give us examples, good and bad, so we can be responsive to employers and work on policies and guidance together.”
What HR can do now
• Make sure that policies on sick leave are in order, and consider private medical insurance and counselling services
• Ensure that recruitment, training and promotion procedures do not discriminate against sufferers
• Give managers training in communication and consider offering a “buddy system” for sufferers to speak to others who have had experience of cancer
Further information
Guidance for employers is available by contacting Macmillan 08000 898500 www.macmillan.org.uk/work
Cancer and working: guidelines for employers, HR and line managers
www.cipd.co.uk/guides