Hi all Just wondering since being diagnosed with copd am I ever likely to be employed again or would most employers run a mile.
Are we employable.: Hi all Just... - Lung Conditions C...
Are we employable.
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denma1972
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I know of a few with COPD who still are employed. I think it depends on the severity of your illness and what your job is.
I could no longer continue with my profession (I was a Nurse) but I had other medical problems at the time of my COPD diagnosis.
To be honest, if I didn't have back problems and only had COPD, I think I could have worked for a couple of years after my diagnosis.
If I tried to do any form of Nursing now, I would end up 6foot under!!! lol
Not ready for that yet!!!
Thérèse
denma1972• in reply to
Hi dangirl11 i would say trying to keep up nursing when you have copd would be though being on your feet all day running around after unruly patients! What I meant was if you were seeking New employment has anyone had any experience.I don't think your existing employer could sack you for having copd although it wouldn't surprise me.
• in reply todenma1972
Hi an employer won't sack anyone for having COPD and they should be able to make 'reasonable' adjustments to help the person stay in the job. This is health and safety law. Reasonable adjustments though depend on the employer and might not be enough to help much. ATOS usually becomes involved at this stage. If there is a union they can usually help.
However an employer can sack someone for not fulfilling their contract ie having too much time off so they can't. It's a myth employers can't sack you if you are off a while with illness - they can and do. It happened to me. x
WestWalesPaul• in reply to
I thought ATOS are only involved in assessments when claiming benefits?
Good question Denma, I think if your employed at the time of your illness diagnoses and your employer has a heart its possible to stay in employment as long as it is possible, but to start again with a new employer could be a different kettle of fish. It would be impossible to hide your illness so it would be very tricky as you would be competing against the many fit and healthy people who are out of work.
Pretty negative stuff but there's no harm in trying because if you find the right job with the right employer it would be great.
Its a very risky thing to do if your on benefits because its such a long job to get them back if it all goes pair shaped, it should be easier to try to get back to work and return to benefits if it proves to be impossible, I'm sure more people would give it a try if this was so.
Tony
That's very true Tony it just gets very demoralizing when you spend so much of your life working and then you are not part of the working community anymore some times it just doesn't feel right and then there's the money side of it I'm just 42 I thought I would be working well in to my sixtys .Thanks for the reply Denis.
Hi Denma, I'm only 41 and could no longer do my job I kept letting them down when ill, and looking after patients needs 100% and could barely offer 50%, my issue now is that's all I know working in care , so yes I could be retrained, but like dall said who is gonna employ me with my demands next to a healthy worker, I may have a better personality, friendly and even better qualified, but then I'm going to say I need flexi hours as I never know from day to day how well I'm going to be, no stairs, not cold not to hot, no flowers around , the cleaners need to use certain chemicals so I can breath whilst at work, I need extra breaks to take my nebuliser at times throughout they day, wouldn't cope if others came in with coughs and colds , I might nod off at inappropriate times due to fatigue, so I'm really employable, but if I was an employer I wouldn't hire me either, so I won't blame them. Sorry for ur situation and I really don't mean to put a downer on it but that's how I feel looking from both sides. X Sonia x
Hi in some jobs you haven't got to declare illnesses - or only ones that you think could impact on the work. So if you think you could do the job you wouldn't need to declare it. x
Look at the disability laws, they do say "everyone has a right to work" however, we all know, once you start filling in the medical side of things, a company will find some way of saying no!
Check this out cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/fac...
When I had to leave my company two years ago because of ill health, they supported me in every step. If they need my expertise they sub-contract me to do the work on the understanding, if, I have an exacerbation I don't work at all until well again. So I still keep the grey matter chugging along.
I was in a manual job with L.B of Redbridge and suffering a great deal with COPD. I tried to retire on ill health at 60, I had to have an assessment with the council's Doctor and a lot of meetings with the management. I had no support at all from them and in the end. I retired early at just over 60 in 2013, if I had tried to carry on it would have killed me. I am now living on a reduced pension, No thanks to London Borough of Redbridge. I had worked for them for just over 36 years and they didn't care about me at all, that forced me into leaving on my own accord.
There are loads of different types of nursing that you might be able to do? Where you less hard work with patients? Thinking of things like occupational health nurse, gp nurse??
I am not a nurse but got moderate - severe COPD. I am still workings albeit part time and with little social life.
Just seems a shame if you want to work to feel you have to give up.
I still work and have copd. But my job does not involve any physical work I just sit and answer the phone. I really enjoy getting out and working
I only work a few hours a week which suits me fine. But I have had copd for years now only just got worse this last year. I have always worked only part time and not very active jobs. Just do what you can manage do if you can find a job like that. So please,do not write yourself off.
Hi Denma,
I've had Bronchiectasis all of my life and have worked full time until retirement , and part time since. I have never been asked about my health, and unless it's a really physical job, I can't see why you would be? If you're qualified for the post you're applying for, that's what they should be looking at, plus -it's illegal to turn someone away because of a disability. Other than if you have to lug an oxygen tank around with you all the time, I'd say "go for it" what they don't know won't hurt them. Good luck. X
The Law says that you should be able to find employment under the disability laws. However in the real world this is generally not the case as in their minds you will be hard to sack if you are not giving 110% because of the law.
Every one is different and often it can depend on the job you are doing. In my case we now only have one car so I would either have to drive the car and the wife give her job up or find a job that comes with a car.
Before I had to admit defeat and give up the idea of working again. I was getting loads of interviews but once we got to health I never got to the the next stage and let down gently. Favourite one was I am over qualified.
Be Well
Hi Denma1972, in theory yes we are employable but in practice it is not so. COPD is not the only illness employers shy clear of. As the replies show some work some don't, if you go back to work then from experience I would say register as disabled so you can request adjustments available to disabled and get help from the jobcenter to get a suitable job. The law is on your side but there are loop holes to allow employers leeway when refusing to employ or sacking you whilst off sick. Good luck for the future, but only you can make the employment decision.
I have been very lucky, I have SLE and COPD ( emphysema and chronic bronchitis) was made redundant in April and found a new job in June. My new employers have occupational health advisors and they were exceptional, I was provided with foot rests, back supports and no working more than 4 shifts without a day off. So far I'm enjoying every minute. X
I have been very lucky, I have SLE and COPD ( emphysema and chronic bronchitis) was made redundant in April and found a new job in June. My new employers have occupational health advisors and they were exceptional, I was provided with foot rests, back supports and no working more than 4 shifts without a day off. So far I'm enjoying every minute. X
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