FfW Bulgarian report (English language) - Fit for Work Europe

5.2
Recommendations
for employees
Conclusions and recommendations
64
• Provide your employees with meaningful and fulfilling jobs. Even people with temporary
or permanent incapacity are still capable of performing work, where they can apply their
preserved skills and abilities.
• Train line managers to be supportive. Line managers are best placed within
an organisation to take early action when someone shows signs of physical or
psychological strain. Encourage managers to be open in their approach and be aware
of what steps they can take to reduce risks – both physical and psychological to their
employees.
• Engender a culture of wellbeing in your organisation. Make it clear that your
organisation wants to support the wellbeing of employees and demonstrate the steps
that are being taken to ensure this is the case.
Don’t catastrophise your health condition and prepare to anticipate changes in your health
status in the future. Acknowledge that work is likely to help you to continue living a fulfilling and
productive life for longer and discuss with your manager how to accommodate your condition
early. Remember that you are the best expert of your condition and explain to your employer
how you can preserve your workability.
• Take care of your health. If you are experiencing pain or discomfort, seek advice early
on from your GP. Ignoring a problem will not make it go away and could reduce your
capacity to work later on.
• Focus on capacity not incapacity. Leaving your job because of your MSD is not the
only solution. You still have skills to contribute and you should play to your strengths.
Your specialist knowledge and experience doesn’t disappear just because you are in
pain, discomfort or experience mobility problems. Work with your managers and your
colleagues to find out how you can maximise your impact at work within the constraints
of your condition. Be open with them and they should respond better.
• Play an active part in the management of your condition. You don’t need to be a passive
victim of pain or immobility. Find out more about your condition, watch for patterns
in pain or fatigue and learn how you can minimise its impact on your functioning and
your mood. This can sometimes be very hard to do, but persevere: people who play an
active part in the management of their condition tend to get back to work more quickly.
Patient groups may be a valuable source of support and information on dealing with
health conditions.
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