Understanding chemotherapy - Macmillan Cancer

WorkWorkYou may need to take time off work during your treatmentand for a while afterwards. It can be hard to judge the besttime to go back to work, and this will depend mainly on thetype of work you do and how much your income is affected.It’s important to do what’s right for you.Getting back into your normal routine can be very helpful,and you may want to go back to work as soon as possible.It can be helpful to talk to your employer about the situation –it may be possible for you to work part-time or job share.On the other hand, it can take a long time to recover fully fromcancer treatment, and it may be many months before you feelready to return to work. It’s important not to take on too much,too soon. Your consultant, GP or specialist nurse can help youdecide when and if you should go back to work.Employment rightsThe Equality Act 2010 protects anyone who has, or has had,cancer. Even if a person who had cancer in the past hasbeen successfully treated and is now cured, they are stillcovered by the act. This means their employer must notdiscriminate against them for any reason, including theirpast cancer. The Disability Discrimination Act protects peoplein Northern Ireland.Our booklets Work and cancer, Working while caring forsomeone with cancer and Self-employment and cancerhave more information that may be helpful. There’salso lots more information at macmillan.org.uk/work87