Does anyone work for occupational health?

[Worldupsidedown23]

I lost my son at 22 weeks after a fatal prenatal diagnosis. Obviously I'm devastated and have been off work since the anomaly scan late November. My doctor signed me off under pregnancy related illness until the Christmas holidays.

I'm a secondary school teacher and have agreed with HR that I'll come back to work at the start of term on a reduced timetable, only teaching my GCSE classes.

To be honest, I don't want to go back to work yet, and the bereavement midwife thinks I'm going back too quickly. I have been referred to OH which I'm fine with, but I need them to tell the school to keep me on a reduced timetable until at least Easter. I'll be honest with OH but is there anything specific I can say that will help in getting them to support what I want?

Hi op, sorry for your loss. I don't work in OH but im in SLT at a school.
I recently read an OH report where it directly said that x is not well enough to return to work at this point. If you say those words to them they will write it.
Just say that you are constantly thinking of what happened and keep breaking down and you are not ready to stand in front of a class without getting upset.
Why don't you take off until Feb half term and then begin to return a day per week building up by Easter? Please be kind to yourself ❤️

To be honest, I don't want to go back to work yet, and the bereavement midwife thinks I'm going back too quickly.

This jumps out at me. Why are you going back already, are you being pushed into this?

Tbh a reduced timetable for a whole term (which is a prolonged phased return) should not be used in these circumstances. It's usually used where someone has had a very long period of absence due to a serious condition and is still recovering and carrying a level of disability eg back surgery or a stroke.
This is not the case with you, you are still in the acute stages, sound unfit to work at the moment and have a lot of recovery to make first.

Obviously I haven't assessed you myself but I can't see how being on a prolonged reduced timetable will help you here. The demands on your mental and emotional health will be there from the minute you set foot in the classroom.

I would recommend another month signed off sick and then you and your GP or midwife can review your recovery at that point. They can write you a fit note recommending a phased return at the point you are medically well enough to return.

I'm very sorry for your loss. Give yourself time to recover, get signed off until end of January and attend OH appointment telling them you HCP has signed you off as currently unfit for work

I'm not being pushed back into work at all, my SLT are thankfully really supportive, however I know the longer I'm off, the harder it will be with my gcse classes to get back. It will make things harder for me.

To be honest as well, being at home isn't really helping. I have mild, controlled depression anyway and staying at home for days on end is about the worst thing for me. I said I would do the inset day and have a return to work meeting with HR and see how I feel but I really do need to be doing something.

At any point, jumping back into my full timetable with TLR is going to be much more difficult. At least with a reduced timetable (classes I love too) I can arrive and leave on time, and not take work home

I'm very sorry for your loss 💐.
Firstly, I understand about wanting to return in a controlled and limited way. They're classes that you like, it will keep you busy and focused and not exhaust you. There's a lot to be said for trying to put structure back in your life at such a time. It certainly helped me in very similar circumstances. I'm often grateful for how absorbing teaching is!
You want to do something.
Discuss with the HT your return on this basis. Why don't you start with your GCSE classes and go from there?.

That's the plan, I just don't want them to rush me back into a full timetable. I'm going to need some extended time on a reduced tt so I wanted to know how to find the sweet spot with OH to keep me in work, but not overwhelmed with too much.

Not having to cover my GCSE classes will be really beneficial for my SLT as they are more specialist subjects (think food technology - not every teacher can do it) but the rest of my timetable could have long term supply.

I think SLT should agree to that. Covering GCSE classes is such a headache, your return to that will be a massive relief. For ks3, they can just book long term supply for the other groups.
Sounds like a workable plan.

I get that you will find the structure and focus of work helpful OP. It's healthy to have something else to focus on.

It's just for most employers a phased return is 4-6 weeks and they need OH backing for anything much longer. Otherwise you run the risk after a few weeks everyone forgets about your issues and feels everything is back to normal. I've seen this happen all too often.

OH need to have medical reasons for recommending longer.

For example I currently have 2 clients who are teachers on extended phased returns. One has had major surgery, came back after 6 months but still has significant pain which builds up during the day to the point she grinds to a halt. So she has had a whole half term of just mornings and we will now start to gradually add in afternoons. Another has had a stroke and has significant fatigue to the point she can't focus any more so is also building up very slowly.

So with regard to what to say to OH, have a think about the benefits to you and your health in having a prolonged phased return. What are the aspects you will struggle with and how will that impact your health and recovery. Fatigue is a good one. Be as honest as you can about where you are at the moment and what you can realistically cope with.
Get written support from your HCP if necessary.

Good luck

Thank you @HorMon that's really helpful. I think my mental health is going to be the biggest thing, and I'm not sure how receptive they will be with that.

I will definitely put some thought into physical things too, I haven't had to do much being at home but going back to standing all day will definitely take its toll, and I'm not sleeping much so early morning are gonna be tough too.