Phased return to work - how does it work?

[JS5]

Ive never been off long term sick for mental health before (4months), my manager said there would be a phased return to work. For some reason I've been feeling very anxious to the point having back to back dreams about work the past 3 nights.

What is phased return to work and how much input do I have in this? For instance would I request reduced hours / days/ wfh or the manager decides this? I just want to be prepared for the meeting as right now feel abit in the dark.

Many thanks

You would usually have an occupational health assessment and a phased return plan would be suggested by them but it's a conversation starter for you and your manager. So it might be 3 half days then 5 half days then 5 6 hour days then back to full time for example. You would be having regular check ins with your manager to make sure it was working out for you and if not you can review and try something else. It may also include restricted duties during this time. It should be a gradual build up to your full role.

If you haven't been offered an OH referral please request one from your manager.

Where I work, the phased return would be a max of 4 weeks and the hours would be suggested by the manager for you to agree with, the hours per day increasing each week until you’re back up to your usual hours. It’s a discretionary agreement for us so no actual rule. It depends on the circumstances of your sickness and the job you’re returning to as well as what both the person returning and their manager agree is reasonable.

Where I work it would be worked out with your manager and a plan put in place. There would be a fixed time frame and plans would be reviewed at the end of that.
For example it could be half days so you can rest in the afternoons or starting with 2 full days or whatever works for you.
I had one once where it was just working from home and taking an extra long lunch break so I could rest - I think that was for 2 weeks then had a review to see if I was ok to return to normal

You should decide what you think would work best for you and why, and start off with that as a suggestion to your manager and see what they think

It sounds like you don’t have any support from Occupational Health so you could talk to your GP and get their advice on what they think is a sensible phased return plan given your circumstances and then use this as a basis for discussions with your manager.

It would depend what you need but is typically recommended by OH.

Normally someone who is full time would do along the lines of 3.5 hrs for a week, 4.5 hrs for a week, 5.5 hrs for a week, 6.5 hrs for a week and then be back full time. However, your hours might be condensed or you might be able to return sooner or need longer to adjust. WFH would need to be discussed separately and is an adjustment that might help you get back to being full time quicker as your commute wouldn’t be included in your initial return days.

I work in a local authority phased return is typically five weeks. The first week 1 day, second week 2 days and so on with regular meetings to check in. But it can be altered so for example I was waiting for a piece of equipment to support my role so I did 2 hour days until it arrived.

I would think about what you want your return to look like. Assume this is over 3 -5 weeks and then see what is offered and either agree or counter offer.

Thank you everyone, this is really helpful. I work in the office 3/5 days and on those days by the time I'm home im shattered (one of the reasons i burnt out). I do feel one extra wfh day would help my wellbeing but judging by past conversations with manager its unlikely to be approved. Is this something OH could support with?

OH can support with WFH but ultimately your employer doesn’t need to adhere to their advice.

If you mean permanently an extra WFH day that's going to be a separate process from your phased return. It is something OH could potentially recommend.

I have done a phased return after sick leave for mental health twice. The first time was after 4 months off. Week 1 I did 4 mornings. Week 2 I did 2 almost full days and 2 half days. Week 3 I did 3 full days and 2 half days and week 4 I did 5 days slightly shorter than normal days.

The second time it was after 13 months off and an admission. The first week I did 2 shorter than normal days, second week 2 full days, weeks 3-6 3 days. Week 6-9 weeks 3.5 - 4 full days. I found during this period that I couldn't manage doing 3 days in a row so I submitted a flexible working request and dropped down to 4 days a week with Wednesdays off as a permanent decision. The company policy was 2 days minimum in the office, more depending on business need. My flexible working request was 1 day in the office a week plus any extra days depending on business need. The way my work went it meant that every other week I did 2 days and the alternate week I did 1 day in the office. There were other times when I did 3+ days.
Occasionally (once or twice a year) I had to attend an all day meeting on a Wednesday in those circumstances I automatically took the Thursday off as the one time I tried to work I was unable to work and had to take the day off at short notice.

Whilst doing the 3 and 4 days I worked my pattern around my appointments and what meetings I had that week and who I wanted to catch-up with. I updated my line manager and HR with my work pattern for the 2-3 weeks at a time and made it clear in my online calendar when I would be available and out of the office

If you want that temporarily it sounds sensible and if you’re manager is not happy with that then they’re being quite unreasonable.

The alternative could be working 3 days a week to begin with, then working up to 4 then full time.

If you want it permanently that’s a different conversation and you would need to get your contact updated.

Yes ask to speak to OH, reach out to your workplace and GP. Your work should be doing an assessment too

A phased return is really normal. I’ve been off for MH reasons before but this time due to pregnancy sickness and I have a phased return over 2 weeks confirmed with GP and agreed with my workplace.

Yes bring up the wfh with them as well. Tell them why it would be beneficial for you mental health wise. They may agree to it on temporary terms x

For me it will be up to 8 weeks and led by myself, unless I want / need occ health input.

Mine were reduced hours to avoid travelling on public transport in the rush hour (physical injury) for a couple of weeks then increased as I felt better.

Thanks everyone. My manager advised that phased return to work will need to be supported by using some of my annual leave, is this a thing?? I don't think I have enough annual leave left

When I’ve either had a phased return myself or had to administer a team member’s phased return it always been that you get your usual pay for the hours you work and then whatever your sick pay for the other hours. So if you would get full sick pay for that period if you were off sick, you would get full pay, but if you’re on SSP you’d get full pay for hours worked and SSP for the rest. Your manger might be saying a/l because that would mean full pay but I’ve never known a phase return to automatically use a/l to offset the hours not worked.

A phased return is meant to be quite quick - to ease you back in on the assumption you’re fit to return. 4 weeks and I’d expect you to be back to usual hours or off sick again if you’re not able to manage.

Wfh an extra day is a reasonable adjustment not a phased return, and you need to discuss that with your manager. Occ health isn’t a requirement for adjustments but it can help if they don’t agree to it. Bear in mind OH might not support that recommendation though. I’ve had all sorts of adjustments and have never needed an OH report as we could agree them between us - and one was a quite big changes to my role in terms of no travelling which restricted the work they could give me.

It wouldn't be the case to use annual leave soley where I work. However, my line manager dud suggest I use it to support phased return as I will have accrued it during sick leave.