DD played down illness at work

[user839274821]

My dd returned to her job 3 months ago after a long term illness. She told me yesterday she is struggling with fatigue at work and also doing some jobs that involve heavy lifting. She had surgery over a year ago but had nerve damage and hasn't recovered fully.
She is scared of talking to her manager about it, she doesn't want her colleagues and manager thinking that she isn't up to the job.
Can anyone advise on what to do?
Thank you

Well, if she doesn’t talk to anyone nothing will change. If she hasn’t recovered fully why hasn’t her doctor given her a fit note saying reduced duties?

If it’s a reasonable sized employer I’m surprised they didn’t speak to her on her return and assess her fitness; however they’re not psychic and she needs to speak to them if she’s struggling or injuring herself. Ultimately she might not be up to the job

Assuming your DD is an adult, there really isn't anything you can do except advise her that it might help if she spoke to work and looked into her rights and support options.

They can't make accommodations for issues they haven't been told about, and she gets to decide if she tells them or not, whatever the impact might be.

Well your DD needs to speak to them there really isn't anything else anyone can advise. If she feel uncomfortable she could email them in the first instance.

As it's an issue that has lasted over a year, and sounds like it's impacting her day to day life, it is very likely she will be regarded as disabled under employment legislation and will be protected from discrimination. ACAS will be able to advise her.

How big is the employer? The larger they are the easier it would be for them to make adjustments for her. Obviously all employers should look at reasonable adjustments for long term health issues, but it’s not always easy to do.
She need to consider what adjustments would be best for her so she knows what she wants and what might her fix her issues. She could speak to her doctor for advice and maybe get a medical note first.
Then She needs to talk to her manager and be honest about how she is. If she finds it difficult to talk to her manager you could help her to script out the bullet points first of what she wants to say.

She needs to say something. Maybe she could put it in an email so she doesn’t have to do it face to face. She could even go to the doctors and explain that she’s still having pain and then explain the doctors recommendations.