Mind, body and spirit

17 September 2007

As we mourn the loss of one of Britain’s most successful businesswomen, Dame Anita Roddick, we pay a tribute to her many achievements, including her campaigns for health awareness, and take a closer look at how employers can respond to the needs of employees, who like Anita, are diagnosed with serious illness.

Anita Roddick’s worldwide acclaim grew from the Body Shop which she founded in 1976 to sell her cruelty free brand of cosmetic products. Starting out with a single shop in Brighton, financed by a £4000 bank loan, she developed the business into a global empire amassing 2,100 branches in 55 countries. She sold the company 30 years later to L’Oréal for £652 million. Her mission in business and in life was dedicated to the pursuit of social and environmental change, earning her the nickname Queen of Green and she was awarded the title of Dame in 2003 for her contribution to business and charity. She campaigned for human rights and in 1996 set up Body and Soul a charity to support those living with the HIV virus. In 2005 she was diagnosed with Hepatitis C, contracted from a blood transfusion in 1971. Researching her own illness led her to the Hepatitis C Trust of which she became a patron earlier this year when she publicly revealed her condition and appealed for greater public awareness of the disease.

Up to 500,000 people are estimated to be suffering from the hepatitis C virus in the UK. The figures are difficult to predict as the condition frequently goes undiagnosed for many years, hence it is known as the “silent epidemic”. As many as 80% of sufferers will develop a chronic hepatitis C infection which can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer or end stage liver disease. In its chronic form hepatitis C will almost certainly amount to a disability under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and employers will be required to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate the illness, the most common symptom being extreme fatigue.

Absence management policies should include details of the employer’s response to long term illness, which requires a different approach to the management of intermittent absences. It is inappropriate to give employees suffering from a long term condition absence warnings, however, they should be kept informed and consulted with if their position in the organisation becomes at risk. Employers should obtain a medical report, with the employee’s consent, and will need to consider any reasonable adjustments prior to dismissal. The employer will have a duty to make reasonable adjustments if the condition has lasted, or is likely to last, 12 months or more and any of the following are substantially adversely affected:

Mobility
Manual dexterity
Physical co-ordination
Continence
Ability to lift, carry or otherwise move everyday objects
Speech, hearing or eyesight
Memory or ability to concentrate, learn or understand
Perception of the risk of physical danger

The DDA was amended in December 2005 so that long-term progressive conditions such as multiple sclerosis, HIV and cancer are recognised as a disability from the point of diagnosis. Statistics suggest that 76% of those diagnosed with HIV are between the ages of 15 and 39 and approximately 90,000 people of working age are diagnosed with cancer each year. As a consequence policies for managing cancer and HIV in the workplace, or all encompassing “critical illness” policies are beginning to emerge as HR best practice.

As a general rule, such policies normally confirm the support available in the workplace to employees who are either diagnosed with or affected by the condition, such as an employee who has a family member who is ill and/or primary carers. Options should be provided to encourage the employee to discuss the situation in a manner in which they feel comfortable and in the knowledge that the company will respect their dignity and privacy. Agreement should be sought on who in the organisation needs to know and whether the employee also wishes others to be informed and, if so, how this is to be communicated. Policies will set out the arrangements for pay during absence and details of any medical insurance cover. Employees may not necessarily be signed off and it is advisable to include examples of reasonable adjustments that may be made for an employee who is undergoing treatment, for example, flexible working hours or lighter duties. In the case of a carer, confirm the statutory rights to time off and flexible working and any other support available, such as counselling services. Consultation is necessary throughout as the situation develops and policies should address returning to work, resignation or ill-health retirement, death in service and bereavement.

Living with a chronic or critical illness can affect every aspect of a person’s life and people will deal with the situation differently. Creating an open environment where employees can raise their concerns and feel supported rather than threatened will make a difference and can have a positive impact on colleagues.