Look at going back to work as part of your recovery, rather than the end of your recovery. When you feel you may be ready to return, your employer should work with you to identify what your needs are and what adjustments they can make to help you.
On this page
- Get support with the effects of stroke
- Tips for talking to your employer
- Making a phased return
- Travelling to work
Get support with the effects of stroke
The effects of a stroke can have a big impact on you and your confidence in returning to work. Sometimes, people are not aware of these problems until they’re back at work, and some effects aren’t always obvious to other people.
The effects of a stroke can include:
- Physical problems: for example, difficulty moving around or using your arms or legs.
- Cognitive problems: these can include problems with thinking, memory and concentration.
- Aphasia: difficulty speaking or understanding language, which can also affect reading and writing.
- Fatigue: extreme tiredness which doesn't get better with rest.
- Emotional changes: for example, feeling tearful, depressed or anxious.
- Behaviour changes: this can include increased irritability or becoming shy due to lack of confidence.
Try to get all the therapy and support you need to help you with the effects of your stroke. Depending on the effects you have and where you live, you may have support from healthcare professionals such as an occupational therapist, physiotherapist, psychologist or vocational rehabilitation.
If you feel you need more support, you can contact your GP to ask if they can refer you.
Your employer may also offer access to employee services, such as counselling or an occupational health service, to help staff back to work after illness.
Tips for talking to your employer
- It’s important to have regular communication with your employer. Try to remain open and encourage your employer to do the same.
- Talk to your employer about having a designated person or “buddy” (not necessarily your line manager) who can support you on a day-to-day basis.
- Some stroke survivors struggle to talk about their difficulties or may not wish to. Remember it can be difficult for your employer to understand less visible problems such as fatigue.
- Ask them to be as supportive and patient as they can.
- If possible, talk to your manager to find out about any changes at work and their likely effects on you or your position before you return.
Making a phased return
This means a gradual return to work, starting off part-time and building up to full-time hours, to ease back into work gently.
If you have an occupational therapist, they can discuss the work you were doing before your stroke with you and help you to set realistic goals about returning. They can advise on aids or equipment you may need. You may be able to get access to a specialist vocational rehabilitation professional through your employer or local authority.
Create a return-to-work plan
Returning to work does not necessarily mean returning to the same job with the same roles and responsibilities. Even if you can no longer do exactly the same role you did before, there may still be other options to explore. It’s important to think about whether your expectations, skills and stamina match up to the work you want to do.
This is a plan of action that details your support needs following a stroke. Planning for your return and looking at how you will manage the effects of the stroke means you are more likely to stay in work once you return.
Information about the effects of your stroke
You do not need to go into lots of medical detail, just a summary of the effects of the stroke. Look at each effect in turn and think about practical steps you can take to address each one.
Your tasks
The focus should be on what you can do, rather than what you cannot. Take a look at your job description with your line manager or human resources (HR) officer. Talk about the tasks you can do to start with and what you feel you could work up to later.
Try to think about practical solutions to things that might be difficult for you, such as using equipment or lifting objects. Share your ideas with your employer and try to work together to come up with solutions. The plan might consider the impact on other team members, especially if you work in an interdependent type of environment, such as a production line.
Hours of work
You could look at the option of phasing your return. This means starting part-time and gradually increasing the number of hours and days you work. Think about what may work best for you, such as starting later if you need longer to get up and out of the house. You may need longer breaks to help you manage any fatigue.
Reviews
Regular reviews are important to help you see how you are managing your tasks. They also let your employer feed back about how they feel things are going. A review could be informal, such as 20 minutes over a coffee every week with your line manager. Keep some brief notes of each meeting and agree them together.
You might find the support you need changes over time. At your reviews, you can talk about any changes and how they’re affecting your work.
Communicating the stroke to team members
You can help decide how to share information about your stroke with other members of staff. You may choose not to tell them you have had a stroke, just that you will return part-time and that your tasks have changed. Another option is your line manager could send an email to your team, with contents agreed by you. Remember it’s your choice whether you discuss your stroke with colleagues. Sometimes being open and answering questions can help people to understand and be more supportive.
Breaks
Many people will need to have more frequent breaks to help manage fatigue, such as five minutes after every hour worked.
Time off for appointments
If you need time off for hospital appointments or therapy, bring this up early on and get it agreed with your employer. Some employers have a disability leave policy. This can allow you some time off to go to appointments connected to a disability. It’s one of the reasonable adjustments employers can make to support people with disabilities.
Travelling to work
Travelling to work can be tiring. You might need support with the journey, for example, if you have a physical disability or vision problems. You could try the journey on a non-work day to find out how you manage. You could also ask to work from home all or some of the time if possible. This could be a ‘reasonable adjustment’ to help you back to work.
Having a stroke or TIA means you’re unable to drive for a minimum exclusion period. Some people might not be able to drive for a longer period or can lose their licence.
If you used to drive for a living, such as driving a taxi or a heavy goods vehicle, and are unable to drive again, you might need support with changing career and job-seeking. Our page on career changes has more information.
If you can no longer drive to your workplace, you will need to find alternatives, such as working from home, lift-sharing or seeking support with travel through schemes such as Access to Work.
Access to Work scheme
Access to Work is a government scheme that provides support in the workplace for people with disabilities. This can include training, equipment and help with travel. Access to Work can help you if your health or disability means you need support to do your job, or to get to and from work. It gives you and your employer advice and support with extra costs which may arise because of your needs at work. It offers an initial assessment of the workplace and the employee’s tasks. The advisor makes recommendations for additional support such as adapted equipment, one-to-one coaching or a support worker. You get a grant to pay for the support you need. The money does not have to be paid back and will not affect your other benefits. The Government’s website has more information on the scheme.
Work has been incredibly supportive throughout this all. I'm so happy to be back at work. Not everything is straightforward, and I have to physically and mentally work a little harder in almost everything I do.
Sarah, stroke survivor
