“I no longer have any prospects for advancement …” They tell of their difficult return to work after cancer



Illustration of a Man Working on a Computer – CLOSON / ISOPIX / SIPA

  • Ignorance of superiors, modified post, fatigue… The difficulties of returning to work are often numerous for employees who have fought against cancer.
  • More and more players are trying to remedy the situation, such as the University Hospital of Nantes, Angers, and the West Cancer Institute, which have just signed a charter.

“My regular absences due to my treatment have caused the loss of the confidence that my superiors had in me. As for Stéphane, 54, cancer often causes great difficulties in the professional life of those who suffer from it. An aspect of the disease little discussed but very real: out of 1,000 new cases diagnosed every day, in France, 400 concern people in professional activity. Almost 30% of them would lose or quit their jobs and only one in three people, unemployed at the time of diagnosis, would find a job.

In an attempt to remedy this, the cancer institute launched the “Cancer and employment” charter, signed a few days ago by the Nantes and Angers university hospitals and the West and large companies ”in the territory. The document is based on eleven commitments, the first of which is to “maintain a link with the absent employee”. Indispensable for Nadine, 51, who answered the call for testimonies 20 minutes : “I was totally ignored for a year of stoppage, regrets the accounting manager. Not a gesture, not a word… I could not go back to my post because the service had been reorganized without me. I no longer have any prospects for development for the next ten and last years of my career. “

Manage the return, know the consequences

How to avoid these situations? “You have to build a real course in line with the employee’s plan,” said Professor Yves Roquelaure, from the University Hospital of Angers, coordinator of the Rework-Qo research program. The pre-recovery visit is a key element. It is also advisable to appoint and train a referent in the company. Mathieu, 40, would have needed it. After several months of absence, in 2016, he returned to his VSE but in the meantime, his boss had resigned and his office moved. “No reception device had been planned,” he recalls. I didn’t even know what to do anymore, all my functions having been redistributed: I practically had to redo my proofs and create a job. “” You have the impression of no longer being part of the company, estimates Didier, whose sick leave lasted three years. Colleagues pass you by but with 15 kg less, they no longer recognize you. “

Beyond the management of the time of return, employers must also be made aware of the potential sequelae, such as fatigue or cognitive disorders, insists the “Cancer and employment” charter (start-ups like We care at work can do so. help). While some Internet users report having been purely and simply dismissed for incapacity, others regret the reflections aroused by their work arrangements. “After a year of absence for ovarian cancer, I resumed therapeutic half-time and the regional director asked me the next day in the parking lot:“ when do you stop your cinema? It would be time to resume full time, ”says Cécile, then a bank employee, who has since resigned.

Agathe, who fought against breast cancer at the age of 31, tried to pick up the pace but it was “too many failure”. She had to stop three months later. “After so much fatigue, a mutilated body, the continuation of a treatment which generates side effects, I suffered from depression reacting to my cancer. After a year of antidepressants and therapy, I want to resume my work as a social worker, which I love. But this time, I know the limits, I start procedures to start again at half time. “

Resume “at your own pace”

Because if the resumption of an activity is obviously important from a financial point of view, it allows the patient, when it goes well, “to find a life as normal as possible”. This is the case of Sylvain (loan name), who thanks “his human managers” for having kept in touch and allowing him to resume “at his own pace”, “without any problem of guilt”. Less than a year after the discovery of his cancer, in February 2020, this IT executive has already been able to resume his post at 100% “I am well aware that such a rapid return is not usual and that the benevolence of my superiors is something quite rare, he writes. But it still exists. “

For Isabelle too, things end well, despite “persistent pain”. The illness enabled him to undertake a professional retraining. “It’s my whole conception of life that has been shaken up,” she confides. Today, I am a school teacher and have no regrets. “



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