LTB 364/16 ‘Dying to Work’ Campaign - Motion 57(2016) - Royal Mail Group Terminal Illness Guide:

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LTB 364/16 ‘Dying to Work’ Campaign - Motion 57(2016) - Royal Mail Group Terminal Illness Guide:

No. 364/2016

6th June 2016

Our Ref: C1/16

‘Dying to Work’ Campaign - Motion 57(2016) - Royal Mail Group Terminal Illness Guide:

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

This is an update report to branches on the ‘Dying to Work’ campaign, further to LTBs 260/16 dated 26 April 2016 and 581/15 dated 7 September 2015.

Motion 57 was accepted at 2016 Conference instructing the NEC to provide regular updates on the ‘Dying to Work’ campaign and to raise awareness amongst our members in the workplace.

The TUC’s ‘Dying to Work’ Campaign called for all TUC affiliated Unions to support the campaign and to raise the profile of the campaign and to pledge to promote the new campaign which is designed to support those workers fighting for their right to work whilst coming to terms with their terminal illness, seeking to achieve dignity and respect that terminally ill workers deserve. A lot of workers with a terminal diagnosis decide that they want to continue working as long as they can, either because they need the financial security or because they find that their work can be a helpful distraction from their illness. Whichever choice a person makes, they should be able to expect help and support from their employer. Unfortunately the experience of many workers is that their employer is either unsympathetic or puts up barriers to them continuing in work.

Representations have been made to Royal Mail and BT, and this update is in relation to the discussions with Royal Mail Group’s Head of Health who I am pleased to report has given positive support to our campaign.

See attached letter dated 25 May from Judith Grant Royal Mail Group Head of Health confirming that she is progressing with two Royal Mail policy Standards, discussed at our last meeting and is progressing with the attached documents to ensure that the principles in the ‘Dying to Work’ campaign are covered in Royal Mail’s policy standards. The Summary document attached is good at the moment but the Guidance document attached needs some amendments and so Judith Grant will be progressing this with the RM Group HR Policy team to ensure that the company is giving the best advice to managers to enable them to support someone with a terminal illness. I will issue a further LTB once the attached Policy Documents are updated.

However an important extract from the attached Royal Mail Group Terminal Illness Guidance is as follows and is in line with what the ‘Dying to Work’ Campaign aims to achieve:-

Continuing to work
It is quite common for employees who are diagnosed with a terminal illness to carry on working, even whilst having treatment. Royal Mail will do everything it can to support them to carry on working for as long as they feel able.

If they want to stay at work, there are a few things that they should discuss with their manager, including:
• Any time off you they will need for medical appointments or treatment.
• Whether they wish to consider reducing their hours or applying for flexible working.
• How their illness may affect the type of work they can do and what alternative work may be available.
• Whether the advice of the Occupational Health Service is required to assist with finding suitable alternative work.

It’s important for the employee to regularly meet with their manager to discuss how they are coping with work and whether any further adjustments need to be made. There may be circumstances when adjustments cannot be met.

Further updates will be published in due course.

Further information:- Dying to work campaign: http://www.dyingtowork.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yours sincerely


Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer