Workplaces can be for all
Ruth Stuckey is the sort of person people forget has a chronic illness. When she’s not consulting or lecturing at La Trobe or Monash universities in Melbourne, the occupational health and safety specialist is often busy with a side interest, helping out with a camel-riding business.
In the 24 years since she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Stuckey hasn’t taken a single day of sick leave. Nor has she been unemployed or under-employed.
“I’ve been lucky because with the skill set I’ve got I was able to adapt my work to fit my functionality and physical limitations,” she explains.
Stuckey began her career as an occupational therapist and ergonomist, where much of her work was based on hands-on rehabilitation work. She went on to earn a master’s degree in public health, and later a PhD in occupational health and safety.
At the time she was diagnosed with MS, Stuckey’s expertise in repetitive strain injury, in particular, was in high demand internationally.
“I had this really exciting high-profile career, and then suddenly I was so fatigued I couldn’t do the travel and the 60-hour weeks. It was quite confronting and I had to learn about what I could and couldn’t manage, and settle down and re-evaluate my options.”
Fortunately, Stuckey worked for an organisation that valued her skills enough to give her the flexibility to continue working. She became their first permanent part-time employee.
Unfortunately, Stuckey’s experience is not the norm.
A report last year by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare calculated that every year nearly 540,000 full-time workers are lost because of chronic illness. That equates to about 10 per cent of the full-time workforce. Even after adjusting for age, people with chronic disease were 60 per cent less likely to be working than people without chronic disease.
Recently the Multiple Sclerosis International Foundation released a literature review, identifying loss of employment or early retirement as the No 1 contributor to the $1.7 million average lifetime cost of living with MS, an illness that strikes people in their prime.
“Unfortunately, in Australia we’re seeing an alarming trend where people who are highly skilled are dropping out of the workplace prematurely,” says Alan Blackwood, advocacy manager for MS Australia.
According to MSIF statistics, half of people with multiple sclerosis leave work within three years of diagnosis and by 10 years that figure jumps to 80 per cent.
Recently, several key players met to discuss ways to improve the situation; among them were Australian Industry Group chief executive Heather Ridout, Employment Participation Minister Mark Arbib, Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children’s Services Bill Shorten and representatives from Chronic Illness Alliance, MS Australia and other stakeholders.
On the policy front, change is starting to occur. In March, Job Services Australia launched a new initiative providing support for workplaces seeking to accommodate employees living with chronic illness and disability.
At the forum Arbib described the new Jobs in Jeopardy policy that aims to help workers in danger of losing their jobs from illness or disability to maintain their existing employment. The program assists with consultation about job redesign, workplace assessments and modifications, and specialised equipment.
“[Assistance is] uncapped, giving people immediate access to the services they need in a flexible way,” Arbib says. “Most important, there are no waiting lists.”
In Blackwood’s view it’s a step in the right direction: “The previous contract put much more weight on getting the unemployed into work, whereas this one is as much geared to job support as it is to job seeking.”
Blackwood argues individual organisations need to do more, too. “We are no longer just looking to government for solutions,” he says. “It’s now up to business to take advantage of this support and for the labour market providers to get active for the benefit of everyone involved.”
Christine Walker, executive officer of the Chronic Illness Alliance, agrees. “Once a person’s illness is under control, more flexibility in the workplace is needed,” she says.
“Even if they’re only working one day a week they are of far more value to society than someone who’s been eased out of work.”
According to Walker, many people with chronic illness find themselves volunteering but aren’t able to secure paid employment, a sign they’re well enough to contribute if someone will give them a break.
An online survey of 8681 people from dozens of countries including Australia looked at what factors were most influential in enabling people with MS to remain employed. The survey, completed in March, found while access to medications and treatments to control symptoms was most significant, several other inexpensive measures also played important roles.
More than 41 per cent of those completing the survey listed the ability to be seated while working as a big factor in allowing them to continue in their job, making that the second most important factor. Almost 38 per cent of respondents listed flexible working hours. Opportunity for regular rest breaks was important to many.
Intriguingly, computer adjustments and other adaptive aids ranked at the bottom of the 16 factors that contributed to keeping people with MS employed. Having a supportive employer and colleagues also had a large influence on the likelihood of people maintaining their employment.
By contrast, child care and financial support were lower priorities.
Stuckey knows first-hand just how beneficial factors such as a supportive work environment and flexible employment can be, and not just from her own experience. She has been at the forefront of instigating these features for others as well.
As occupational health and safety and injury management adviser at a Victorian government department with a staff of 750 people, Stuckey implemented some innovative initiatives, among them a policy to allow for what she calls “sick-leave pooling”.
The idea is that employees who have unused sick leave can donate it to a communal sick-leave pool. Staff members with a chronic illness or disability needing time off can dip into the pool if they’ve taken all their own leave. A few organisations in Australia, such as the National Australia Bank, have such policies in place.
At the department where Stuckey worked, the policy included criteria designed to ensure the system wasn’t abused. For instance, the option was available only to employees who’d been with the company for at least two years. As well, they must have received good performance reviews, have used up all their existing leave first, including long service leave, and have a good prognosis.
Finally, the policy assists people who need unexpected or unanticipated leave for relatively short periods, up to six months.
“If someone needs to take six months, either in a block or a number of shorter periods, for caring for themselves, it means there is continuity of employment because they are officially still on sick leave,” Stuckey explains.
She says the program isn’t designed for people for whom there’s no resolution. It wouldn’t apply, for example, to someone in the latter stages of a terminal illness.
“You need some bottom lines. There’s a balance between compassion and being pragmatic from a business point of view at the same time,” she says. “There were times when we had to say no.”
Still, in the first year the program ran, six employees accessed the sick-leave bank. Five were able to return to work as planned, creating the sort of win-win situation for which it was designed.
According to Stuckey, the policy is well worth the time, money and effort to implement it.
“Doing this is actually a cost, but we recognised that looking after our staff is important.
“They are valuable to us. It’s cheaper to help staff through a crisis time and take all the pressure off them that not having funding involves, and then get them back at work and productive again, rather than having to replace them and their expertise.”
Doubters need look no further than Stuckey herself.
