After a period of mental health related sick leave, Sonia wanted to return to her job as a dental nurses at a busy community health centre.
Sonia approached the NEPS Centre, a Disability Employment Network member, for help with her return to work.
Through Sonia’s connection with her personal employment consultant at the NEPS Centre, she was supported to prioritise her mental health and wellbeing in planning her return to work.
Her employment consultant worked with Sonia to explain the nature of her mental health issues to her employer and as a result the three of them were able to develop a strategy that involved a graduated return to work. Sonia was able to increase her hours as she learned to cope with the stressful work environment and adapt to workplace change.
The successful return to work plan included:
- organising frequent mediation and supervision meetings with Sonia and her employer (the frequency of these has decreased to a quarterly occurrence now)
- enhancing Sonia’s coping skills
- negotiating gradual increases in Sonia’s work hours.
Sonia now has a good work and life balance. She has time for social activities, her friends and family. She also feels less stressed and run down than when she was working full time.
Without the support from the NEPS Centre, Sonia is certain that her return to work would not have been as successful. She particularly identifies the support of her employment consultant in explaining the nature of her mental illness as a highlight of her successful re-entry to the workforce.
If you have a client who has had a period of time away from work, and is worried about re-entering the workforce, it is important to help them identify their greatest areas of concern and work together to address those issues.
It is really important to share with a client the wide variety of ways in which you, as an employment consultant, can support them. For example, knowing that you can work with an employer to discuss their mental health issue and plan the best possible return to work, can make a significant difference to your client’s attitude to re-entering the workforce.
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