Wellbeing support | 1 in 5 workers with cancer are unhappy with employer communication levels during their illness

More than one in five (21%) UK employees who have, or have had, cancer in the workplace have not been satisfied with the communication from their line manager or employer during a period of ill-health, a new study has found.

Working To Wellbeing’s Window to the Workplace research also found that just half of line managers feel equipped to support a colleague with a long-term health condition such as cancer.

Furthermore, as Macmillan estimates there are currently 890,000 people of working age living with cancer in the UK, not only are some employees unhappy with the openness of communication with their employer, but a quarter (25%) in the research also said they did not feel heard or listened to by their line manager during a period of ill health.

Despite this, 8 in 10 line managers (82%) do feel it’s important to keep in touch regularly at set “check-in” times with colleagues who have a long-term health condition such as cancer when they are out of work due to ill health.