If you have been off work for reasons such as illness, stress, or mental health issues, we want to do everything we can to support your return to work so that you can be a productive member of the team. The reasons for your absence from work are unique to you, but this process gives you a rough outline of what to expect upon your return to work.
- A week before your return, you will have a call with your manager to talk about your expectations for your return to work, and the goals that you have for the first few months. We will encourage you to set realistic goals that we can help you to achieve.
- A team of people will be available to provide support and do whatever is necessary for your success. This will normally include Siobhan, Tom, your Manager or Team Lead, developer buddy, and anyone else who has actively been involved with providing support to you. A private Slack channel will normally be set up so the team involved can discuss progress.
- If you normally work on client projects, you will work on a suitable internal project for up to 4 weeks after your return, perhaps longer (depending on how long you were absent from work, the nature of your illness, and its severity). This will ensure that you are re-onboarded to the company and comfortable in your role, before adding the stresses of client work to your day-to-day tasks.
- If you do not work on client projects, your team lead or manager will ensure that you have a reduced workload, additional 1:1s, and help you to prioritise tasks for your first month back.
- At four weeks, or other agreed time, we will review progress.
- For employees on client projects: upon approval from your team lead/manager and Siobhan, we will start having discussions with Allocations about a suitable project to assign you to. This will normally be a non-lead role, on a project with at least one other developer.
- For other employees: you, your team lead, and Siobhan, will review your progress to see if you are ready to take on an increased workload.
- After this period, you, your team lead, and Siobhan, will assess whether you are ready to go back to work at your full capacity. We will rely heavily upon your judgement at this stage so it’s important that you are upfront about what you feel you are ready for. If you need longer to settle back in that is totally acceptable.
We hope that this phased re-introduction to work will help you to re-establish yourself in the company. You may be surprised to find that returning to work is more difficult than expected, and if you do relapse or struggle to settle in, do let someone know, whether that’s your buddy, your manager, Siobhan, Tom, or someone else. Everyone at Human Made is invested in your return to work and health.