There are all sorts of reasons why we don’t always have consistent employment. Sometimes “career breaks” (to use the latest buzz words) are planned for travel or parental leave. Even these planned breaks can be hard to return from and not only because you get used to living the high life. It does not take long to lose confidence, skills and work contacts. My first period of parental leave was only 6 months but I wondered whether I could ever do my job again.
It is even harder trying to return to work after a major setback like a retrenchment, dismissal or injury.
Retrenchment can cause workers to lose faith that their skills are commercially valuable. Even if a dismissal is identified as unlawful, it is an unpleasant experience that can shatter a worker’s confidence.
Injuries often mean a complete change of career direction.
It is amazing how cavalier some medical practitioners are about returning to work. One particular orthopaedic surgeon used to write in medico-legal reports that. for example, a labourer with a back injury was no longer suited to heavy manual work and so he should find work as a carpark attendant. I have noticed that suggestion no longer appears in reports – perhaps someone has pointed out that there are very few jobs for carpark attendants these days! It is equally ambitious to suggest that someone with limited literacy should retrain to a higher skilled position. While of course there are plenty of people who have done that, we should not underestimate how daunting that is to someone already grappling with major life upheavals.
Tomorrow I am speaking to a group of long term unemployed people about the legal issues they should consider when re-entering the workplace. This was a topic I was specifically asked to address. Given that this transition is a difficult one, I am a little reluctant to point out things that may never go wrong. The reality is that most employers do the right thing; pay the proper wage, treat workers with respect and dignity and do not unfairly dismiss them. Workplace health and safety has also come a long way so that injuries are relatively rare.
Nonetheless, it is this vulnerable period of re-adjustment when workers are at most risk of exploitation including exposure to unsafe workplaces, discrimination and under-payment.
Hopefully the increasing practice of planned career breaks will increase community awareness of the challenges of involuntarily changing careers or returning to work after a long absence.
