Carol's story

Carol lives in Staines with her partner Neil and their three children. Her daughter Rachel, aged 16, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2007. Carol was made to feel unwelcome at work by some colleagues after taking time off to care for Rachel.

Carol says: “After we were told Rachel had Hodgkin’s lymphoma I called my manager to say I wouldn’t be able to come to work. But I was told by the head of my department that if I didn’t come in that day there would be no job for me. I wasn’t ready to tell people, but felt I needed to tell him that my daughter had been diagnosed with cancer.

“I was told by HR that I shouldn’t worry and take all the time I needed. I later heard from my head of department who repeated what HR had told me– to take all the time I needed – but I felt he didn’t mean it.

Pressure from work

“From that day I felt pressure to return to work full time – but I couldn’t know how long it would take my daughter to get better. There were no guarantees she would get better! I was moved from my usual office to a tiny office. I felt that my head of department was doing all he could to make me leave. I was signed off from work with the stress.

“My pay was reduced without warning. I was told it was because one of my sick notes was late and I didn’t answer my phone. I explained that I couldn’t answer my phone when I was in the hospital with Rachel, who by this time was having chemotherapy, but it was extremely stressful trying to justify why I was not able to go to work.

Returning to work

“I returned part-time with the agreement that my daughter’s hospital appointments would take place outside my scheduled hours of work. I felt that I had to agree to this even though Rachel could get an infection at any time.

Having to take early retirement

“In the end I left my job, as the fight with my colleague wasn’t worth it. I was given early retirement at the age of 51 in 2010.”