Return To Work After Long Period Of Sickness

[lainiej]

I have been off work (I work for a local authority as a support worker) since I suffered a mental health breakdown at the beginning of December 2016.
I am much better now due to my medication kicking in and want to return to work.
By my own admission, I have a very poor sickness record due to genuine reasons and Ive seen occ health and HR previously. I am awaiting a meeting date with my manager & HR.
I started my job 4 yrs ago on a 20hr/week contract but last August this contract was scrapped as they did away with 20 hrs & I now work 25hrs/week.
What I'd like to ask is, once I have the next meeting and I'm asked if there are any changes that can be made to help me, am I within my rights to ask to reduce my hours back to 20..or even less?
The stress that caused my breakdown came from many sources including my dad having Alzheimers.
Thanks in advance.

[ummmm]

You can ask. Are you sure you're ready to go back to work?

[ubasses]

At the very least you should be offered a phased back to work rehab programme. This needs to be agreed with your Manager to suit both you and the Business needs. There is no harm in asking if they can accommodate you with a 20 hour contract. With good management you may find that eventually you are back to 25 hours and coping well.

[Maydup]

The best course of action is to ask your GP for a Fitnote that declares you for for work under a phased return or reduced hours. Get that before your meeting with work and they are very unlikley to refuse the request.

Ask for the fitnote to last a month to give you time to get back into the swing. See how things are at the end of the month and either repeat or increase the hours gradually.