Extended absences: How do you support a team member back to work?

“It was the end of February 2022. I’d just closed down my computer for the day and felt a crick in my neck,” says Carlos Lopez, a business analyst at insurance company AXA Partners. 

“I felt a bit odd. My head felt hot. I actually went up two flights of stairs and stuck my head out of the window for some cool air. Then I felt pins and needles in my face so I Googled the symptoms. Then I called an ambulance.” 

Carlos, who up to this point was a fit and healthy 51-year-old, was having a stroke. “It was surreal,” he says, “but I stayed quite calm. My thoughts were clear but my voice had gone and I knew I needed help.” 

The ambulance turned up within ten minutes, and he then spent ten days in hospital. After six months off work, he began a phased return. 

“My company was great,” he says. “They didn’t badger me, they said: contact us when you feel better. I spoke with occupational health and the attitude was: return when you’re ready. At first I did one day a week, then two and eased myself back in. I’m massively tired, and don’t go into the office very much, but post-Covid there is less need to anyway.”