Skip over main navigation
  • Log in
  • Basket: (0 items)
Employment Autism
  • Search
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
Contact us Donate now
  • Twitter
Menu
  • I AM AUTISTIC
    • I am not in work
    • I am preparing to look for work
    • I am applying for work
    • Understanding interviews and the selection process
    • I am about to start work
    • Being in the workplace
    • I am sick or have a concern
    • I am moving on from my job
  • I AM AN EMPLOYER
    • Recruiting autistic employees
    • Managing autistic employees
  • GENERAL RESOURCES
    • The case for employing autistic people
    • Inclusivity and universal design
    • Autism, employment and the law
    • Reasonable adjustments and employer duties
    • External resources
  • EMPLOYMENT STORIES
    • Stories by autistic workers
    • Employer experience
      • Employer case study - Investment bank
      • Agency case study - Aspiring Solicitors
      • Britain's secret workforce
  • LATEST
    • Legal Q&A
    • Our guest blogs
    • News
    • Team EA Ride London 2022
    • Our fundraisers!
  • ABOUT US
    • Mission statement
    • About our website
      • The terms we use
      • Meaningful activity
    • Our team
    • Message from the chair
    • Support us
    • Team EA Ride London 2022
  • TELL US MORE
    • Contact us
    • Let us know your views
  • Admin
    • Log in
  • Basket: (0 items)
  1. I AM AUTISTIC
  2. I am not in work

I am not in work

It is important to look after yourself and stay healthy whether or not you are in work. You can use this time to prepare yourself to look for work or to improve your skills and widen your experience.

If you are autistic, it is likely to be very important to your wellbeing for you to have a structure, purpose and routine to each day.

You can find information about organisations offering support with health and wellbeing at this link


Take your mental and bodily health seriously,
it will help you to do whatever is important to you more happily and for longer


Lots of autistic people love work because it provides that, but how do you put structure in place if you are not working and you don’t know when you might have an interview, or a change to your plans? The following ideas might help:

  1. Set up a daily routine for yourself. Decide when you will get up, eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, what you will do in the evening and when you will go to bed.
  2. Build exercise into your routine. It could be as simple as going for a run, or could be going to the gym, bouncing on a trampoline, swimming, playing sport or taking the dog for a walk if you have one. Getting outside and exercising regularly is great for reducing anxiety and will keep you healthy.
  3. If you are claiming Employment Support Allowance (ESA), you should ensure that you spend time during the day trying to find a job. You will also need to plan your appointments to the Jobcentre and allow time for completing application forms and going to interviews. Most people have to apply for a lot of jobs before they get one, so try not to be too sad if it happens to you.
  4. Try to have contact with someone every day so that you do not feel lonely if that is something that upsets you. Some people like to join clubs that are related to things they enjoy. For example, singing in a choir is good for your brain and body as well as being fun.
  5. Plan time with your special or intense interest each day to bring you joy and stability.
  6. Work on the skills you want to develop or improve. It is possible to learn a lot of skills directly from the internet or from watching people showing you how on YouTube, as well as signing up for courses at your local Adult Education Centre or college.
  7. Doing things for other people can help you to feel good too. Look for opportunities to help out other people or volunteer.

Remember you are important as you are, and you do not need to be working to be worthwhile


You may qualify for benefits and financial support if you are not working.

What if I am too unwell to work?

If you are ill, the most important thing is to get better as soon as you can.

Expand

If you feel poorly, get help from a healthcare professional, such as a pharmacist, nurse or your doctor. You should be registered with a doctor’s practice. If you are not registered with a doctor, you can use the NHS website to find the closest one to you. If you tell them you are autistic, you can ask them to make reasonable adjustments to make it easier for you to be seen by a doctor. This guide from the NAS can help you explain any adjustments you need.

What should I tell my employer if I'm not well enough to come to work


If you are employed and you fall sick, you should follow the company procedures for how to tell them


Normally, you should ring your manager to let them know you are ill as soon as you can, and you will usually need to ring in every day you are ill. They may need to get someone else in to cover your work.

If you are sick for more than 7 days (including days you don’t normally work such as weekends and bank holidays), your employer may ask for a fit note (the proper name for it is a Statement of Fitness for Work).

Being sick is not the same as being disabled. If you are working for someone else and become ill, you should qualify for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). You have to be ill for more than 3 days (the ‘waiting days’) and you will not be paid statutory sick pay for these unless you were paid sick pay within the previous 8 weeks. You cannot get statutory sick pay if you are self-employed. You may need to claim Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) instead. Benefits can be complicated to work out, so check one of the benefits calculators to see if you can claim.

You many be able to claim other benefits. See also our section about being unwell at work.

Published: 1st February, 2018

Updated: 24th February, 2021

Author:

Share this page
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Back to top

Showing 10 of 1

Latest

  • Temping and volunteering

    Temping and volunteering

    Rachel talks about her experience of using voluntary and temporary roles as a means of gaining useful skills, and to avoid the stress of interviews

  • Triggers in the workplace

    Triggers in the workplace

    Mahlia explains how 'triggers' in the workplace affect her well-being, and how they might influence her art

  • AI video assessments

    AI video assessments

    Our blogger Oliver talks about his experience of AI assessed video selection and what he learned from appearing in a BBC documentary on the use of AI

  • Ride London 2022

    Ride London 2022

    TEAM EA: Kevin, Jamie and Tim will be cycling 100 miles in London and Essex to support Employment Autism

Most read

  • I am an autistic person

    I am an autistic person

    Look here for guidance on finding and keeping work, from job search through to retirement.

  • Telling an employer that you are autistic: disclosing

    Disclosing (telling others) that you are autistic is a big decision. Even telling your friends is a big decision for some people. You have the choice whether to disclose or not to your employer or prospective employer.

  • Autism, disability and health

    Whether an individual autistic person is also legally disabled will depend on whether that individual’s autism has more than minor or trivial “adverse effect” on their ability to carry out normal day to day activities.

  • Discrimination and prohibited conduct within the Equality Act 2010

    Prohibited conduct within the Equality Act encompasses discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

  • Employer experience

  • I am an employer or work provider

    I am an employer or work provider

    Look here for information on how to recruit, manage and support an autistic or neurodiverse person

  • Reasonable adjustments for interviews and assessments

    It is good practice for a company to ask if you need any adjustments for an interview or other assessment process, but even if they don't, you can still ask for them.

  • The Equality Act 2010 and employment

    Employers have a range of legal duties towards their autistic employees. These legal duties can be found in the Equality Act 2010. This information is not intended to be a comprehensive overview of how the Equality Act 2010 works in the role of employment. Rather, it looks specifically at how the rights and duties stated in the Equality Act 2010 apply to autistic employees, job applicants, their workplaces and employers.

  • Test

    Test

    Summary / meta description

  • Need a formal diagnosis to qualify for adjustments

    I have diagnosed myself with autism. Can I still ask a prospective employer for adjustments, even though I don't have a formal diagnosis?

Our fundraisers!

Our fundraisers!

Please support our fundraisers who are running for our cause Read more

Published: 17th March, 2022

Author: Hilary Fertig

Latest tweet

Sign up to receive news and information about us

Please enter your first name
Please enter your last name
Please enter your email address Please enter a valid email address (e.g. [email protected])

Find us

Registered Office: 12 Hillbrow, New Malden, Surrey, KT3 4HT
+44 (0)7703 666401
[email protected]

Links

  • Sitemap
  • Accessibility
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn

    Registered Charity number: 1096508

    Creative Commons Licence
     www.employmentautism.org.uk by Employment Autism is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License

    Disability Confident Badge