When you have been diagnosed with a long term illness or disability, it can be easy to become disheartened about your future job prospects. Many people worry that if they have an unpredictable illness that could cause them to be ill or out of action for any length of time that this may be a problem for employers. While employers offer equal opportunities for all staff and will do everything in their power to assist struggling employees; it can still be difficult for those facing long term disability or illness to feel that they can work full time long term.

Many people find that they may just want to get back to work and go on as before but this may not be entirely possible and it can be easy to feel down but there are actually so many options available that are worth looking into.

Working Hard from Home

There are a great many jobs that can be done from home and allow a great deal of flexibility when it comes to health appointments and days when you are unable to work comfortably. As business becomes more mobile with laptops and smartphones allowing employees to work at home comfortably, there are many more opportunities to work from a home office.

While on certain benefits it is even possible to do a small amount of permitted work per week and continue claiming benefits as long as the hours or pay does not breach the weekly limits and is declared to the Department of Work and Pensions and Tax Office. This can be particularly useful if you are looking to ease gradually back into work and can be very therapeutic, allowing you to gain more confidence and even learn new skills as well as helping to top up your finances.

Learning to Earning

While also on benefits, some funding is available to put towards education so you could always retrain in another field and your new qualifications could take you a great deal further as you attempt to get back into work.

If you want to go freelance and fit your job around your health commitments, you could always consider being self employed. This is a particularly useful thing to do if there are few jobs around; many companies look for contractors and freelance staff for pieces of work so it can be beneficial for both parties to be able to offer your services.

Not too Taxing

You may think that self employment could be difficult or that you may struggle with filling in your tax return but HMRC is very helpful and there is plenty of free advice in your local area when it comes to filling out tax returns.

In certain roles, if you are paying for your own travel to reach particular sites to perform your job and you are using your own vehicle or travel on public transport which you pay for yourself, you could even apply for a tax refund and sites such as http://riftuk.com/CIS/index.aspx can be a great help with this.

There are many roles that can be done from home and when diagnosed with an illness or disability, it may not always be practical for you to work but if you are itching to get back in the thick of it on a flexible part time basis, it is worth pursuing various opportunities.

Ben Freeman is a freelance writer writing articles on everything ranging from looking after your finances to advice on getting on in the world of technology.