If you are able to return to work shortly after your treatment, you may find that it helps you maintain your identity and even boost your self-esteem. Your job may remind you that you are a valued employee, a great boss and a trusted co-worker. You’ll also have regular contact with others upon returning to your job. Cancer can be extremely isolating, and being around people can be a great comfort. You may want to talk with your employer about options such as flextime, job sharing or telecommuting if it would help you perform your job duties.
Telling co-workers
In some settings, co-workers will react to your cancer diagnosis and absences with understanding and helpfulness. Other co-workers may feel uncomfortable around you because of your cancer. Many people find cancer an unpleasant reminder of their own mortality. Some co-workers may resent taking on extra duties because of your absences. A lack of knowledge may lead some of your colleagues to ask intrusive questions about your health or to avoid you. Those you work with may react awkwardly out of a vague fear or uneasiness about cancer, thinking of cancer as some kind of lurking, unspecified danger.
How open you are with your co-workers about your condition is a personal decision. In some environments, it won’t benefit you to share details. For example, before opening up to your colleagues in a highly competitive and fast-paced work environment, you might want to decide who is most likely to understand your situation. You can then confide in that person and ask for help in developing the best plan for telling others and for requesting time off. Many women with breast cancer say they are glad they shared information about their illness with people at work. Only you can decide which approach will work best for you and your situation.
Work schedule calendar and work duties log
You may want to make logs of your usual work schedule and duties, and refer to it when organizing any flextime, shifted duties or time off. You may also want to make a detailed list of job duties so you may direct others in handling situations and procedures while you’re out of the office.
Worries about discrimination
Even though the public’s understanding of cancer is generally improving, some prejudices and wariness remain in the workplace. This may be in part due to competitiveness and economic pressures and fears.
Some people with cancer face a number of challenges related to employment and workplace discrimination issues. Union officials are also good sources of information about illnesses and the workplace. You may want to keep records of your contacts with office personnel, including the names of the people with whom you spoke about your illness, the date and place you spoke, and the information you received. It’s also a good idea to keep documentation of your job performance evaluations.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
You have the same rights as anyone else in the workplace and should be provided equal opportunities, regardless of whether or not you talk about your cancer with people at work. Hiring, promotion and treatment in the workplace should depend entirely on ability and qualifications. As long as you are able to fulfill your job duties, you can’t be fired for being sick. You should also not have to accept a position you never would have considered before your illness. Some people with job problems related to cancer are protected by federal legislation such as the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Most states have laws related to employing people with various illnesses, including some that are specifically aimed at cancer.
Reasonable accommodations
Employers are not required to lower standards in order to make an accommodation for an employee, nor are they obligated to provide personal use-items such as glasses or hearing aids. However, an employer is required to reasonably accommodate a qualified applicant or employee with a disability unless the employer can show it would be an undue hardship to do so. Examples of reasonable accommodations may include:
- providing or modifying equipment or devices
- restructuring a job
- offering part-time or modified work schedules
- reassigning an employee to a vacant position
- adjusting or modifying examinations, training materials or policies
- providing readers and/or interpreters
- making the workplace readily accessible to and usable by people with disabilities
Although a vocational counselor can help with some of your job-related legal questions, you may want to investigate which laws may affect you and how you can deal with any grievances. To find out more about job accommodations and the employability of people with functional limitations, contact the Job Accommodation Network at 800-526-7234 or visit the network’s Web site.
If you think you have been discriminated against in employment on the basis of disability, you can file a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within 180 days of the alleged discrimination (according to some state or local laws, you can take up to 300 days). For more specific information about ADA requirements affecting employment, contact the the EEOC at 800-669-4000 or 800-669-6820 (TDD). For general ADA information, answers to specific technical questions, free ADA materials or information about filing a complaint, call 800-514-0301 or 800-514-0383 (TDD).
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