Cancer at work

As Breast Cancer Awareness Month draws to a close, JANELLE DE SOUZA is addressing a critical issue facing patients: the workplace.

Cancer patients face many problems: fear of death and departure from their loved ones, physical side effects of treatment, financial constraints on the family and emotional tension in their relationships.

Some have also had to deal with the heartless attitude of their colleagues and badociates. A bad cancer survivor told Sunday Newsday that her colleague had been diagnosed for the first time. She acted as if she had done it herself, although she does not smoke and that she is a "baded up" one.

She added that some people had acted as if it was contagious, while others were jealous of the "special treatment" that she was getting from the boss and other co – workers. "One person said to me," You know you're lucky to be able to shake that little pink ribbon and get what you want. " I have said that I am proud to wear it, but if I had the choice, I would never have a choice. I did not ask for cancer, I did not buy it either. "

Then there were other people who had to worry about their jobs.

A woman felt discriminated against even though she did her best to be at work as soon as she was able to after her treatments. She said that a supervisor had told her that she should have been fired for all the sick leave that she had taken. In the meantime, the company hired a new person and fired her from her position, possibly trying to get her to leave the position. In addition, she stated that the company did not seem to have confidence in her and had insisted that she see the company's doctor whenever she was on sick leave.

Cavelle Joseph, former president of TT Women's Leadership Association (AFETT) and head of human resources at National Insurance Property Development Co. Ltd. (Nipdec), explained some of the concerns badociated with being a employee with cancer, as well as the responsibilities of the employer.

She added that in some organizations, employees were at risk of being replaced or transferred, deducting their wages during the hours or days when they were unable to work and lose their jobs.

However, she added, once diagnosed with cancer or a terminal illness, the employer was required to provide some kind of support.

The first, less common, was the advice provided by the company's Employee Assistance Program to help them deal with their fears. She explained that a diagnosed person often had an emotional reaction that could filter into the workspace and that this reaction could include a difference in behavior, level of energy or performance.

"Some employees would not necessarily contact their employer immediately and would not tell them. They may need time to process the information, meet their families, badess the situation because it is a private matter. They may take some time to disclose the information to their employer, especially if they do not trust them.

Employers should also provide free time for medical appointments and treatment. She acknowledged that the employer first needed to know how the treatments affected the employee because some people would not be able to work for days, while others would feel good enough to go back to work.

Therefore, flexible arrangements were needed. Employers can give them a full day off, a few hours a day, or give them flexible hours so employees can work earlier or later than usual to accommodate their appointments.

In addition, she stated that employers could organize a phased approach to employees' return to work, particularly if it was physical work, by asking another employee to support them. or allowing them to work fewer hours on their initial return.

"The employer needs a reasonable accommodation, especially since employees would have contributed to your organization at some point. Not because someone is not good, you throw them aside. Now they need support.

Joseph said that even if there were still problems with efficiency and productivity, employers should realize that other employees were paying attention to how the employer was treating this sick person.

She added that most employers wanted employees to have a positive view of the organization because it could affect the morale of their employees, and that some might not want to stay with an indifferent organization.

"Any employer who wants to keep experienced employees who do not want to pay for recruitment and retraining, knows that it is commercially wise to provide support to those who are not doing well and, in this case, have cancer. "

She noted that organizations rarely employ people with cancer and that it would not cost the employer much to deal thoughtfully with a single employee.

However, she pointed out that it would cost the employer.

She added that most companies had regular sick days, about 14 days a year, and many had taken extended sick leave for sickness. In this case, employees who could not work due to prolonged illness were paid full wages for several months, half paid several more, and then went on leave without pay. She added that everyone was contributing to the National Insurance Plan (NIS). Therefore, if a company did not have extended sick leave and refused to pay an employee's salary if an extension of her leave was necessary, she advised them to apply for NIS.

"An employer can not do much because it costs him dearly. It is not a legal requirement for an employer to grant you extended sick leave although this is usually business policy. "

After the extended leave, she stated that employees would generally be required to consult a physician to badess their fitness for work and that they would return to work or leave the company. "The company can not hold your job forever. When you are not there for a long time, someone else does it and gets paid, which costs twice as much for the same job for the company. "

Joseph added that the insurance companies were attentive to the overall performance of the company's medical plan. If there were a lot of claims for compensation, the cost of the police could increase, but a person with cancer would not raise the cost of the plan.

However, she explained that this is why it was in the employer's interest to promote health and well-being at work. She said that her company, Nipdec, had a comprehensive health and wellness program that included free medical tests, including mental health tests, for a full week, as well as raising public awareness cancer internally. However, she stated that such things depended on the size of the company and the knowledge that the employer of the health.

"It really forces the employer to work a lot, but in the end, the benefits outweigh the costs."