Telling a new boss about a medical condition?

August 22, 2013 10:43 AM

My mom found out that she has cancer. Things are looking okay, but she'll need to travel a few hours away for surgery, followed by a week off work. Over the next couple of months, she'll need daily radiation. The twist is, she started a new job within the past month and a half. How should she share this with her boss (or should she share it at all)?

Other notes:
- She needs to be out of town for the surgery, but not the radiation.
- The radiation should take about an hour a day (probably during work hours).

How should she bring this up with her boss? What are her legal protections? Is there something she could do to mitigate the fallout at work? Should she tell her coworkers?

Basically, this is a situation where there's lots of questions and not a ton of answers. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, especially if someone's gone through something similar.

posted by anonymous to Work & Money (12 answers total)

Mod note: OP it would be very very helpful if you could update this with your Mom's location. Contact us at the contact form to add this.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:44 AM on August 22, 2013

I'll let other people speak to the legal part, but here's my perspective as a boss who's had employees with medical conditions that required treatment: tell the boss as soon as possible (based on what the legal experts tell you and getting her ducks in a row on that front). If the boss is a functioning human being, he or she will want to accommodate your mom's treatment schedule, if only because it will make her a better worker. If the boss makes it a Big Thing right from the get-go, then your mom needs to talk to an actual lawyer immediately to ensure that she doesn't get pseudo-fired (e.g., gradual reduction of hours if she's a scheduled worker, unreasonable new demands that are clearly intended to lay groundwork for "You can't handle the workload").

Don't tell the co-workers. Ask the boss not to share it around the office.
posted by Etrigan at 10:57 AM on August 22, 2013 [3 favorites]

I can't believe your mother will be able to do daily radiotherapy and go straight back to work every day for two months. I think she's going to need more time off. So I think the position just has to be discussed openly.
posted by Segundus at 11:12 AM on August 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

Her doctor's office/cancer treatment center may have a Social Worker on staff. Ask to speak to this person as soon as possible. They can help your mom navigate the employment stuff, but also a host of other issues. And best of all, their knowledge will be specfic to the laws and cultural concerns of your area.
posted by bilabial at 11:51 AM on August 22, 2013 [3 favorites]

And adding, if the Social Worker doesn't know the laws about your mom's situation, they can also help you find a lawyer who does.
posted by bilabial at 11:52 AM on August 22, 2013

A friend just finished 8 weeks of daily radiation and was able to schedule all of them in the evening hours outside of work. I still think she will need to let the boss know in order to work out the surgery and other details.
posted by maxg94 at 12:12 PM on August 22, 2013

Mod note: From the OP:

This is all happening in Georgia (the state, not the country).

Another twist I should have mentioned, but which slipped my mind: her job would ordinarily involve some amount of travel, but some of this could likely be done by coworkers. How should she approach this?

posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:39 PM on August 22, 2013

I had 22 sessions of radiation for breast cancer, which is a fairly small number, all told, and I was okay working most of the time, but I did get tired after the first week or two, and I ended up leaving early from work probably twice and calling in sick maybe once, twice at the most. Everyone's experience is different, but just based on that, I would think your mom should let him know (after consultation with social worker or lawyer, as stated above, just to be sure -- but FMLA is a federal statute so I don't think that the employment laws of Georgia matter as much anyway I digress) so that she doesn't give the wrong impression if she needs a little leeway.

(I was able to schedule my radiation for first thing in the morning so it never interfered with my workday).
posted by janey47 at 1:08 PM on August 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

her job would ordinarily involve some amount of travel

Skipping scheduled daily radiation is a bad, bad idea. She will need accommodation for this.

How much the surgery and radiation will affect her ability to work will depend a great deal both on her work duties, her individual reaction, and the location of the surgery and radiotherapy sites.
posted by yohko at 2:04 PM on August 22, 2013

This situation is exactly what the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is for. She should definitely tell her boss, and ask for the FMLA paperwork. If the company is of a large enough size, they should be able to supply it. If her boss can't, then the HR department should be able to.

For a qualifying circumstance, she should be entitled to 12 weeks of leave with no fear of being fired or any repercussions from her employer. This isn't necessarily paid leave, mind you. She would need to have accrued sick leave or vacation to be paid for the time off. The FMLA leave just covers her from being fired for taking time off because she's sick.

I wish you and your mom the very best.
posted by Shohn at 2:09 PM on August 22, 2013

Caveat: The FMLA doesn't apply until after the employee has worked 1250 hours during the 12 months prior to the start of leave.

IANAL(yet).
posted by Schielisque at 2:41 PM on August 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

Following the ADA Amendments Act, cancer is almost certainly an ADA "disability," meaning a person with cancer can request schedule modifications as a reasonable accommodation. To be covered by the protections of the Act, typically an employee must disclose to HR/employer/management that they have a disability and need a modification.
posted by ClaudiaCenter at 5:12 PM on August 22, 2013