Photo Credit: Atlas Studio
Health concerns can cause serious disruptions in our professional, social, and personal lives. At work, health issues can dramatically impact your ability to perform duties as usual, your needs from your workplace healthcare policy, and your relationships with your colleagues. For female health concerns, some issues are still struggling to be understood. In the past, we have spoken about how workplaces should concern themselves with reproductive healthcare, abortion access, and cervical cancer care. For this Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we will be investigating how workplaces can show their support for affected colleagues (including cisgender women, cisgender men, and transgender/non-binary survivors) and the fight to end breast cancer.
For cisgender women, breast cancer accounts for a third of cancer diagnoses. Currently, there are more than 4 million breast cancer survivors in the United States. Drastic physical changes that may accompany breast cancer treatment like hair loss, breast reduction or removal from a lumpectomy or mastectomy, weight loss or gain, scarring, etc. can consequently lead to very real emotional and psychological fallout. When one’s body no longer cooperates with them, it can be very difficult to process. While statistically occurring at a smaller rate than their cisgender women counterparts, patients like those living with male breast cancer or transgender/non-binary breast cancer patients, the diagnosis of a “woman’s disease” inspires additional feelings of isolation, marginalization, and a tension between themselves and their gender identity on top of a diagnosis. This is why it is so important for all those battling breast cancer to be surrounded by a supportive and understanding network.
Unfortunately, workplaces are not always the supportive settings they should be. A survey by the Cancer Experience Registry® uncovered the following: “‘nearly 50% of women who left their jobs after a cancer diagnosis did not do so by choice. Even among those who continued to work, around 12% experienced ‘involuntary changes to their work schedules.’ Plus, about 20% reported some kind of job discrimination.” Unemployment rates are higher amongst cancer survivors than jobseekers who never had cancer. Anecdotal accounts of employees with breast cancer being fired after requesting leave related to their diagnosis, refused remote work, or losing job offers because of their history with the disease shows that the work sector still has plenty to learn and room to grow to make breast cancer survivors feel welcome.
Below are some of our recommendations for treating colleagues with breast cancer more equitably.
How Can Employers Support Breast Cancer Survivors on Staff?
Coordinate with Cancers + Careers
Cancers + Careers is an organization that recognizes how jobs are an important part of a patient’s life to give purpose and maintain a semblance of normalcy during such a confusing and difficult time. Coordinate with them to work out trainings for managers and human resources as well as to provide educational resources for employees with breast cancer navigating their daily duties.
Provide Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)
While employers should not be expected to be experts on breast cancer, they should have access to people who are. If an employer offers an EAP, ensure that they are well-versed in the needs of both cancer patients and caregivers of cancer patients so that they can provide the appropriate support accordingly.
Offer Adequate Mental Healthcare Options
Whether it is the mental stress associated with living with the sickness or difficulty navigating daily tasks while experiencing chemo brain, many breast cancer patients would benefit from having access to the appropriate mental healthcare to help make their days more manageable. Offer adequate mental healthcare options under company healthcare policy so that everyone battling a difficult illness who may want to use one is able to do so.
Familiarize Oneself with Conversational Best Practices
Sometimes we may mean well when speaking to a colleague with breast cancer but still offend, isolate, or marginalize them. We recommend reviewing City of Hope’s guide on conversational etiquette as a starting point for how to converse with those currently battling breast cancer. If any discussion veering into harassment or discrimination, particularly if it’s sexist in tone, we recommend reaching out to the RALIANCE team for a policy review to handle such incidents.
Learn About Reasonable Accommodations for Employees Battling Cancer
Similar to employees with disabilities, employees with breast cancer and other forms of cancer are entitled to certain reasonable workplace protections such as remote work and flexible scheduling for doctor’s appointments. Please review the U.S. Department of Labor’s “Workplace Protections for Individuals Impacted by Cancer” page to learn more about an organization’s legal obligations towards these employees.
What About Public-Facing Support?
We also know that allyship for the breast cancer patient and survivor community does not end with treating the individuals within the company well. Below are some tips for how employers can honor Breast Cancer Awareness Month amongst their teams and to their public-facing audience.
Collaborate with Local Organizations for Events
During Breast Cancer Awareness Month, many cancer-centric organizations are running their own events. Research to see if local chapters of the American Cancer Society, Komen, or your local hospital have any events, fundraisers, or initiatives that would be a good fit for collaboration.
Host Fundraising Events
No events near you? No problem! Run your own event to fundraise and spread awareness. See Komen’s “101 Fundraising Ideas” for inspiration. For who may receive the funding, we recommend the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, National Breast Cancer Foundation, the Pink Ink Fund, United Breast Cancer Foundation, Alliance in Reconstructive Surgery (AiRS) Foundation, or verified GoFundMe pages for affected community members/colleagues.
Consider Employee Donation Matching Programs and Corporate Donation Opportunities
As we all gear up for the holiday season, many employees will look into donating to their most treasured causes. Offer to match employee donations to the company’s preferred breast cancer charity throughout October and/or during the holiday season. We also recommend looking into ways other employers have championed good health as a part of their business model as a source of inspiration.
Amplify Educational Materials
Perhaps the most important form of allyship is education. After an employer has done the work to make their organization more cancer-informed, they can take the next step to share amongst their community educational materials to spread awareness about this issue.
Cancer can be a difficult topic to broach and especially to live through. While Breast Cancer Awareness Month is only in October, it is up to all of us to ensure that we are informed and supportive year-round for our affected colleagues and community members.
RALIANCE is a trusted adviser for organizations committed to building cultures that are safe, equitable, and respectful. RALIANCE offers unparalleled expertise in serving survivors of sexual harassment, misconduct, and abuse which drives our mission to help organizations across sectors create inclusive environments for all. For more information, please visit www.RALIANCE.org.