Q&A

Can you be terminated for medical disability after cancer diagnosis?

Can you be terminated for medical disability after cancer diagnosis?

Under doctors advised not to return to work, I did to save my job and benefits (I thought), however, I could not work under the same conditions and returned to disability. One week later I was terminated and cut off from medical benefits. Is this legal? Can you be terminated for medical disability?

Can You Lose Your job if you have breast cancer?

You cannot lose your job or be treated less favourably for having breast cancer. 2. What are my rights at work? If you have breast cancer, employers are required to make reasonable adjustments to help you continue to work, return to work, have time off for medical appointments or for continued treatment and recovery.

Can a person still work if they have cancer?

Cancer and the side effects of treatment can be intense. Some people may be able to continue working through treatment. Other people may have to stop. Under equality laws, your employer should give you a reasonable amount of time off to attend hospital appointments. This may not be paid time off unless your employment contract states so.

Is the Disability Discrimination Act for people with cancer?

This includes the Disability Discrimination Act. The Equality Act applies to people with cancer or those who have had cancer in the past. All cancers are included. And you are protected from the time you’re diagnosed with cancer. The Disability Discrimination Act still applies people with cancer in Northern Ireland.

Under doctors advised not to return to work, I did to save my job and benefits (I thought), however, I could not work under the same conditions and returned to disability. One week later I was terminated and cut off from medical benefits. Is this legal? Can you be terminated for medical disability?

How does Social Security disability work if you have cancer?

If you develop any of these conditions as a result of your cancer treatment, the SSA will evaluate the impairment on its own, without consideration of the cancer. For instance, if you have heart problems following chemo, your condition would be evaluated as a cardiovascular disability.

Can you get disability for chemo and radiation?

However, it’s difficult to get disability solely because of chemo or radiation treatments because of the SSA’s time requirement. The SSA requires that you are unable to work for at least one year. Often, the negative side effects of chemo or radiation are temporary and fluctuate over the course of treatment.

How are people with cancer treated in the workplace?

Often, employees with cancer face discrimination because of their supervisors’ and co-workers’ misperceptions about their ability to work during and after cancer treatment. Even when the prognosis is excellent, some employers expect that a person diagnosed with cancer will take long absences from work or be unable to focus on job duties.