e-Campus - Work Wellness Institute

Over the next decade, the number of people who will live 5 years or more after cancer diagnosis is projected to increase. Return to work (RTW) after cancer is of increasing importance to individuals, employers and wider society. Although some people affected by cancer are able to continue working, a greater proportion of these survivors end up unemployed, retire early or change jobs than those without a diagnosis of cancer. Cancer survivors identify the role played by co-workers, line managers, and employers as important in supporting and sustaining a successful RTW. However, one of the reasons for not achieving a successful RTW is the lack of understanding and support from employers, supervisors and colleagues. Given the potential importance of their role in the RTW process for cancer survivors, the aim of this webinar is to explore the current evidence on the factors that are likely to influence the employer’s management of employees recovering from cancer. The webinar will cover evidence derived from a systematic review of the literature and will recommend some suggestions for improving practice and for future research in this area.

You will learn:

• The economic burden of sick leave and early retirement for the employee, his/her employer and wider society;
• The legal responsibility of the employer;
• The existence and importance of a formal workplace policy for managing employees diagnosed with cancer;
• The meaning and effect of the increasing trend towards the devolution of human resource (HR) work to line managers on the process of RTW;
• The meaning of the "rhetoric-reality gap";
• The perceptions of cancer from the employer perspective;
• Line-managers' attitudes towards managing employees affected by cancer;
• Factors related to employer management of employed cancer survivors.