Telling your boss
You might be worried about telling your boss that you’ve got cancer. Perhaps you think that they’ll sack you; make you redundant or won’t promote you in the future. In fact, if your employer knows that you have cancer, they may be able to give you:
- support, including time off if and when you need it
- information about your employment rights
- information about financial help and benefits
You don’t have to tell your boss that you have cancer but if you don’t tell them and the cancer and its treatment affect how well you do your job, it could cause problems. Also, if your boss doesn’t know about your cancer and its effects then by law, they’re not expected to give you any extra support at work. Your boss can help you to carry on working normally if you want to, or they can make arrangements to change your hours or give you time off.
If you tell your boss that you have cancer, they aren’t allowed to discuss this with anyone else without your permission. The same goes for any other work officials that you tell such as occupational health staff, human resources staff or trade union reps.
