Your Legal Rights as a Cancer Survivor

Request job accommodations before your work performance is affected.

Cancer and cancer treatment can make some aspects of your job more difficult. If this happens to you, then you may be entitled to something called a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act. A reasonable accommodation is any change to a job, the work environment, or the way things are usually done that allows an individual with a disability to do their job.

The ADA protects workers with disabilities from discrimination, and people with cancer are usually considered “disabled’ under the ADA. That means an employer bound by the ADA is not allowed to discriminate against you if you have cancer. They might even have to change the work environment to help you keep doing the essential functions of your job, as long as the changes aren’t too hard or expensive for the employer to make. For example, a reasonable accommodation might be a change to your work schedule so you can go to doctor’s appointments.