Post-cancer discrimination at work?

[DiscoCherries]

Hi there,

I’m wondering if anyone more in the know might be able to advise on my current situation.

Last summer I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I was off in total almost 6 months. I have just completed my phased return to work and quite a few things are bothering me.

My team has changed and in doing so, so has my role - a lot of the more senior responsibilities have been taken from me and are with someone else. This person now has Lead control of my accounts and I just feel I’ve been demoted. I’ve asked twice about clarification on the current R&Rs and not had much back.

During my return to work interview HR said they felt they’d been ‘overly generous’ with my sick leave and as such the rules for me have now changed and I cannot have paid sick pay until I have a full year without sickness absence. If it was cancer-related they would still honor it.

I will have MRIs, mammograms, physio and eventually reconstructive surgery which work know about. I’ve been told I can take time off for appointments but must make the time back, either by swapping my NWD (currently work 4 days) or if this isn’t feasible I must work the time back during my NWD or in the evenings. Some of these appts door to door can be 3 hours.

I wasn’t given a payrise in the January payrises (these are all-company ones, not for promotions etc). I asked why and was told it was a business decision and they were trying to look at payscales across the business; I didn’t press further at the time.

All of it together is just making me feel a bit rubbish. I’d like to approach my line manager about it but I’m not really even sure where to start. If anyone has any advice I’d be really grateful.

Speak to Acas - it all sounds contrary to the Equality Act.

Definitely contact ACAS. My employers were really supportive when I had cancer and afterwards.

I'm really sorry. Do you have a union?
Macmillan has some great employment rights advice on their website.

You are automatically covered under the equality act if you have cancer. Defo speak to ACAS, and your union if you have one, some of what you are describing defo does not sound right.

This doesn’t sound right, I would defintely speak to ACAS if you’re not in a union.

My employers were excellent and knew/know the law. I’m really sorry you are dealing with this. Agree with others union/acas/ employment lawyer. Also Work with cancer are a good resources.

https://workingwithcancer.co.uk/

Sounds shit. Definitely a chat with ACAS.

A cancer diagnosis is a disability under the Equality Act. Your protection against discrimination continues to apply even after successful treatment. Several of the things you describe sound like unlawful discrimination. Also, if your entitlement to sick pay was contractual, your employer cannot unilaterally remove it without your consent quite apart from any discrimination issues. I would recommend a chat with ACAS or a lawyer who specialises in employment law.

Thank you everyone. I’ll contact ACAS tomorrow first thing.

Hello @DiscoCherries I was just wondering if you have any update on your situation that you’d be willing to share? Thanks

Thank you - not really yet. I spoke to Acas who were so helpful. HR were a bit snooty about me having spoken with them, for some reason, but it helped with the sick leave discussions and taking time out for cancer related medical appts (I can now take these paid without any need to make time back). The issues around my role are still being discussed, I have what I hope will be a definitive call about this in the morning. I just hate it all - I hate confrontation and have cried on a lot of these calls / discussions. The stress and anxiety with it I could seriously do without only 5-ish months out of cancer treatment!

Thanks for replying @DiscoCherriesyes I imagine very stressful. Not sure it’s very well understood that cancer and the aftermath creates a level of stress and worry. I was interested because even though my employer has been great one of my senior managers recently met with me and suggested because of my cancer I wouldn’t be as ambitious anymore which I though was quite the leap and assumption. I wonder about bias generally with cancer and ppl thinking we may or may not want certain things without actually asking properly.

I'm so sorry. Cancer is never really 'gone' is it? That's why they call it remission. The impact of your treatment continues, whether physical or psychological. I hope they are helpful and be assured that you are in the right here.

It's definitely a bit of a minefield, and people jump to all sorts of conclusions when you return to work. I experienced the opposite to you: I returned 2 months after multiple head/brain surgeries with a letter from my medical team suggesting a two-month phased return. My then boss reviewed it and said I should make sure I take lunch breaks so I don't get exhausted. That was the extent of the "phased" bit... And then she quit, left a few days after I returned, and I had to do most of her job on top of mine. Fun. I tried to get senior folks to understand that I needed more than the occasional lunch break... and got a lecture about "optics" and the need to "show presence" instead.

Luckily the team below me were absolutely fab and carried me through the first few weeks back (they were fully aware of the dysfunctional leadership situation).

I would say that some of your issues, e.g. around role scope, will probably resolve automatically over time if you show that you're fully engaged again though. I wouldn't fight that, it might just take a while.
The HR policy side of things - like such leave - is different though, and I would also have presented HR with ACAS guidance there. Looks like you had success with that?

That’s awful @KentishMama I’m so sorry that happened! You must’ve been exhausted.

The HR stuff is mostly resolved yes; the only thing still lingering is ACAS suggested medical leave for cancer shouldn’t be counted amongst any other sickness leave - but HR disagreed with this and so my paid sick leave is still off the table. But I can now take medical appts related to cancer fully paid.

The role thing itself is tricky, and I feel I can’t just let it go. In a nutshell, my role is now with another colleague, who’s now doing a dual role along with her own, and I’ve essentially been sort of ‘quietly demoted’ - they’ve said my responsibilities have ‘narrowed’ and just keep telling me it was a business need. I worry if I don’t at least try and advocate for myself with this a bit I’ll be stuck in a lower job I don’t want after doing my job there for 3 years. They've tried to dance me in to agreeing to it a few times (‘it’ll be a lot less meetings which will be good for you, won’t it?’ etc)

Thank you 🩷 And yes, it’s so true.

From my understanding they cannot treat you differently because of your cancer treatment so I’d say they’ve crossed a line saying that! In no way should you be reconsidered for promotions etc because of it.

It’s just so hard; I went back to work for some routine and familiarity and now I feel like I’m fighting for simply getting back my role! The call on Weds didn’t go brilliantly - I sent an email afterwards to my boss and she agreed to discuss it internally and I’ll get a response on Monday. If they double down on it though I don’t know if I’ve got any more fight in me, I might just have to start looking for something else.

You mentioned that your accounts moved - are you in a client facing role, e.g. in an advertising agency or similar? I'm wondering if they just don't want to create too much disruption for the client, so they want to avoid moving account managers around again? Having said that - it certainly isn't fair on you.
Do you see any other interesting projects or similar at work that you could pick up instead?
"Hey boss, since I don't have much to do after you removed my accounts, how about we set up a new project doing XYZ, and I lead that?"