Hi Sachiko, Thanks for writing to us. The questions you are asking are ones that we often receive from cancer survivors, which highlights how important and relevant they are. The first thing that I would like to mention is that in general, you are under no legal obligation to disclose your medical condition to your prospective or current employer (however if you want to access a reasonable accommodation you may have to disclose some information to show you are entitled to it). Although this is a completely personal decision, I would recommend watching our webinar to get a better understanding on issues around disclosure: http://www.cancerandcareers.org/en/community/videos/bwc/2016-webinar-online. In response to your first question, this depends on a multitude of factors. It might be beneficial to review your company’s leave policies (many times this can be found in your company’s HR handbook/guide). It’s possible the handbook might outline additional leave benefits (flex-time, job-sharing, telecommuting, etc.) outside of standard sick/vacation time/paid-time off. You also might be eligible for the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which allows employees with serious medical conditions to receive up to 12 weeks unpaid leave per year, which can be used all at once or in increments as short as a few hours at a time. Leave under the FMLA is job-protected and health insurance protected, meaning that you can’t be fired while taking it. There are some eligibility requirements though, which you must meet to qualify. For more on the specifics of the FMLA check out this webinar: http://www.cancerandcareers.org/en/healthcare-professionals/presentation-archive/2016edseriestakingtimeoff In response to your second question, your employer may also be required to provide reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but there are also some eligibility requirements tied to this law as well. Your employer must be a private or state/local government employer with 15 or more employees. Reasonable accommodations are adjustments in the workplace that help employees stay-on-the-job, these may include things like a modified work schedule such as telecommuting or flex time (working the same number of hours but distributed differently over the course of a week) or changes to your workspace or access to technology. Reasonable accommodations are not one size fits all and will depend on several factors. It’s always a good idea to speak with your medical team about what potential accommodations you might need, if you haven’t already. A great resource for getting ideas about accommodations is www.AskJAN.org, you can look up cancer and look up different types of jobs and see potential accommodations. There are also state fair employment laws that might be helpful to consider. Some states’ laws protect individuals working for employers with fewer than 15 employees. Our partner, Triage Cancer, has a Quick Guide to Cancer-Related Laws by State available at http://triagecancer.org/resources/quickguides. You can find more information on the FMLA and ADA here: http://www.cancerandcareers.org/en/at-work/legal-and-financial/cancer-and-the-ada-fmla Some other resources I would recommend are: • Legal and Financial resources: http://www.cancerandcareers.org/en/at-work/legal-and-financial. If you need more specific legal information, I recommend checking out to the National Cancer Legal Services Network where you can find local free legal service programs for survivors: http://www.nclsn.org/ • Working through Treatment webinar: http://www.cancerandcareers.org/en/community/videos/bwc/2016-webinar-treatment I hope this is helpful. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us at cancerandcareers@cew.org or 646-929-8032. Kind Regards, Nicole Franklin, MPH Manager of Programs Cancer and Careers