Welcome Back
to Your Work,
Your Life
A free toolkit for cancer survivors returning to work. Track your progress, manage fatigue, understand your rights, and talk to your employer with confidence.
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Explore Your Toolkit
Everything you need, organized by what you're working on.
Plan & Track
Map out your return and stay on top of it.
Work & Career
Conversations, requests, and next opportunities.
Health & Support
Care for your energy and your emotional well-being.
Rights & Legal
Know the protections that stand behind you.
Learn & Connect
Guides, coaching, and stories to walk alongside you.
For Managers & HR
Manager Resource Hub
Before deciding what to do, understand what your employee is navigating. How you respond determines whether you throw them a life raft or watch them go under.
Medically
Hours-long appointments, debilitating side effects, surgery, and scans that trigger real fear.
Cognitively
“Chemo brain” is real — focus, memory, and decision-making can all be affected.
Emotionally
Terrified, grieving, exhausted — and performing “fine” at work out of fear of seeming unreliable.
Financially
Medical bills pile up while unpaid leave looms. The job and its insurance are a lifeline.
Professionally
Worried about being seen as less capable, losing opportunities, or being let go.
Your Legal Responsibilities at a Glance
The core obligations most managers and HR teams need to get right.
FMLA — protected leave
- Up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for eligible employees.
- Health insurance must continue on the same terms during leave.
- They return to the same or an equivalent job — same pay, benefits, and status.
- Leave can be taken intermittently for treatment and appointments.
ADA — reasonable accommodations
- Cancer is generally treated as a disability, including after treatment ends.
- You must engage in an interactive process to find workable accommodations.
- Common ones: flexible hours, remote work, reduced schedule, extra breaks, modified duties.
- You may only refuse if it causes genuine undue hardship — document your reasoning.
Privacy & confidentiality
- Medical information stays confidential and separate from personnel files.
- Share only what the employee authorized, only with those who need to know.
- Don’t ask for details beyond what’s needed to support an accommodation.
Do not retaliate or discriminate
- No demotion, exclusion, or discipline tied to leave, illness, or accommodation requests.
- Never treat treatment-related absences as a performance problem.
- State and local laws may grant additional protections — check with HR or counsel.
Educational summary only — not legal advice. Consult HR or legal counsel for your specific situation.
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You're Not Alone
You're navigating something incredibly difficult. This toolkit is here to support you every step of the way. Take what you need, move at your own pace, and remember— your well-being comes first.