Shawnee Love   •  
July 4, 2013

Last week, we discussed the legal obligations a company has when an employee gets cancer (or any serious illness).  This week we go beyond what is required to what are the right things to do.

1. Be supportive.  It sounds obvious, but employees need to know that you want them to get better and to come back to work (not because you are legally required but because you care).
2. Be communicative.  Statistically, the longer an employee is off work, the less likely he will be to return.  You can counteract that trend by staying in touch and letting your employee know you care and want him to get well so you can welcome him back to work. 
3. Be proactive.  Employees who are sick have enough to worry about without having to remember the administrative details like when they should be following up regarding applications, paying for benefits or return to work, so put it on your calendar to remind your employee.  It is a good time to reach out and communicate as well.
4. Be clear.  This is all new and stressful for your employee, so you need to ensure each step and requirement is clearly explained so your employee understands.  In practice that usually means multiple explanations and good documentation of the path forward.  I will often email an employee with what we talked about after a phone call or face to face meeting is done just so the employee can process the information again and follow up as required.
5. Be helpful.  Go the extra mile to find out information and provide it to your employee.  If you have an employee family assistance plan (EFAP or EAP), grab the tools and resources they offer and provide them to your employee so he doesn’t have to go hunting.  (If you don’t have an EFAP, consider getting one as an inexpensive way to offer a lot of value to your employees.)  If you know of other employees who have experienced something similar, ask if you can connect them so the employee will have a peer group to draw on.
6. Be flexible.  The duty to accommodate that we talked about last week is a big responsibility with a high bar established for what is undue hardship.  If there is a way to help the employee without breaking the bank or damaging the company then be open-minded.

Employers always wonder whether or not they can talk about work with the employee on leave.  My advice is to take the lead of your employee.  I have had many occasions when employees asked about work because they want to take their minds off of cancer.  Saying that, be very clear that you don’t want to stress out the employee by talking about work, and use your good judgment when contemplating how much to share.  Employees like knowing they are needed and the workplace isn’t the same without them, but you don’t want to stress them out that their replacement is dropping balls or worse yet, doing a better job than they ever did.

We hope this blog series helps you with an employee who is sick. Please reach out if you have any questions or want to discuss the situation you are facing.