Advanced PCa and workplace accomodation

[Derf4223]

Cancer is an ADA-covered health condition. (FWIW it also qualifies one for a handicap car placard.)

For those in this group who are still employed, how has it gone to report your status and request accommodations?

I have a white collar technical job I can do a lot from home. On-site I enjoy a semi-private work space. Both of these I obtained before my PCa diagnosis during Covid.

This past year I have had to go to about 50 outpatient interactions and managing my PCa has become more important than work. I wear a mask everywhere in public -- but no company requires otherwise that I know of.

I am in the process of getting a letter from my MO to my employer. In addition to the above I would like it to stipulate that I need time for stress-managing and PCa-managing exercise. That controlling stress is essential and I need latitude to make that call (which is of course very subjective). That ongoing treatment means occasional times of fatigue.

Am I missing anything reasonable here?

Thanks

[Tall_Allen]

I know someone who was fired when he told his boss he had cancer. He was in Texas. Check the laws in your state.

[Derf4223 in reply to Tall_Allen]

Verbally informing ones boss as opposed to going on record are two different matters.

Grounds for termination when protected by ADA are not doing one's job and would create government reporting ripples and very high level executive headaches.

My employer has an unlimited PTO policy so YTD my medical interactions which have ran at most 1-2-3 hours at a time and are maybe once per week spread across the year have not caused significant work issues. Going on record is pre-emptive in case I run into health setbacks and can't work for weeks at a time.

By going on record with accommodation requests, I am going on record to adjust my job. It is not unheard of for people in our boats to be transferred to something more suitable to disease exigencies. Furthermore, I am on Medicare so the company has to date no awareness of insurance claims in the slightest.

Firing is a funny thought. I am the only one doing what I do, it is highly business-critical, and they have a hiring freeze in addition to an evident policy of reduction by attrition. I have virtually begged them to hire someone younger to be my protege, which shows no signs to date of happening.

I've been fired before, am always ready for it, and in any event that would be trivial compared to continuing to have PCa.

[mrscruffy]

No, under ADA that would be a reasonable accommodation

[ron_bucher]

Several years ago I had a bad experience with an employer **after** my treatments were completed when all I had left was follow up visits to check my PSA. My supervisor was a bad apple and HR made some ignorant mistakes.

Protection for time for medical appointments is a no brainer from legal and ethical perspectives. Instead of negotiating the subjectivity of stress, I'd negotiate work hours that just bundle stress relief into medical appointment time.

Unless you have complete faith in your HR department, I would keep good notes and/or copies of all email communications with the company on accommodations requested and granted.

[Derf4223 in reply to ron_bucher]

I forgot to mention, when you have a difficult boss situation, it is best to engage a lawyer and let them know. One would be amazed how even bad apples "nice up" when their communiques are subject to outside review. I did this in a past job and it made for a termination package amounting to about $30K vs being canned for drummed-up nonsense.

[ron_bucher in reply to Derf4223]

If more people did that, we would have fewer managers misbehaving. Most companies with 100 or more employees think they can avoid large damages because so few terminated employees put up a fight. Good to hear when at least some justice is done.

[Atdabeach]

I'm not so sure about the handicap car tag. In my state (Delaware) they list six specific conditions (can't walk 200 feet, need a cane or crutches, use oxygen, etc.) to get a hang tag or license plate, none of which I expect to meet solely due to PCa. Not that I need or want one, but your comment made me curious.

[Gl448 in reply to Atdabeach]

Get some bone mets in your hip or low spine and you might eventually think a placard would be nice.

I don’t want a placard, but sometimes it’s extremely painful to walk right now and some close-in parking at some places would be nice. But not at the expense of truly disabled folks not having a spot.

I wonder what California’s critters are.

[Hidden]

I worked as an engineer for a large corporation. The older I got the worse they treated me. Age discrimination is real and this company has been sued many times for it. I managed to survive many layoffs in the 29 years I remained with them. Things got bad enough that I laid myself off and called it a retirement at age 62. I continued doing work for them as an outside contractor (look ma, no healthcare benefits for me or liability for the company) for another four years until full retirement. I'm a little surprised that you remain employed in a technical field at age 68. I'd be a little reluctant to push too hard for accommodations unless you work for a very special company. My two cents anyway.

[Derf4223 in reply to Hidden]

My situation is kind of backwards in how I ended up F/T at 68. I started as a contractor there about 5 years ago, hired to do specialized work and as a contractor ageism didn't apply. I went on medicare at 65 while in contract mode, and about a year ago they converted me (it was their idea and at that point I was distracted by my high PSA and didn't care either way.) As for ageism, at most companies I've been at this is a real concern, but my boss is older than me and is a friend dating back over 40 years from our first real engineering jobs at the same company. His boss is over 60, and another key engineer in our group is going to be 65 next year.

It is not a new company and my group has to redesign complex electronics from 30-40 years ago, which only old engineers do well. This work tends to put off younger engineers who by and large quit after a few years for greener / younger pastures.