Should I tell my employer?

Telling your employer that you have cancer is a personal decision. While there is no law that says you have to share the diagnosis with your employer, you do have some obligations. You must tell your employer about anything that will affect your ability to do the essential parts of your job, or could reasonably cause a health and safety risk for yourself or other people. For example, some medicines you are taking may affect your ability or safety at work.

You may decide to wait and only tell your employer if the cancer starts to affect your ability to do your job. Or you may decide to inform them right away so that you can work together to plan how to deal with the impacts on you and your workplace. Keeping the diagnosis secret may cause you unnecessary stress trying to cover it up.

Being open with your employer may:

• let you discuss the support you need and any changes that could be made to your work 
• help you find out about any benefits you can access, such as additional leave or income protection insurance
• make it easier to organise flexible working arrangements or take time off work for appointments or treatment
• reduce the risk that any impacts on your work will be seen as poor work performance.