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Return-to-Work Toolkit for Cancer Survivors

Practical guidance, ADA accommodation letters, fatigue trackers, and 24/7 coaching to help you transition back to work with confidence.

Tools for Every Step

From planning to your first day back, find the resources you need to move forward with clarity and confidence.

Your Return Journey

A step-by-step path to guide you through the process.

Wooden signposts against a mountain landscape reading Explore, Plan, Build, Return, and Thrive.
  1. EXPLOREUnderstand your options.
  2. PLANSet goals and prepare.
  3. BUILDGain skills and confidence.
  4. RETURNTake action and transition.
  5. THRIVEKeep growing and moving forward.

Explore at your own pace. Your saved progress will appear when you are signed in.

You Are Not Alone

Connect with a supportive community of people who understand your journey.

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Resources That Empower

Guides, templates, and expert tips to help you feel prepared at every stage.

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A Brighter Next Chapter Is Possible.
Your toolkit

Everything, organised by what you're working on

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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