Cancer survivors and job discrimination

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http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-11-cancer-survi...


"Job applicants who are cancer survivors are less likely to receive callbacks from potential retail employers than those who did not disclose their health history, according to a recent study by Rice University and Penn State University researchers.

The study, published recently in the Journal of Applied Psychology by the American Psychological Association, focused on retail employers and compared two groups ofjob applicants: applicants who ostensibly never had cancer and applicants who indicated on their resumes they were cancer survivors and wore a hat that read "cancer survivor" when applying for a job.

Applicants disclosing a cancer history received fewer callbacks from managers than the applicants who did not disclose a history of cancer. For the cancer survivor group, 21 percent received callbacks. For the control group, nearly 37 percent received callbacks, a statistically significant difference, according to the researchers."

"This is especially problematic as people with chronic and past illnesses are protected from discrimination by the Americans with Disabilities Act, and our findings indicate that cancer survivors do tend to disclose their cancer histories with interviewers at relatively high rates," said lead researcher Larry Martinez, assistant professor of hospitality management at Penn State...."



Comments

  • Lharry
    Lharry Member Posts: 86
    edited November 2015

    There is no need to disclose any medical history at all!

  • jill47
    jill47 Member Posts: 351
    edited November 2015

    No need to disclose your medical history pre-employment and during employment only if it affects your ability to apply to a job or perform it. I have worked in recruiting and it troubled me when applicants would write long cover letters disclosing personal information including marital status, how many kids they have and health problems that are not problematic anymore i.e. these candidates do not need an accommodation to apply to the job or perform the job, so why bring it up. All of this extra information is personal and irrelevant. Recruiters and hiring managers just want to hire someone who can do the job. Keep it professional and if you do need an accommodation such as a flexible schedule for doctor appointments, bring it up up during the offer stage or interview if work schedule comes up; most employers are flex w/ adjusting schedules especially if you are their candidate and want to hire you. Also you don't need to tell your employer what the doc appt. is for and they cannot ask, that is illegal. Work with your doctors too, most understand you work, grab that last appt of the day or see your doc during an extended lunch hour so the impact on your employer is minimized. I was in the middle of my TE fills during a new big job and was often my PS last appt of the day and my employer had no idea of any of these appts.

  • Lumpie
    Lumpie Member Posts: 1,650
    edited August 2018

    I know that this is an old thread but job discrimination and/or accommodation is a big issue for many cancer survivors so I am posting this 8/17/18 announcement regarding an U.S. EEOC lawsuit on a couple of different threads:

    EEOC Sues Stanley Black & Decker For Disability Discrimination

    Tool Manufacturer Fired Employee Who Needed Leave for Medical Treatment, Federal Agency Says

    BALTIMORE - Stanley Black & Decker Inc., a global diversified industrial company, violated federal law when it terminated an employee with cancer who took leave for medical treatment related to her cancer, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today.

    Read the press release here: https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/8-17-18...


  • oxygen18
    oxygen18 Member Posts: 164
    edited August 2018

    There may well be discrimination against BC survivors, but that piece of work by PSU people did not address the question competently.

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