Do I have to tell a potential employer that I am a cancer survivor?!


Question: I am looking to return to work after a 3 year absence to fight cancer. I am now in remission and things are looking good healthwise. I decided to look for a new career. How do I explain my 3 year gap? Do I have to tell potential employers about my cancer battle although I am in remission? Thanks for any input and personal experiences.


Answers: I am looking to return to work after a 3 year absence to fight cancer. I am now in remission and things are looking good healthwise. I decided to look for a new career. How do I explain my 3 year gap? Do I have to tell potential employers about my cancer battle although I am in remission? Thanks for any input and personal experiences.

The answer is no you don't have to tell them anything about you if it doesn't apply to the job you will be doing. That is assuming you are in the united states.

But if I were interviewing you, I would be very impressed with your explanation of your three year gap as being cancer. It is a good reason amongst so many bad ones out there. I would even put it on my resume.

You will always get a followup question like, "Is it all better now?", or, "Will you still need time off from work for this?", or, "How much time off are you going to need in the future?"

So just answer honestly and as long as it is a reasonable amount of time any prospective employer will not look at it like it is a bad thing. With all of the people missing work because they partied last night, or relationship problems, or chronic transportation problems, that is what they want to avoid. Not someone who has to go to the doctor every now and then.

You can just tell them if they even ask, I assume it would be illegal to deny you work because of your medical past...

I would just tell them the truth. You can not elaborate if you dont feel comfortable with the topic but its always best to be truthful. If you are hesitant then it might send them the wrong message from past interviews they have done.

No you do not have to tell them what your medical problems are. This is why HIPAA is in place. I would indicate that you had a gap of time off due to medical issues that have since been resolved. Best of luck to you.

I think it's a matter of what you are comfortable with. But you beat cancer, I would shout it to the world!! If you don't feel comfortable going into details, tell them you had major health issues. Otherwise, if I were you, I would tell them that you were fighting battle and you are in remission. It will show how determined and great you are. I see only pros in saying it! But you don't have to if you don't want too.

This is tricky, that you don't want to reveal too much, but you need to explain the gap in your employment. (Congrats on beating your disease by the way). By law, an employer cannot ask you about your health unless the job specifically requires certain physical assets (like not being color blind, or being able to lift a certain weight or use stairs, etc.)
However, since you had no employment in the time that you were treated, you need to explain that it was due to a serious illness. Stress that you are now healthy, and eager to get back to full time work. You do not have to give specific details unless you feel comfortable with that.
But you may get better answers asking this in the legal section or the employment sections of Yahoo Ask.

Ok, so you're a potential employer. Someone shows up applying for a job and tells you they had cancer. Do you hire them if another qualified person does not say the same thing?

ANY employer who offers health insurance will hire the non-cancer applicant. It's just economic reality. Statistically, the cancer survivor is going to cost them more money in lost time and in health benefit usage.

I'm not condoning it, just telling you what's real in the USA.

You just want to tell everyone, lol...no, I wouldn't think you'd have to.

Well, dont lie to anyone. However, you may want to think of other things to say. Are you a mother? Stay at home mom for a while? Did you do anything like pursue hobbies or volunteer? Ect.

It is illegal and you can fight it but I personally dont have the means. You will find many employers who will never say it but will turn you down because of the cancer history being so recent. You are likely to cost the insurance more, need more time off for needed doc apts, and relapse chance is high (training costs for them if you relapse and have to quit 6 months in)

But no, there is no law. That is personal private information. Google for cancer survivor rights and you will find some helpful info, the laws against medical discrimination, and how to defend yourself from this.





The consumer health information on answer-health.com is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.
The answer content post by the user, if contains the copyright content please contact us, we will immediately remove it.
Copyright © 2007-2011 answer-health.com -   Terms of Use -   Contact us

Health Categories