Engage HealthCare Providers

• The employee’s job responsibilities. Is the employee’s job physically or mentally demanding? What is their commute like? What hours are normally required? In order get useful input from the employee’s healthcare team on appropriate accommodations, it’s essential that everyone has a clear understanding of the employee’s specific, day-to-day responsibilities.
• Likely trajectory of treatment. The severity of side effects varies from patient to patient, and can change over the course of treatment. Gathering information about how much time it typically takes to recover from surgery, when the side effects of
  chemo are likely to be most severe, and whether it’s possible to schedule treatments around work, can help you and your employee create a successful roadmap for managing work and treatment.
• Managing side effects at work. One of the most important things to discuss is how might the side effects from surgery, chemo or radiation impact the employee’s ability to work. What reasonable accommodations have people who have undergone similar
  treatments used in the past? Experienced oncology professionals can provide information and suggestions to help the employee stay comfortable and productive on the job.
• Employee priorities. If your employee is planning to take time away from work for surgery and/or treatment, it is a good idea to discuss their re-entry plan with their healthcare team. This discussion should include a conversation about the employee’s personal work goals. For example, do they want to work as much as possible or do they prefer to scale back based on their treatment schedule?