{"entity":{"id":"rejuv-life-employment-rights-uk","kind":"technology","name":"Employment rights with cancer in the United Kingdom","aka":[],"tldr":"Schedule 1 of the Equality Act 2010 says in one sentence that \"Cancer, HIV infection and multiple sclerosis are each a disability\", so protection applies from the moment of diagnosis rather than when the illness starts to limit anything. That brings the employer's duty to make reasonable adjustments, and Statutory Sick Pay of £123.25 a week for up to 28 weeks.","summary":"The statutory basis, read from the Act itself. The general definition of disability in section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 requires a physical or mental impairment with a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Schedule 1, Part 1, paragraph 6(1) removes that test for three conditions: \"Cancer, HIV infection and multiple sclerosis are each a disability.\" A person is therefore protected from the date of diagnosis, whether or not they feel unwell, whether or not they have had treatment, and whether or not anyone can see that anything is wrong. Protection continues afterwards, because the Act also covers discrimination because of a past disability. In Northern Ireland, which has its own equality legislation, the corresponding protection sits under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.\n\nWhat the protection consists of. Direct discrimination, discrimination arising from disability, indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation are prohibited across recruitment, pay, promotion, training, benefits and dismissal. The distinctive duty is the duty to make reasonable adjustments, which is an obligation to change the arrangement rather than a right to be treated identically. Macmillan's employment material sets out what this looks like in a workplace and makes two practical points that the statute does not: you are not obliged to tell your employer, and an employer cannot make adjustments it does not know are needed, so the protection is real but is usually triggered by telling someone. It also notes that carers have some protection from discrimination by association.\n\nThe adjustments that are commonly asked for and commonly granted: reduced or changed hours, a phased return building hours back up over weeks, time off for appointments, working from home, removing specific duties, a parking space or a change of location to shorten a commute, and a referral to occupational health. A phased return is the normal shape of going back after extended sick leave rather than an unusual concession. What counts as reasonable depends on the job, the cost, how practical the change is and how much it helps, which is why the answer differs between a large employer and a small one.\n\nThe money while off work. Statutory Sick Pay is £123.25 a week for up to 28 weeks, paid by the employer, where a contractual sick pay scheme does not pay more; many employers' own schemes do. A fit note from a general practitioner or hospital doctor is the document that supports sick leave and can also state that a person may be fit for work with adjustments, which is the mechanism behind a phased return. Access to Work, a government scheme operating in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, can fund equipment and in some circumstances help with the cost of getting to work.\n\nWhat this record does not cover, and where to go instead. It does not cover self-employment, for which Statutory Sick Pay does not apply and the relevant route is the benefits system. It does not list benefits, because the list is long, changes often and is best taken from a benefits adviser or a charity helpline; the corpus carries cancer-specific versions for several cancers. And it is not legal advice: where someone believes they have been treated unfairly, the usual sequence is to raise it with the employer, then with the conciliation service, Citizens Advice or a trade union, and employment tribunal time limits are short.","status":"standard-of-care","asOf":"2026-10-02","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equality_Act_2010","links":[{"label":"Equality Act 2010, Schedule 1, Part 1, paragraph 6 (legislation.gov.uk)","url":"https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/schedule/1/paragraph/6"},{"label":"Macmillan: work and cancer","url":"https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/impacts-of-cancer/work-and-cancer"},{"label":"GOV.UK: Statutory Sick Pay","url":"https://www.gov.uk/statutory-sick-pay"},{"label":"GOV.UK: taking sick leave","url":"https://www.gov.uk/taking-sick-leave"},{"label":"GOV.UK: Access to Work","url":"https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work"}],"tags":["rejuvenation","survivorship","psychosocial","policy"],"related":["lymphoma-living-returning-to-work","idea-acc-return-to-work-rehabilitation"],"cancers":["breast-hr-positive","colorectal","prostate","nsclc","dlbcl"],"sections":["rejuvenation","supportive-care"],"technologies":["rejuv-life-return-to-work","rejuv-life-money-after-treatment","rejuv-life-employment-rights-us","rejuv-life-insurance-loans-and-the-right-to-be-forgotten","survivorship-care-plan"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":["work-and-money-breast-cancer-uk","work-and-money-bowel-cancer-uk","quality-of-life"],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":["b-survivorship"],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"principle":"Deeming cancer a disability from diagnosis closes the gap that the general definition leaves open. Under the ordinary test a person would have to show that the impairment had a substantial and long-term adverse effect, which is hard to demonstrate in the weeks between diagnosis and treatment and precisely the period in which they are most likely to be managed out of a job. The deeming provision removes the argument.","strengths":["Protection runs from the date of diagnosis, with no test of severity to pass","The duty to make reasonable adjustments is an obligation on the employer, not a favour","Access to Work can fund equipment and travel and is separate from the employer's budget"],"limitations":["The protection generally needs the employer to know, and disclosure is the employee's decision","Statutory Sick Pay does not cover the self-employed and runs out at 28 weeks","What counts as a reasonable adjustment is decided case by case, so outcomes vary by employer"]},"route":"/technologies/rejuv-life-employment-rights-uk/","neighbours":{"term":[{"id":"lymphoma-living-returning-to-work","kind":"term","name":"Going back to work after lymphoma, and the money in the meantime","route":"/terms/lymphoma-living-returning-to-work/"},{"id":"quality-of-life","kind":"term","name":"Quality of life","route":"/terms/quality-of-life/"},{"id":"work-and-money-breast-cancer-uk","kind":"term","name":"Work and money during breast cancer treatment (UK)","route":"/terms/work-and-money-breast-cancer-uk/"},{"id":"work-and-money-bowel-cancer-uk","kind":"term","name":"Work and money with bowel cancer (UK)","route":"/terms/work-and-money-bowel-cancer-uk/"}],"idea":[{"id":"idea-acc-return-to-work-rehabilitation","kind":"idea","name":"Vocational rehabilitation integrated into cancer care so survivors can return to work","route":"/ideas/idea-acc-return-to-work-rehabilitation/"}],"cancer":[{"id":"colorectal","kind":"cancer","name":"Colorectal cancer","route":"/cancers/colorectal/"},{"id":"dlbcl","kind":"cancer","name":"Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma","route":"/cancers/dlbcl/"},{"id":"breast-hr-positive","kind":"cancer","name":"HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer","route":"/cancers/breast-hr-positive/"},{"id":"nsclc","kind":"cancer","name":"Non-small-cell lung cancer","route":"/cancers/nsclc/"},{"id":"prostate","kind":"cancer","name":"Prostate cancer","route":"/cancers/prostate/"}],"section":[{"id":"rejuvenation","kind":"section","name":"Recovery & Rejuvenation","route":"/fronts/rejuvenation/"},{"id":"supportive-care","kind":"section","name":"Supportive Care & Survivorship","route":"/fronts/supportive-care/"}],"technology":[{"id":"rejuv-life-employment-rights-us","kind":"technology","name":"Employment rights with cancer in the United States","route":"/technologies/rejuv-life-employment-rights-us/"},{"id":"rejuv-life-return-to-work","kind":"technology","name":"Going back to work after cancer: the rates, and the programmes that change them","route":"/technologies/rejuv-life-return-to-work/"},{"id":"rejuv-life-insurance-loans-and-the-right-to-be-forgotten","kind":"technology","name":"Insurance, mortgages and the right to be forgotten","route":"/technologies/rejuv-life-insurance-loans-and-the-right-to-be-forgotten/"},{"id":"rejuv-life-money-after-treatment","kind":"technology","name":"Money after treatment: what the cost of cancer does once the treatment has finished","route":"/technologies/rejuv-life-money-after-treatment/"},{"id":"survivorship-care-plan","kind":"technology","name":"Survivorship care and late-effects surveillance","route":"/technologies/survivorship-care-plan/"}],"bottleneck":[{"id":"b-survivorship","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Survivorship and late effects are neglected","route":"/bottlenecks/b-survivorship/"}],"trial":[{"id":"rejuv-trial-canwork","kind":"trial","name":"CanWork: an occupational therapy programme to help women return to work after breast cancer","route":"/trials/rejuv-trial-canwork/"}]}}