It might be easy enough to tell your boss that you’ve got the sniffles and need to take a couple sick days. But what should you share about a major surgery? Or a chronic illness? A cancer diagnosis?
That can blur the line between a personal health battle and an obstacle at work — territory that even some officials in some of the country’s most prominent positions have struggled to navigate in recent weeks. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin raised alarm among U.S. officials this week when it was revealed that the head of the country’s $800 billion defense department had been hospitalized for days in early January before President Joe Biden was made aware. Austin’s hospitalization, due to complications from prostate cancer treatment, left his deputy director unexpectedly running the Pentagon from a beach vacation in Puerto Rico. The precedent-breaking lack of disclosure spurred criticism from U.S. lawmakers. The incident shows the discomfort many of us may feel about breaching the topic of our health at work. “A lot of people make the decision not to say anything [about a medical condition],” said Monique Gignac, scientific director and senior scientist at the Institute for Work & Health in Toronto. “They wait until there’s a crisis.” But being transparent about health problems at work — particularly those severe enough to impact your ability to do your best in your job — provides employees with the most legal protection from job loss and can offer the best shot at securing the accommodations they may need to succeed, employment experts told MarketWatch. It can also help foster a workplace environment that is open, commu …
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That can blur the line between a personal health battle and an obstacle at work — territory that even some officials in some of the country’s most prominent positions have struggled to navigate in recent weeks. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin raised alarm among U.S. officials this week when it was revealed that the head of the country’s $800 billion defense department had been hospitalized for days in early January before President Joe Biden was made aware. Austin’s hospitalization, due to complications from prostate cancer treatment, left his deputy director unexpectedly running the Pentagon from a beach vacation in Puerto Rico. The precedent-breaking lack of disclosure spurred criticism from U.S. lawmakers. The incident shows the discomfort many of us may feel about breaching the topic of our health at work. “A lot of people make the decision not to say anything [about a medical condition],” said Monique Gignac, scientific director and senior scientist at the Institute for Work & Health in Toronto. “They wait until there’s a crisis.” But being transparent about health problems at work — particularly those severe enough to impact your ability to do your best in your job — provides employees with the most legal protection from job loss and can offer the best shot at securing the accommodations they may need to succeed, employment experts told MarketWatch. It can also help foster a workplace environment that is open, commu …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]