职场新世界：与癌症共舞
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不过，并不是所有人都能泰然自若地在办公室讨论疾病。斯彭斯讲了她一位客户的事情，对方是一家农业公司工作勤奋的高级经理。有一天，她向斯彭斯和其他几个人赠送了礼物，然后就离开了工作岗位，同事还以为她只是去休假，一周后就回来。实际上，她住进了临终关怀医院，三天后就离开了人世。斯彭斯说：“我知道这件事时惊呆了，我完全不知道她生病了。” 斯彭斯认为，雇主可以分为两大类：一类严格遵守病休或伤残政策和法律；另一类将员工当成个体对待，同时在治疗过程中给予支持。根据员工的经验、价值和预后情况，（雇主）很多决策是一个接着一个做出来的。 关爱肺癌患者非营利机构LUNGevity支持和宣传部门的主管凯特•布朗说：“这是非常个人化的事情。如果雇主真的喜欢这位员工，那他们往往会表现得更加通融，或者更具有同情心。” 布朗说，有些工作场所会组织“餐饮列车”（meal trains）活动，即每周让不同的人请罹患癌症的同事吃一顿饭。她说，另一种形式是购买一种带有扬声器的特殊电话机，这样那位嗓音嘶哑低弱的员工就能继续正常接电话了。 大多数公司的政策遵循联邦法律和规定，其中包括《美国残疾人法案》（Americans with Disabilities Act）规定的相关措施。2009年1月1日，《美国残疾人法案》将癌症纳入保障范围。数年后，公平就业机会委员会（EEOC）针对这项调整发布了指导方针。 员工人数超过50名的公司被要求让罹患癌症的员工休家庭与医疗假。根据《家庭与医疗假法案》（FMLA）的规定，员工有权休12周的无薪假期，用于照顾孩子、配偶或他们自己。雇主则被要求继续为员工缴纳健康保险，同时为这些员工保留一个类似的工作岗位。 癌症与职业组织的人发现，越来越多的雇主寻求在员工诊断和治疗癌症的过程中提供帮助。斯维尼呼吁公司变通一些，允许接受化疗和放疗的员工在家里工作。一些公司正在打造“共享假期池”，这样有额外假期的员工就能将自己的休假时间捐赠给正在对抗癌症或其他严重疾病的同事。 雇主希望留住经验丰富的员工，如此一来，根据人力资源管理协会（Society of Human Resource Management）提供的数据，美国国内拥有癌症保险政策的公司比例已经微升至34%（2008年时的数字是28%）。 独立研究机构综合福利研究所（Integrated Benefist Institute）的总裁汤姆•帕里说：“这些员工很宝贵，”而雇主常常希望找到办法让他们回到工作岗位。其他员工会密切关注雇主对待患病员工的态度，帕里说，“如果雇主正确对待罹患癌症的员工，它传递的是一个非常重要的讯息”，可以跟许多员工产生共鸣。（财富中文网） 译者：王灿均 |
Still, not everyone is comfortable discussing illness at the office. Spence told of a client of hers who was a hard-working senior manager at an agricultural company. One day, she left packages for Spence and a few others before leaving for what her colleagues thought was a week's vacation. She checked into hospice and died three days later. "I was in shock when I found out. I had no idea she was sick," Spence said. Spence thinks employers fall into two main categories: those that follow sick leave or disability policy and laws rigidly and those that treat workers like individuals and work with them during their treatment. Many of the decisions are made one-by-one based on the employee's experience, value, and prognosis. "It's very personal. If an employer really likes the employee, that's when they tend to be more flexible or more sympathetic," said Kate Brown, director of support and advocacy at Lungevity, a lung cancer support nonprofit. Lungevity's Brown says that some workplaces organize "meal trains" where different people deliver a meal each week to a colleague with cancer. Another, she says, bought a special telephone with speakers so a worker whose voice was hoarse and dim could continue to field calls. Most corporate policies are based on federal laws and requirements, including accommodations mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Cancer was added to the list of illnesses covered by the ADA on Jan. 1, 2009, and the EEOC issued guidelines for it a couple of years later. Businesses with more than 50 workers are required to give Family and Medical Leave to employees who have cancer. Under the FMLA, workers are entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid time off to care for a child, spouse, or themselves. The employer is expected to continue health insurance and hold a comparable job open for these employees. At Cancer and Careers, the staff is starting to hear more from employers looking to help workers through their cancer diagnosis and treatment. Sweeney urges firms to be flexible and to allow staff to work at home during chemotherapy or radiation. Some companies are creating "shared vacation pools" so that workers with extra days can donate them to colleagues battling cancer or other serious illnesses. Employers want to hang onto experienced staff, so the percentage of U.S. firms that offer cancer insurance policies has inched up to 34% (from 28% in 2008), according to the Society of Human Resource Management. "These employees are valuable," and employers often want to find ways to bring them back to work, said Tom Parry, president of the Integrated Benefits Institute, an independent research organization. Other workers are watching carefully how the employer treats them. "When employers do the right thing with someone with cancer, that is a very important message" that resonates with many workers, he said. |
