Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER MARCH 2019 6 NEWS CAREpath is the only Canadian Health Care navigation program of its kind offered in Canada. We have extensive experience in navigating Canadians through the health care system. Cancer Assistance Seniors' Care Assistance HealthCare Assist Your Wellness Partner Coping with cancer in the workplace HR needs to improve management, accommodation of chronic disease: Experts BY MARCEL VANDER WIER CANCER is a chronic disease that needs to be increasingly rec- ognized within a healthy work- place strategy. e disease involving abnor- mal cell growth has been the lead- ing cause of death in Canada for the last decade, said Chris Bon- nett, principal consultant for H3 Consulting in Toronto, speaking at the annual conference of the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA) in Toronto on Feb. 1. Cancer is becoming more com- mon, with nearly 50 per cent of Canadians expected to contract some form of the disease in their lifetime, he said. "It's a shocking number… And, unfortunately, that number is ac- tually increasing." Cancer is currently the fourth- leading cause of short- and long- term disability in Canada, while drugs to combat the disease are a "massive emerging cost" — with major eff ects on the workplace, said Bonnett. "Cancer today is probably where mental health was 10 or 12 years ago," he said. "We're just starting to get it onto the radar." e good news is that not all who contract cancer will die of the disease, said Bonnett, noting there are more than 810,000 can- cer survivors in Canada. "Cancer is not just a disease of old age; it's not just a disease of the public health-care system; it's not a death sentence," he said. " at is a change in thinking for most people." Impacting employers A total of 43 per cent of cancer diagnoses occur in working-age Canadians, according to Improv- ing Cancer Management in the Workplace, a 2017 discussion paper published by Bonnett and Allan Smofsky, managing director of Smofsky Strategic Planning in Oakville, Ont. While many employers sup- port cancer initiatives as part of corporate social responsibility (CSR) programming and through provision of health promotion, many struggle to manage the in- creasing number of employees diagnosed with cancer who still want to work, said the paper. ere is often a lack of policy and support for aff ected workers and caregivers, resulting in gaps in processing, navigation and infor- mation, it said. And as cancer incidence climb, the cost and disruption facing em- ployers will only increase, with an aging labour force, poor lifestyle choices and environmental expo- sures each playing a role, accord- ing to Bonnett. Higher incidence, better out- comes, younger survivors and frequent caregiving means can- cer aff ects employees of all ages, alongside employer health and productivity costs, he said. at means cancer is not only a public health-care problem, but increasingly a workplace issue, impacting employers through replacement labour and disabil- ity management costs, as well as increased strain on the remaining workers, said Bonnett. Additionally, the prevalence of the disease has meant there are also 800,000 caregivers in Canada, with many taking time away from their jobs, he said. Cancer treatment will only be- come more expensive, increasing the urgency to bring it under the same policy umbrella as other chronic disease, said Bonnett. "We want employers to do what they can to close many of the gaps in care." Tying together resources that already exist in terms of wellness management would be a healthy first step for employers, said Smofsky. "Cancer is a chronic disease that needs to be recognized in a healthy workplace strategy and very principled human resource management." Focus on prevention Cancer has frequent comorbidi- ties, with actions such as smok- ing, poor dietary choices, lack of exercise and excess time in the sun contributing to one-third of cancer diagnoses, according to Bonnett. "Prevention is an issue," he said. "It's not that you get cancer out of the blue — a lot of it is genetic. And a lot of the causes of cancer are not well-known by scientists. But there is a consensus around (how) over one-third of cancers can be prevented." "Stress is well-known to be as- sociated with cancer and other chronic diseases," said Bonnett. "So, to the extent you can man- age the climate and the culture in your organization — and you can — then that is a positive infl uence that connects nicely with our ef- forts to manage how people live their lives, because lifestyle is also an important factor." Employers can affect a sup- portive culture and issues around return-to-work and stay-at-work policies through accommoda- tion, he said, noting the work environment is an important part of the recovery process for aff ected workers due to its social connections, income and sense of accomplishment. Of the 60 per cent of cancer sur- vivors who want to come back to work, 40 per cent will need some level of accommodation, said Bonnett. Accommodation to the point of undue hardship is a legal require- ment, but also makes good busi- ness sense, he said. "Why would you lose talent in a time when it's really hard to fi nd the right people to do the work?" Advice for HR Comprehensive employer sup- port can help mitigate signifi cant emotional, physical, occupational and fi nancial distress for patients and caregivers, all of which ben- efit employers, according to Smofsky. Regular, candid communica- tion is necessary over the length of the worker's cancer journey, as survivors are often concerned with risks around privacy and po- tential job loss, he said. Human resources can better support employees dealing with cancer by serving as a practi- cal communication conduit to management and by adopting or modifying policy and processes, said Smofsky. "Employers have a key role to play, and you as HR are the cus- todians of that," he said. "You can step up." Access to adequate health and disability coverage is an impor- tant cornerstone, and HR policy should consider the fi nancial, op- erational and cultural impacts of cancer as a chronic disease, said Smofsky. Coverage should be adequate and long-term disability funding should never be terminated, he said. "It doesn't have to be perfect. We're not saying that you have to provide Cadillac plans for indi- viduals that (have) cancer." But rather than looking at the disease from a cost perspective, it's best to contemplate the "down- stream impact" of any employer decisions, said Smofsky. "We do ourselves, our employ- ees and our workplaces a disser- vice if we just focus on the physi- cal aspects of cancer just like any other condition." "Cancer is a chronic disease that needs to be recognized in a healthy workplace strategy and very principled human resource management." Communicating benefi ts offerings Even the very best benefi ts and wellness programs are only worth as much as employees understand and appreciate them, according to Chris Lee, vice-president of marketing and communications at Accompass in Toronto. An average benefi ts plan costs an employer $2,500 annually, he said. So does the typical retirement plan, and together the two result in a substantial investment for larger companies. Benefi ts and retirement are "very important pieces of the employee rewards package," said Lee, speaking at the annual conference of the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA) in Toronto on Feb. 1. Communicating these rewards to employees is a skill HR professionals should practise and perfect, he said. "There's lots of things that are really a foreign language for employees… We should be a little bit more aspirational about how we talk to our employees. We've got to remember we're talking to humans here, not resources." Often, email correspondence regarding benefi ts or retirement can feel like "drinking water from a fi re hose" for employees, said Lee. "We use a lot of this terminology without even thinking about it." Simplifi cation and adhering to marketing principles is a good place for HR to start, he said. "You'll want to make sure you're doing this in concert, and with the blessing of, your legal and compliance teams, so you're not falling out of step by not communicating enough… (but) we need to be really respectful of the employee experience and thoughtful about how we communicate and interact with them."

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