This is a cautionary tale about the limitations of job protection that our country affords for working people with cancer and other serious, progressive diseases.
I've been on short-term disability leave for about 4 months now, due to severe side effects of chemotherapy I'm receiving for my metastatic breast cancer. This past Friday afternoon I got a call from my company Human Resources person and my boss, informing me that I was being "released from employment" (fired) because I have exhausted my FMLA leave and am unable to return to work.
The U.S. Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides job protection for employees who cannot work, due to serious medical conditions, for up to 12 weeks in a calendar year, but once that time is exceeded, a company is free to terminate the employee. This is what happened to me, at the end of the week, at the end of the month...with no warning, no severance pay...and no heart.
My breast cancer was first diagnosed in 1996; I was treated locally and went on with my life until 2007, when the cancer was found to have metastasized, i.e., spread through my body. I received several months of chemotherapy and missed a total of 6 weeks of work during that time. The resulting remission lasted for several years, and I have continued to work full time in my profession (as a divorced person I have no other choice). In 2011, I took a new job at a smaller and presumably, more personal company. But in the end, business is, apparently, still business.
I always received excellent performance reviews at this job, and continued to work full time despite my cancer treatments. In 2013 I took 3 weeks off to recover from a painful deep-vein thrombosis resulting from 6 years of intravenous treatments; this is the only time I missed from work, until this past year, due to my cancer.
My cancer has been progressing for several years, unfortunately, and this winter I began a new course of cytotoxic chemotherapy with gradually increasing side effects that eventually made it impossible for me to continue working (I have been lucky to have remote working arrangements for my last 3 jobs). Before I suspended work in May, I had detailed discussions with my Human Resources person about FMLA leave (which I obtained) and the company short-term disability plan, which has been paying me 60% of my normal salary, a very welcome and necessary benefit. If I am still disabled after 6 months of short-term leave, I would potentially be eligible for long-term disability leave at the same level. This is not a guarantee, however; the insurance company will review my case in 2 months to determine whether I will receive continued payments.
Why is this a big deal?
1) Like most professional employees, I receive health insurance through work. My termination letter of September 25 indicates that my health care coverage expires on September 30. I can hopefully continue this coverage under COBRA, but this will be very expensive. I could also get some kind of coverage under the Affordable Care Act--without that, my situation would be truly desperate. Still, health care costs are likely to become a serious issue now: my cancer management expenses (so far, mostly paid by insurance) are well over $100K per year.
2) If the insurance company does not approve me for for long-term disability coverage, my only source of support will be Social Security disability, which also is not guaranteed, takes months to arrange, and would be insufficient to cover my current living expenses. I'll have to sell my house, run through my savings, etc., at a time when I can barely function.
3) At no time during my discussions with Human Resources about short- versus long-term leave was I ever informed that being "terminated" was a possibility. I would have preferred to have been aware of the sequence of events, rather than be blindsided at a time when I am already physically and emotionally crippled.
4) I am a technical professional, not a big-wig. A few months of severance pay would have helped me make the transition to life as a fixed-income invalid, but apparently I am not an important enough person to merit that gesture. And even the disparity between the cost to my company of just keeping me on the books a couple months longer, at least until the long-term disability could kick in, compared with the financial, psychological, and even medical consequences of being cast adrift, make me wonder how anyone with a scrap of compassion could have made the decision to terminate me in this manner.
5) The timing was especially egregious. I have had 2 weekend days when I was unable to discuss business with my health care and disability insurance companies, deal with the Social Security administration, etc. Companies like to do firings on Fridays because that way, the employee disappears more effectively, but it sickens me to think that their fear outweighs their consideration.
OK, I have to get off the pity pot. In a few hours I'll be able to begin the series of phone calls to the companies and agencies who I hope can help me deal with this. But I am furious that businesses in the United States of America can treat long-term, productive employees as disposable elements. And I am terrified that this event could be the beginning of a spiral into loss of my home, my excellent medical care, and what little quality of life I have, in the limited time I have left.
Thu Oct 01, 2015 at 10:26 AM PT: Thanks SO MUCH for the wonderful outpouring of information and moral support! I am so sorry at how many of you have gone through a similar experience.
For those who asked about my company's identity, I really can't disclose that right now--they're a lot bigger than I am--and from the comments, I imagine that many companies have the same approach.