Working with Cancer Initiative

Open Enrollment Season is here! Annual benefits enrollment sometimes bring changes to coverage, making it a great time to explore how to make the most of your benefits. Here are a few key areas to think about:   Medical Coverage: What are your options for cancer treatments and screenings? Time Off Policies/Flexible Work Options: Do you know what your leave options for treatment, caregiving, and recovery? Critical Illness Insurance: Would extra coverage give you greater financial peace of mind? Flexible Work Arrangements: Check options that accommodate health needs and caregiving responsibilities. Employee Assistance Programs: Are you utilizing available counseling and support services?   Remember, your benefits should work for YOU. Make informed choices that support your health and well-being! 

The Working with Cancer Pledge aims to abolish the stigma and insecurity that exist for all people working with cancer. But we need your help! If your company hasn’t taken the pledge yet, watch this quick video for 3 easy steps on how you can become an advocate.👀 Tag us when you’re ready to join the WWC movement! Check out our conversation guide for more tips: https://lnkd.in/ehg2sNrT

We’ve been nominated! Last week, the Microsoft Advertising Partner Award finalists were announced, and Publicis Groupe is in the running for the Marketing with a Purpose Award for our continued work on Working with Cancer. “The Marketing with Purpose Award celebrates a partner that embodies the values of diversity, inclusion and sustainability, while using their platform to bring others along on the journey. This award recognizes a partner who demonstrates the strongest commitment to marketing with purpose, building trust with their clients and telling value-based stories in their campaigns."

What’s it like to navigate a breast cancer journey while working at a WWC pledge company? Claire’s story is an inspiring, support-filled example. Read on to learn—in her own words—how leadership and her Saatchi & Saatchi AU colleagues provided her with strength and support. "I was diagnosed with bilateral, multicentric breast cancer in October of 2023. Working for a Publicis Groupe brand means I was aware of the support that existed for me from the moment of diagnosis and that played a large part in getting me through those first days/weeks/months while I tried to process what was happening. It seems trivial, because I had no idea what was going to happen to me, but I knew my job was protected and I wasn't going to go broke trying to stay alive.  The days after my diagnosis are a blur, but I do remember every conversation with leadership began with how I would be supported. Leadership went out of their way to ensure I knew they had my back, were focused only on my recovery and I would lead the way in terms of workload and working hours. There was no stigma, no worry, no confusion — I was stepping away to get well, I would work as and when I could, colleagues would step in and pick up my workload, but I was still a valued part of the team and I'd be back as soon as I was well again.  Having such an open workplace and a policy already in place, and due to the lack of stigma surrounding my illness (and how it would be handled at a business level), my colleagues have kept in touch which has widened my support network. I don't feel disconnected from my work. No, I'm not there, but I can join staff meetings, catch up with my team over Teams, phone or email and so many people check in and spur me on to keep fighting on the days I really don't want to anymore, or feel isolated… Yes, I'm extremely lucky I work with the people I do and I feel I would be supported no matter what, but knowing the policies exist turns something that could be a significant stressor (my job and livelihood), into a beacon of support and connection throughout an otherwise harrowing period in my life. "    (Story edited for length and clarity).

A sense of purpose or normalcy. Financial security. Whatever the reason, one study found most employed women under 40 who received a breast cancer diagnosis continued working for at least a year after. Which is why workplace support can be so important: it can help women balance treatments with career demands. For more on what companies can do for employees working with cancer, including the Working With Cancer Pledge, go here 👉 https://lnkd.in/e6zDRfSP Source: Rosenberg, S. M., et al. “Employment trends in young women following a breast cancer diagnosis.” Breast Cancer Res. Treat., vol. 177 (2019), https://lnkd.in/exv8imMZ.  #workingwithcancerinitiative #workingwithcancer #cancercommunity #takethepledge

Logistical complexities. Compromises on top of compromises. Being a caregiver is hard enough without adding to it the weight of stigma at work. LinkedIn took a big step in opening a much-needed dialogue on this issue with a just-released deep dive into the future of work and health, and asked Gina Jacobson, our program director and a cancer survivor, to lend her expertise to the report: “There is real value of a social platform like LinkedIn helping to normalize the caregiving experience, validating the challenges these employees are facing, the emotions they may be experiencing, and helping to provide information and ideas about how to integrate caregiving with work.” You can learn more about the Future of Health and Work report here ⤵️  

Any time you can carve out some me-time, you’re winning. What do you consider a “little win”? Let us know ⤵️

Thandi Montgomery’s story of resilience is an inspiration to us all. We’re proud to have played a role in her journey, and welcome her insights into what colleagues can do for each other in these life-changing situations.  

Making sense of a cancer diagnosis not only takes time —it takes strength. Lillian (Bueno-Gatell) Hickey, CPA, MBA knows this all too well. As the Senior Director at Pfizer (a Working With Cancer pledging company) movingly illustrates, those hard-won insights can have an unexpectedly positive impact both personally and professionally:

Do you have Spanish speakers in your network? Help spread the word! Beginning on Sept. 24, our partners at Cancer and Careers are hosting three FREE Spanish-language webinars on a topic near and dear to our hearts: balancing work and health demands.