Managing cancer in contemporary workforces: how employees with cancer and line managers negotiate post-diagnosis support in the workplace

Abstract

PurposeThis paper explores how deservingness features in how line managers and employees with cancer negotiate post-diagnosis support in the workplace.Design/methodology/approachIt draws on narrative interview data from people with cancer in the UK who were employed when diagnosed and line managers with experience of managing an employee with cancer. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with members of occupational health and human resources staff and staff from a UK cancer support charity.FindingsIt shows that post-diagnosis support for employees with cancer was negotiated in subjective, individualised ways, drawing on pre-diagnosis workplace contribution as well as the perceived deservingness of cancer as an illness. Managerial support for employees with cancer was also influenced by post-diagnosis employee behaviours, particularly those that implied a readiness to return to work.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample size and methods limit the generalisability of the results. However, sampling choices were instrumental in reaching a rich set of data, which enabled deeper understanding of individual workplace negotiations.Social implicationsPervasive and unhelpful notions of deservingness in the context of ill-health and disability have distinct and worrying implications for ageing workforces, particularly across the Global North. This has been exacerbated by the ongoing uncertainty and insecurity triggered by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. As a result insight into the management of ill-health at work has never been more relevant, and can be used to inform policy and practice.Originality/valueThis exploratory paper extends debates usually reserved for social welfare and health provision to a new domain by exploring how deservingness features in line manager–employee interactions in the context of an employee diagnosis of cancer.