Working with blood cancer

Whether you’re living with or after leukaemia, lymphoma, myeloma, or any other type of blood cancer:

• You’ve got rights at work. The law is on your side – in England, Scotland and Wales you’re protected from discrimination by the Equality Act 2010, and in Northern Ireland, by the Disability Discrimination Act.
• Whatever stage you’re at with blood cancer, you’re protected. Whether you're in remission or on active monitoring, receiving treatment or living with chronic blood cancer, you are entitled to protection and support at work and during recruitment.
• Cancer is automatically recognised as a disability from the point of diagnosis, even if your symptoms are not currently affecting you.

Contact our Support Service on 0808 2080 888 or [email protected] to discuss your situation at work, or any other concerns you might have.

As someone who’s been diagnosed with cancer, you have rights at work. You're protected by The Equality Act 2010 (in England, Scotland and Wales) and the Disability Discrimination Act (in Northern Ireland).

For more information about your legal rights at work, visit acas.org.uk or call 0300 123 1100. You can also read the article Acas wrote for us about blood cancer and your rights at work.

By law, your employer has a duty to look after your health and safety at work. Although you may prefer to keep information about your diagnosis private, it can be helpful to let your manager and HR team know you have blood cancer. This is so they can provide the right support. If you don’t tell them, you might not be able to get the help you need.

Usually, your employer will want to know how blood cancer might affect you, so that they can help you do your job safely. They should also do a risk assessment.

When doing a risk assessment, it's important for your employer to understand that what’s safe for you isn’t the same as what’s safe for someone who doesn’t have blood cancer. As a person with blood cancer, you're likely to be at higher risk from infection, including covid-19.

It might help to show your employer this website, so they can understand a bit more about what having blood cancer is like. You may also have to have more conversations with your employer in the future, as the effects of blood cancer and its treatment change over time.

Your manager or HR team can’t tell anyone else at work that you have blood cancer without your permission, so you don’t have to let any other colleagues know unless you want to.

If your employer knows about your diagnosis, then legally they have to consider “reasonable adjustments” to support you at work. This includes adjustments that protect your health, such as allowing you to work from home, or adjusting your duties or hours to help you with side effects such as fatigue.

You can ask for reasonable adjustments at any time, not just when you're first diagnosed or when returning to work. It’s helpful to have regular catch-ups with your manager to check how things are going and see if you need any other changes.

Examples of reasonable adjustments include:

• support to work from home as someone who's at high risk from covid-19 and other infections
• a phased return to work (building up your hours gradually after being off sick)
• taking time off for medical appointments or telephone counselling
• taking more breaks
• limiting work that you find challenging as a result of your diagnosis
• changing start or finish times
• reducing your working hours.

We have a video below which explains reasonable adjustments in more detail:

If you're not sure what reasonable adjustments to ask for, the following steps might help:

Step 1: Write down the specific things that make work more challenging (such as the hours or certain tasks).

Step 2: Think of a way to alter each thing (for example, adjusting your hours or proposing changes to your role).

Step 3: Talk to your employer as soon as you can about your ideas for reasonable adjustments. Show them your list or email them using the template below.

You might be wondering if you should – or could – work from home, to protect yourself against infection. Whether it’s medically advisable to do this or not will depend on your own individual circumstances, so you should discuss it with your doctor or clinical nurse specialist (CNS).

Although employees don't have an automatic right to work from home, your employer has a duty of care to protect you at work and it could be a reasonable adjustment you can request under equality law.

Here are some ways you could start a conversation with your employer about working from home:

• “As you know, I’ve been diagnosed with blood cancer. Blood cancer and its treatment affects the immune system. This means I need to be very careful to avoid infections, as they could have serious consequences for me.”
• “My doctor says I need to take extra care to avoid other people and work from home wherever possible.”
• “Please can we talk about possible ways I could work from home to protect my health?”
• “Are there any reasonable adjustments we could make to my role or duties during this time, to allow me to work from home?”

If your workplace doesn’t usually allow working from home, but you think it would be reasonable and possible to do so, speak to your line manager or HR department. You might need to show them information and evidence to support your request.

Here are some things that might help:

• Talk to your medical team about your personal risk and get their advice about working from home in writing if you can.
• Speak to your union if you have one.
• Show your employer our information about infection, which explains why people with blood cancer are at more risk of severe and potentially life-threatening reactions from an infection.
• Ask your employer to do a risk assessment.
• Suggest reasonable changes or adjustments to your duties that would allow you to work from home.
• Contact Acas for expert advice.

You may also find it useful to share the letter at the end of this section from a coalition of charities led by Kidney Care UK.

If you don't think you can reasonably do your job from home, but you're concerned about going into the workplace due to the risk of infection, there are other options for you to consider.

You may also need your employer to consider these options if the symptoms and side effects of blood cancer affect your ability to do your job effectively.

• Adjusting your hours. Are there some duties you can perform from home, to reduce how much you need to spend at your workplace? Could you change your hours, so you can travel to and from work at quieter times?
• Changing your duties. Could you reduce your contact with other people? For example, could you work more in a side room or office or do more admin, rather than being public-facing? Or could you ask to be scheduled on quieter shifts where you’ll have less contact with other people?
• Going on to sick pay. If your GP or medical team believe you're not able to work safely because of your blood cancer diagnosis or any other illness, they can give you a fit note. This gives you access to your company's sick leave policy and pay, or Statutory Sick Pay. If you don't qualify for your company's sick pay or Statutory Sick Pay, you may be able to get Employment Support Allowance (ESA), Universal Credit or other benefits.

If your employer won’t consider any reasonable adjustments for you, contact the Health and Safety Executive (HSENI in Northern Ireland), Acas or Citizens’ Advice.

You should also make sure you know your rights. If you're being pressured to go to work, despite your medical team's advice that it is unsafe, you're protected by law against unfair treatment and dismissal due to a health condition.

If your employer puts unreasonable pressure on you to attend work, or unreasonably disciplines you for not attending work, this may be unlawful discrimination. If you're concerned about this, seek advice from Acas (Helpline: 0300 123 1100).

You can also read our information about dealing with problems at work.

Some people decide to retire early or retire on medical grounds after a cancer diagnosis. This is a big decision, and it’s important to get the right advice.

Visit MoneyHelper or Age UK for more information, find a retirement advisor in your area, or call Macmillan Cancer Support (0808 808 00 00) to speak to a financial guide.

Private pension providers may allow you to access your money early, or take out a lump sum to help with living costs.

The UK Government website has more information about claiming the state pension. You can also log in to check when or if you’ll receive a state pension, and see how much money you’re likely to get.

Work and money worries can add to the stress of living with blood cancer. Many workplaces have an employee assistance programme (EAP) which may offer counselling. This should still be available to you if you’re working from home or are on sick leave.

You can also speak to your doctor, GP or clinical nurse specialist (CNS) about any financial worries you have. It can be hard to open up about personal matters like money and work, but don’t be embarrassed. It’s important for them to know how your condition or treatment may affect you financially, and how this will impact your life. They may even be able to help – for example, by trying to schedule your appointments around work, or writing a letter to your employer explaining how you’re feeling.

An occupational health specialist could also help with your conversations with your employer. Ask your workplace or your hospital if they have access to occupational health.

If you have concerns about your employment rights, seek expert advice from Acas (Helpline: 0300 123 1100) or Disability Rights UK.

Macmillan Cancer Support has more information for self-employed people with cancer.

The following pharmaceutical companies have funded this information but have had no input into the content or direction of the project: Janssen-Cilag Ltd

Read about how we work with the pharmaceutical industry.

The information on this page was checked for accuracy by the Director of Finance and the Head of People and Organisational Development at Blood Cancer UK. Last reviewed May 2025. Next full review due May 2028. We may make factual updates to the information between reviews.