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Survivors Law, policy, and practice information

Law, policy, and practice information

Various laws protect employees and job seekers. These laws and their accompanying regulations cover human rights, employment standards, insurance, contracts, workers’ compensation and employment equity. There are also regulations that govern how professionals must behave toward their clients.

Understanding how these laws and regulations protect you as a cancer survivor can help you assert your rights when you try to stay at work, return to work or find a new job. However, if you are being treated unfairly, launching a complaint under these laws is the last resort. It can be stressful, sometimes costly, and can likely hurt your relationships at work. It is better to address situations before they become too severe. Ideally, your employer will have good disability management practices that will prevent unfair treatment of employees with disabilities. If not, there are organizations that can give you information about the various laws that can protect you as well as advice on how to launch a complaint.

This section answers frequently asked questions about cancer survivors’ rights under the law. We also provide resources that may be available in your community to help you.

Human Rights

Both the short- and long-term effects of cancer and its treatment may affect some cancer survivors’ work abilities and productivity. Cancer survivors may be concerned about whether or not they can return to their previous jobs. Human rights laws offer protection for employees with cancer. However, this protection requires employers, cancer survivors and unions to cooperate.

The information about Canadian laws on this website is an overview of some rights and responsibilities. Human rights laws are often quite complex to interpret, and they can change. Also, there are separate human rights laws in each province or territory.

For these reasons, look for more information on the laws that apply to your workplace with our legal resources on human rights list.