6.3 Life-Threatening Illness Guidelines in the Workplace

Policies in the workplace for individuals with life-threatening illness may be formal or informal. Looking at the policies in educational institutions shows some similarities and differences. From the list below, select three institutions and compare their policies.

University of Delaware
Texas State University, San Marcos
The University of Rhode Island
The University of Wisconsin, Platteville
Kenyon College

Review the policies for each of the institutions you select and comment on their similarities and differences in various aspects of dealing with life-threatening illness.

1			What are the processes for reporting a life-threatening illness and obtaining services? Are they comparable in all of your choices?
2			What kinds of procedures are in place for maintaining confidentiality?
3			How are procedures for dealing with co-workers presented?
4			Does the date of initiation of each policy give you any indication of changes in attitudes over time? Why or why not?
5			Of these three institutions, which has the best policy with respect to dealing with life-threatening illness? Explain what you find attractive about the policy.
6			If you were to guess, which life-threatening illness do you suppose caused the introduction of formal institutional policy?