Days before Christmas

Cancer patient (48) terminated in hospital by cell phone!

Maria T. has beaten cancer. But she also has the courage to talk about how bad it is to resign while on sick leave.

(Bild: Pail Sepp/Sepp Pail, Krone KREATIV)

After being diagnosed with "double breast cancer", an employee in a hospital bed receives a phone call: her boss is terminating her employment.

Two years ago in the summer, 48-year-old employee Maria T. (name changed) from Ennstal was lying in a hospital bed. Upset, at the end of her tether. She is afraid of dying. She has just received her second diagnosis: double breast cancer! The worry about the operations hangs over her like a scalpel of Damocles.

The only real consolation: her husband stands lovingly by her side. But her daughter (13), to whom she didn't want to hide the truth, tearfully asks: "Mom, are you going to die soon like Grandma?" - because Maria T.'s mother-in-law died of leukemia (blood cancer) ...

Call shortly before Christmas
A few months later, after chemotherapy and just before the medical procedure, her cell phone rings on the bedside table in her hospital room. Cancer patient Maria sees on the display: her boss is calling. She is delighted. "Maybe he wants to send me Christmas greetings, after all, Christmas Eve is in four days' time." Not a worrying thought. After all, her employer promised her before she was admitted to hospital: "Don't worry, I'll wait for you. You can get back to work with us afterwards."

Facts and figures

• Legal situation: Cancer patients are "automatically" granted at least 50% disability. In other words, every cancer patient can apply to the Ministry of Social Affairs for "beneficiary disabled status". This is associated with increased protection against dismissal, but not absolute protection. Dismissals with "status of beneficiary disabled person" are brought before an arbitration tribunal of the Social Ministry Service and are negotiated with the employer there.
• Austrian Cancer Aid: For Austrian Cancer Aid, the regulation is not satisfactory: not every patient is aware of the protection against dismissal and can apply in good time. Younger employees in particular perceive the "status of a beneficiary disabled person" as a stigma and fear the associated obstacles to their future career.
• Arbitrationtribunal: Cancer Aid knows from experience that only compensation payments are awarded in the course of arbitration negotiations - but the job is still gone. And looking for and finding a new job with or after cancer is often an impossible task.
• Summary: "Many people still believe that there is automatic protection against dismissal. There is therefore a need for basic job security during sick leave for people with cancer," is the demand of Austrian Cancer Aid.

But after a few pleasant greetings on his cell phone, the company boss gets to the point: he just wants to know how many vacation days his secretary has left. "Why do you want to know that? Am I easily dismissed?" asks Maria T. anxiously. The boss beats around the bush, somewhat embarrassed. In the end, he says: "No. It's just about signing off. I can't wait for you any longer." So the termination after all - quickly and painfully via cell phone! The woman, who was already in a bad way, is completely flabbergasted: she has just been de facto terminated. Her employer's big, full-bodied promise was nothing but empty words.

Mental martyrdom
Until her operation in the new year, the 48-year-old is also going through a mental ordeal. "I would have liked to have stayed with the company. I had felt comfortable. But now I knew: if I get through the operations, I'll have a new start!" she says, still audibly emotionally wounded on the "Krone" phone.

My boss had promised me that I could continue working at the company. His call pulled the rug out from under my feet.

Maria T., heute vom Krebs geheilt.

Maria T. is a fighter - she beat cancer. She started working in a town in the Enns Valley in 2023. She seems happy and thanks everyone who gave her the opportunity to make a new start. Irony of fate: her former boss, who kicked her out by cell phone, now understands Maria's fears at the time: he is seriously ill himself.

Termination tips from the Chamber of Commerce
"Instructions for dismissing employees when they are in hospital." On its website, the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber provides promising advice for business owners on how best to give notice - apparently quickly and painlessly - to employees on sick leave.

The Austrian Federal Economic Chamber provides information on the Internet on how to give notice while on sick leave. For Doris Kiefhaber, Managing Director of Öst. Krebshilfe, this is "an absolute no-go".

(Bild: zVg)

Among other things, it says: "If the employee is confined to bed due to illness and this delays the receipt of the written notice of termination, this can lead to a delay in its effectiveness - delivery by messenger is strongly recommended."

There is also a "valuable" tip from the Chamber of Commerce regarding our above-mentioned case of Maria T.'s termination by telephone: "As a rule, there is no question of giving verbal notice of termination while on sick leave - except by telephone. A verbal (telephone) termination should always be declared in the presence of a witness to safeguard it."