KINGSTON, Jamaica – Human Resource Management Association of Jamaica (HRMAJ) President Dr Cassida Jones-Johnson is calling on Jamaican employers to match the urgency of the fight against breast cancer with real workplace protections for staff facing long-term illness.

Speaking at the 2026 Jamaica Reach to Recovery Pink Run official launch, Dr Jones-Johnson said that the same urgency driving the equipment fundraiser should be driving employers to examine their own policies.

Targeting $30 million and 20,000 participants for this year’s Pink Run, the proceeds go toward a new digital mammography machine for the Jamaica Cancer Society, badly needed in six Jamaican parishes that currently have none.

Breast cancer remains the leading cause of cancer and cancer-related deaths among Jamaican women. The island recorded 1,327 new breast cancer cases in 2022, 35 per cent of all cancers diagnosed in women that year, with roughly 684 deaths.

“When someone is initially faced with a long-term illness, some of the questions asked are: How will I continue to earn a living? Will I lose my income while receiving treatment? Will my employer or manager support me? Will I still have a job when I return? How will I manage the emotional stress on myself and my family?” Dr Jones-Johnson said.

She noted that developed countries such as Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, Canada and Australia have legislation and long-term health insurance protecting employees through serious illness, protection Jamaica does not mandate.

“Even where there is not mandated protection, progressive employers are moving beyond sympathy to structured support,” she said, pointing to the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) as one of the most valuable tools available to companies of every size.

“EAPs provide confidential counselling and support services that help employees and their families manage emotional, psychological and financial challenges,” she said, noting that a long-term illness affects not only the body but also an employee’s mental health, self-esteem, family relationships, financial wellbeing and career confidence.

On the state of workplace support in Jamaica, Dr Jones-Johnson noted that the public sector provides an EAP and phased leave allotment, and that some private sector leaders, including Flow’s parent company Liberty Caribbean and GraceKennedy, through its EAP and Extended Illness Policy, have built structured support systems. Many large corporate entities, she said, still handle long-term illness on a case-by-case basis, without formal policy.

Dr Jones-Johnson said meaningful support does not require a big budget. Among the practical, low-cost initiatives she outlined: a leave bank, where employees voluntarily donate unused vacation or personal days into a shared pool that colleagues facing treatment can draw from. Other options include, flexible scheduling, flexible hours, reduced work weeks, work-from-home options, phased return to work and no-meeting days; childcare and errands during treatment; negotiated group rates for critical illness and supplemental health coverage, among others.

Dr Jones-Johnson also pressed for greater investment in training leaders in empathy and emotional intelligence.

“Managers often want to help but do not know what to say. Employees often fear being forgotten,” she said, adding that simple training can teach compassionate communication and confidentiality.

She urged employers to respect an employee’s privacy and never pressure them to discuss a diagnosis, and to keep affected staff included in workplace life during treatment.

Dr Jones-Johnson wants to challenge employers throughout Jamaica to ask four important questions.

“Do you provide sufficient paid leave for employees facing long-term illnesses; have an effective Employee Assistance Programme; do benefits include critical illness insurance; and whether their leaders know how to support an employee diagnosed with a long-term illness? If the answer to any of these questions is ‘no,’ then there is work to be done,” she said. “Once a company is able to check off all four questions, this is a true demonstration of the very best of corporate citizenship.”