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Brain cancer patient quits 6-figure job after being denied unlimited leave during chemo
A US-based social media professional has announced that he is leaving his six-figure job after his employer denied him paid time off during cancer treatment.
A Tennessee-based social media professional has announced that he is leaving his six-figure job at an ad agency after alleging that his employer denied him paid time off during cancer treatment. The post was shared on X by Tyler Wells, who says he is based in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Wells said that he was denied time off despite the company having an “unlimited PTO” policy on paper.
What is ‘unlimited PTO’?
Unlimited PTO (paid time off) is a workplace policy where employees are not given a fixed number of vacation or sick days each year. Instead, they can take time off as needed, as long as their work responsibilities are met and their manager approves it.
Despite the name, unlimited PTO is rarely, if ever, truly unlimited. Time off is typically subject to managerial approvals. In fact, the policy has often come under criticism, with employees saying that unwritten expectations make them take fewer leaves than they normally would.
What happened with cancer survivor Tyler Wells?
According to Wells, his company offers an unlimited paid time off (PTO) policy. However, when he sought to use a small amount of leave each month while undergoing chemotherapy for brain cancer, he was allegedly told it would not be allowed.
“I was told I couldn’t use that PTO each month while I was on chemo because that would be considered abuse of the PTO policy”. (This would have been 2-3 days a month over the course of a year.),” he wrote on X.
Wells said the request amounted to “2–3 days a month over the course of a year”, but instead of paid leave, he was asked to take unpaid time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
“Imagine telling a chemo patient they couldn’t use their ‘Unlimited’ PTO when they were feeling sick from chemo,” he added. “It happened.”
Accommodation request reportedly rejected
In a further allegation, Wells said his request for temporary workplace accommodations was also denied.
“Additionally, my accommodation request I submitted with my doctors for a temporary lighter workload was denied by HR,” he wrote. “They said they were not ‘obligated to help.’”
The brain cancer survivor chose to resign from his high-paying job.
He argued that employees battling serious illnesses should not have to negotiate basic compassion at work.
“People who are sick are worried about so much already,” he wrote. “We shouldn’t have to worry about paying bills.”
Calling for wider reforms, he listed three areas that he believes urgently need change: how ill employees are treated, laws guaranteeing full pay during cancer treatment, and what he described as the “over-prioritisation of work and productivity above all”.
“Some of this is policy, some of it’s just heart reform,” Wells added. “But it’s all about putting people first.”
(Also read: Delhi founder says his confidence collapsed after quitting high-paying Google job: ‘My ego didn’t survive’)
