Breast Cancer Awareness Month: How Employers Can Make a Difference

Quick look: Breast cancer affects millions of people each year, including employees and their families. Employers can play an important role by making preventive care accessible, offering benefits that help during treatment, and creating workplace policies that give people room to manage their health. Here’s a look at the latest breast cancer statistics and ways small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) can build that support into the employee experience.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month brings attention to a disease that impacts families and communities across the country. For employers, it’s a time to pause and ask a simple question: are we doing the most we can for the affected employees, survivors, and caregivers on our team?

The answer usually involves reviewing benefits, culture, and policies, or making sure managers know how to respond when an employee needs flexibility. That support extends well beyond October, but the month provides a natural starting point for the conversation.

The history of Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Observed each October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month is an international campaign that spotlights the impact of breast cancer and raises money for research into its causes, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure.

The campaign launched in 1985 as a joint effort between the American Cancer Society and the pharmaceutical arm of Imperial Chemical Industries, now part of AstraZeneca, which makes several breast cancer medications. The pink ribbon most people associate with the occasion arrived in 1992, courtesy of Estée Lauder Cosmetics.

Breast cancer by the numbers

The statistics show why breast cancer is relevant to workplaces of every size. According to the American Cancer Society and the National Breast Cancer Foundation:

• In 2026, an estimated 321,910 women and 2,670 men in the U.S. will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer
• About 1 in 8 U.S. women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their lives
• Aside from skin cancers, breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women
• More than 4 million breast cancer survivors are living in the U.S. today
• Approximately 42,000 women are expected to die from breast cancer in 2026, yet the death rate has fallen 44% since 1989, thanks to better screening, earlier detection, and more effective treatments

For someone going through treatment, work may become one more thing to navigate alongside appointments, medical decisions, recovery, and family responsibilities. Workplace benefits and policies can make some of those logistics easier to manage.

What breast cancer means for healthcare costs

Another factor to consider is how breast cancer impacts overall healthcare spending. According to a recent Business Group on Health survey, cancer is the top condition driving employer healthcare costs for the fifth year in a row, with 70% of surveyed employers saying it’s their leading cost driver. Further, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), breast cancer has the highest treatment cost of any cancer, at $29.8 billion, and accounts for 14% of all cancer spending.

The encouraging part is that employers have levers to pull: a comprehensive benefits package provides end-to-end care, a wellness-minded culture can ease pressure, and encouraging healthy habits may lower risk, too.

Benefits that can support employees

Health coverage is often the foundation of an employer’s approach to breast cancer. The goal is to give employees access to care when they need it, while also providing resources that address some of the challenges that come with treatment and recovery.

Here’s what that can look like:

Prevention and early detection

Affordable health care can make routine screenings easier to access. Depending on the plan, that may include mammograms, genetic counseling, and other preventive services. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends a mammogram every two years for women ages 40 to 74 at average risk. Employers can review their health plans to understand how recommended screenings are covered.

The CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion shows just how much screening can accomplish:

• Saves lives: Screening every two years reduces breast cancer deaths by 26% among women ages 50 to 74.
• Fewer late-stage diagnoses: Screening has contributed to a 29% drop in diagnoses of breast cancer that has spread.
• Earlier detection: More than 99% of women diagnosed at the earliest stage live five years or longer.
• Lower treatment costs: Cancers found early are much less expensive to treat than those found late.

Diagnosis and treatment

When someone is facing a diagnosis, the focus shifts from screening to navigating care. Health plans with manageable out-of-pocket costs and access to oncology specialists can change the entire experience.

Beyond core medical coverage, these supplemental benefits add an extra layer of care:

• A cancer support program with dedicated case managers and advocates who help employees navigate treatment
• An employee assistance program (EAP) that offers counseling, support groups, and community resources to employees in treatment and to those caring for loved ones
• Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) or health savings accounts (HSAs) to help cover eligible medical, travel, childcare, or lodging costs during treatment
• Adherence with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for specific family and medical reasons, combined with salary continuation benefits, if possible

Recovery and survivorship

Finishing treatment doesn’t necessarily mean returning to a normal routine right away. Follow-up appointments, ongoing care, fatigue, and other effects can continue well after treatment ends.

When possible, and depending on the employee’s role, options such as flexible schedules, hybrid or remote work, or phased hours can make the transition more manageable. Additionally, clear leave policies are particularly important. Employees should know what time off is available for their own needs as well as caregiving responsibilities. Employee resource groups can also help survivors stay connected and feel a sense of belonging with colleagues who understand what they’ve experienced.

As employers plan these accommodations, they should pay special attention to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which both protects the organization and ensures employees have access to what they need to manage both work and recovery, from modified work schedules to physical workspace changes.

Crafting a culture of care

When your employees feel free to be themselves at work, everyone benefits. The American Psychological Association’s 2024 Work in America survey found that 95% of workers with higher psychological safety were satisfied with their jobs, compared with 85% of those with lower psychological safety. This type of workplace can improve retention rates and also signal to staff facing a diagnosis that they’re safe to voice concerns, ask for help, and take time to tend to their well-being.

Here are a few ways to build that kind of culture:

• Offer the appropriate flexibility: Appointments and recovery time can involve recurring appointments and changes to an employee’s schedule. Policies surrounding flexible hours, remote work, or other arrangements during treatment and caregiving can give employees more room to manage those demands and help ensure compliance with ADA, FMLA, and other state-specific regulations.
• Prepare managers: Give managers clear training on how to respond when an employee shares a health concern and what resources are available through the company.
• Make leave information accessible: Ensure clear medical and caregiving leave policies are included in your employee handbook, and that the handbook can easily be found by your team.
• Communicate benefits regularly: Share regular reminders about preventive care, EAPs, health advocacy, and other resources throughout the year.
• Recognize the month: In October, employers might invite employees to wear pink, hand out ribbons or stickers, and share ways to volunteer with groups like the American Cancer Society, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, National Breast Cancer Foundation, or Susan G. Komen.

Turning awareness into action

Supporting employees through a breast cancer diagnosis starts with a culture where people feel safe talking about their health, and benefits that cover detection, treatment, and recovery.

Setting all of that up can feel like a lot for a smaller company, but the payoff in well-being and retention is well worth the effort.

The good news is that you don’t have to do it alone. A professional employer organization (PEO) can take on many of those responsibilities while giving employees access to HR expertise and a broader range of resources. At ExtensisHR, our PEO model includes:

• Employee benefits and administration: Our competitive benefits include options for EAPs, HSAs and FSAs, and cancer support and health advocacy programs.
• Dedicated HR expertise: Each ExtensisHR customer receives a dedicated HR Business Partner who can help develop policies on leave, flexible work arrangements, and other workplace needs.
• Employee Solution Center: Employees can connect with a highly responsive team for questions about benefit plan options, qualifying life events, time off requests, and more.

Having these resources in place can make it easier to respond when an employee’s circumstances change without adding another layer of administrative work to an already busy HR function.