Introduction Incidence and survival rates of cancer have increased in the last decade. The number of people diagnosed with cancer in the workplace are expected to increase steadily.

Objective To describe the employment status of a sample of salaried workers who suffered a previous sickness absence (SA) due to cancer, up to 4 years after diagnosis.

Methods Cohort study based on a sample of workers (N=145,614), affiliated with the Spanish Social Security System, residents in Catalonia, with at least one SA episode due to a cancer between 2012 and 2015 (N=516; average age 50 in men and 47 in women). Individuals were followed up from the end of the SA episode, and future employment status was assessed in five outcomes: early retirement before age 65, partial retirement, permanent disability, unemployment with subsidy and employment. Last available working outcome was assigned to each individual and Chi-square test was used to assess differences between sexes.

Results For both, men (N=225) and women (N=291), employment was the most frequent outcome at the end of the period (73.5% and 82.7%) followed by permanent disability (10% and 7.6%). In men, early retirement was found to be higher than in women (7.8% vs 3.8%). Women experienced a very low proportion of partial retirement (1.4%) compared to men (4.35%). All differences between sexes were found to be statistically significant (p<0.05).

Conclusion Preliminary results show that most of the people who survive a cancer go back to employment. However, there is a high proportion of people who get a permanent disability, retire or become unemployed, with differences between sexes. Characterizing reincorporation to labour market of people who survive a cancer allows us to determine how the disease affects survivors and society in order to understand where public policy can act.