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This composite case explores the managerial, ethical, and logistical issues that arise when a federal employee is diagnosed with breast cancer and has difficulty dealing with her job responsibilities and co-worker reactions. The case ends with the employee on the verge of exhausting her leave options; she and the manager must work out a solution. An appendix discusses the relevance of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. HKS Case Number 1181.0.

Poverty is a business issue because the American poor are part of the American work force. Most poor adults and 90% of poor children live in families where work is the norm, not the exception. Companies cannot create the work force of the future with the poverty policies of the past. There are some simple policy mechanisms, however, that can help the working poor without putting an undue burden on business. Enacting them requires managers to see poverty policy as part of a national human-resource strategy that links corporate strategy to a broad social agenda.