Ask HN: Should I find new job before telling current job about surgery?

Should I request unpaid leave from my employer or just find a new job with a start date after a conservative recovery time? I am specifically concerned that revealing any weakness will compromise my compensation negotiation position. It is already a chore with my current employer to receive pay increases to accompany increased job responsibility. Management has a stronger position than I realized when I accepted the job. The tech side is very simple and much more of a minor contributor to the business value compared to sales and structural customer lock-in. Almost all of the engineers are second world contractors from multiple different agencies whereas the handful of stateside employees' purpose seems to be quality control through code reviews.

Has anyone here taken time off for surgery? Do you wish you had lined up another job offer first instead of requesting leave? Did management grant leave and then later retaliate after you returned to work?

For the small fraction of outcomes where I die, is there a best practice way to notify your employer? I know that companies often subscribe to services to monitor employees social media and LinkedIn for signs of disloyalty (looking for another job). Do these services also send notifications if a resource dies? I am interested if sending a courier with a Hallmark "I'm sorry for your loss" card could possibly be the first place they find out?

Your health comes first, and don't worry for a second about what might happen to your employer in negative situations.

But the issue would be difficult to navigate for someone very familiar with the details.

'Legality' may be of secondary concern here unfortunately - you may be entitled to certain rights, but often companies just don't care and will screw you, leaving you with no choice but to sue etc. - nobody wants to deal with that.

It's rational for them to not necessarily want to pay you more, even for ostensible promotions, but it doesn't mean they don't value you.

Also - consider that everyone is human on some level, you may want to let them know you have to go in for some kind of surgery without disclosing any of the details at all. You may want to indicate that you can have your Doctor contact them. This may seem odd, but maybe you literally want to get a Doctor's note which indicates the seriousness and recovery time without getting into any details. The Doctors note will legitimise the situation so they'll 'have no doubts' - and with that documentation on file, they'll think twice about doing something screwy: if you end up in small claims and a Judge sees they have something like that on record, it can't be good for them.

Maybe once you've let them know, you can try to judge from their response the level or career risk you face. You can perhaps offer to 'work out a time' with them if that's an option for you.

It can't hurt to put out the feelers for another job as well.

Good luck with your situation. Life is long, your health is the priority.

In the long run, if you find that you're seriously in a situation wherein your company won't cut you some slack for something so serious, then it's almost definitely time to move on.

Good luck.