Do you guys actually tell your employers you are diabetic?

[Alexx]

I ask because I have never told a single employer that I was diabetic and I never will. I view it as my own personal business and nobody else needs to know about it. I know everybody including my doctor tells me I should but I don't care... not even my closest friends know that about me. I am type 1 and have been since I was 7 and I am now 21. I actually do manual labor at my current jobs so you would think it might be an issue but it has never come up before.

I actually hate it. All of a sudden when you tell someone its like they look at you different and treat you different once they know. Like all of a sudden you are handicapped and people need to look after you and they look at you as a liability with out even knowing what its really like.

I have been able to keep it a secret for all of my days in school, college, and now 3 years and 3 different jobs. I kept it a secret from all of my girlfriends, all of my friends, room mates, coaches, principals, teachers, and co workers. There are 5 people on this planet who know that about me, my mom, my dad, my two brothers, and my doctor.. and well I guess you people now too.....

[cleo82]

Hi Alex,

Personally I would tell them, but from the point of view that its under control, doesn't affect your work etc, you just wish to have it on record in the unlikely event of ever having a hypo at work.

I told my bosses about mine on my first day but they kept it quiet. I didn't tell my colleagues for the first few years, it only came out when the guy I shared an office with was diagnosed and I thought I could help him through it. He obviously mentioned it to someone else and any it went... (I'd probably be about 21 then too). Now most staff know, but after a bit of initial interest they never mention it and, I presume, couldn't care less TBH.

I too kept it quiet through school (apart from 2 very close friends) and through part time jobs etc. I don't know why - scared to be different, worried what people would think perhaps.

After 20+ years of type1 I still get surprises (e.g. being at 1.2 with no symptoms the other day). If I ever pass out at work I'd rather someone knew, and I got medical treatment in time.

Also, your employers have to make "reasonable adjustments" for diabetes - they can't sack you because of it (see the recent AA case). Reasonable adjustments in my eyes would be to let you have something to eat before heading out on an urgent job etc, let you attend a diabetic clinic and make the time up later - nothing too extreme. Perhaps mention these to your boss as examples so he knows where he stands - that he's not got to make any major changes basically. You don't mention what manual work you do, but think about worst case scenarios from trying to work through a hypo vs a few questions from colleagues.

As a general rule, I don't bring up the subject but if someone asks I won't lie. If I have to check my sugars in public I will, but discretely - incase anyone's funny about blood etc. My sister in law freaks at even a pin prick.

Hope that helps
Cleo x

[cleo82]

ps you mention that people treat you different... did you have a bad experience in school? I was diagnosed with another disease a year or so back and found that the people i told (very few) did treat me differently for a while, but it passed. Again, I told my bosses but told them to keep it quiet, which they have. No one at work knows as far as I'm aware.

[paul.bailey69]

Hi Alex, It depends on what protection you want within your job, if you don't disclose it then I doubt very much that you will be covered by the DDA as your employer wouldn't have been aware of your illness. Good luck to you but something to think about in the future.

[bowell]

Only told them after I had the job, Or at the firms Induction as H&S always comes up in that .
too late then as the job was in the bag.

-

let you attend a diabetic clinic and make the time up later -

You don't need to make the time up ,,You are allowed to take unpaid leave for diabetic appointments

If you want to make the time up for your own sake £££££ thats another thing
Same way employer can not be force to let you make the time up
or force you to make the time up

I know this because I had this issue with my Last employer and the GMB sorted it out very fast
in my case a dept Manager making his own rules up


Lots of Helpful info
Diabetic Employment_Advocacy_Pack
http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Documents/Advocacy/Employment_Advocacy_Pack_2010.pdf

[Alexx]

I have never had a "hypo" before. At least I don't think I have. I am assuming a hypo is when you go incredibly low to the point of not being able to function normally? I don't see how that could ever happen to me because when my blood sugar goes low I would be able to sense it while it is in the 70's (3.9 to 4.4mmol). I have incredibly tight control over my blood sugar levels to the point where for 8 hours at work I don't need to do anything different than the other people. If that ever became a problem like my boss telling me not go grab a candy bar (which he never would) I would tell him I was hungry and to go f_ck himself anyway. He can't control my bathroom habits either. If I needed to go to the bathroom and sit on the toilet for 10-20 minutes to rest up and get my glucose up, or test, or get insulin, then I would.


[Mod edit to change to UK units]

[donnellysdogs]

Always

[Sarah69]

Ive never told an employer. I worked in a department store once and I must have accidently mentioned it. The manager of the next dept must of heard too cos she kept making comments at various times like during the summer when the air con hardly worked she'd say oh this cant be good for your diabetes! I used to see a diabetic nurse at my dr's and she would always say to me every appt your looking well, i only have diabetes why would i look ill! I dont like many of the words that come with diabetes like illness, suffering and chronic. So yes i think people view u differently if they know u have it!

[RussG]

Hi Alex,

On one point, blood at 70mg/dl is a hypo by anyone's definition. A hypo is any blood reading under 4mmol or 72 mgdl, and certainly in the UK, you are not supposed to drive under 5.0mmol (90mgdl) and many people use 5.5mmol (99mgdl) as their threshold.

Whether you tell people or not is entirely up to you, although I would suggest that by starting this post you are at least curious about whether you should or not. It's not for me to tell you one way or the other, but personally I don't hide as I don't feel I have any reason to hide it.

[donnellysdogs]

People accept me with it, and I do everything I can to prove that diabetics are NORMAL people!!!!! Never had a single problem at all. It was another disease that through my health in to problems...but I never had a day off due to sick or appointments or anything, as I didn't want to give people an excuse to not empoy a diabetic in the future AND.....becuase at some point I thought I may get complications...25 years on....none!!!!

[stevemcfc]

Yes i did and feel it made a difference in attitude towards me.
But if I am fortunate to find a new job I would feel I should tell them.if it makes a difference
then they are poor employers.

[tattooazz]

I've always let my employers know. The majority of them have been fine. If you feel like you have to inject in a bathroom, then to me that's a bit desperate. Personally i would never and have never injected in a bathroom/toilet, if people are 'put off' by seeing me inject...tough. As long as you test regularly, inject when necesarry and generally keep it under control there should not be a problem.

[Kevs_dreams]

Nope! Unless they'll ask me about it then I would claim it myself.

[izzzi]

Hi,

Check out your Contract of Employment, They may be something in writing that could back fire at a later stage.

I think you will also find lots of people around you know as walls do have big ears.

Good luck,

Roy.

[Snodger]

I think you will also find lots of people around you know as walls do have big ears.

.

I bet they don't, you know. I never ever told employers for about 15 years for all the reasons others have outlined above. Finally decided I would 'come out', and everyone was absolutely astonished. Nobody had guessed even though they'd seen me hypo. At the same time I 'came out' to friends, one of which I had known for 30 years, who had never suspected a thing despite me injecting in front of her. People aren't actually that observant. They can be ignorant idiots though. I find nowadays it's best to just be quite tough from the beginning and make clear to them that their knowledge of diabetes is out of date (it nearly always is) and therefore you aren't going to listen. You've already got to be confident to do that though... not always easy.