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]

Re: Do you guys actually tell your employers you are diabeti

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]

Re: Do you guys actually tell your employers you are diabeti

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]

Re: Do you guys actually tell your employers you are diabeti

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]

Re: Do you guys actually tell your employers you are diabeti

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]

Re: Do you guys actually tell your employers you are diabeti

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]

Re: Do you guys actually tell your employers you are diabeti

Always

 

[Sarah69]

Re: Do you guys actually tell your employers you are diabeti

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]

Re: Do you guys actually tell your employers you are diabeti

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]

Re: Do you guys actually tell your employers you are diabeti

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]

Re: Do you guys actually tell your employers you are diabeti

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]

Re: Do you guys actually tell your employers you are diabeti

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]

Re: Do you guys actually tell your employers you are diabeti

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

 

[izzzi]

Re: Do you guys actually tell your employers you are diabeti

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]

Re: Do you guys actually tell your employers you are diabeti

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.

 

[Buuuda]

Re: Do you guys actually tell your employers you are diabeti

See when i first started work at 16 i hesitated telling my employer about it, but after much consideration i didnt care how people treated me in the work place, everyone judges everyone no matter if your classed as 'disabled' or what ever i had type 1 diabetes for over 17 years and it has never held me back in anything, i have boxed for nearly 10 years semi professionally and have always had manual labor involved jobs. I used to ask why me or why has this happened to me, as if it was a majorly bad thing, and my nan gave me the best advice in the world...okay she was very religious but i completely understood what she meant, she used to say 'god knew you going to be strong so he decided to test you' and i live by that saying day in and day out now, god bless her she passed away a few years ago but still i still thank her for those words. If your worried about how people react to you telling them you have diabetes then you care about what they think about you, obviously people will keep a keener eye on you but thats up to them, aslong as yoiu have it under control then you need not worry [color]

 

[Lucypieee]

Re: Do you guys actually tell your employers you are diabeti

I've always told my employer that I'm diabetic, as one thing I do ask in the interview is regarding company policies on hospital appointments. Unless it comes up with colleagues, I don't tend to tell them, at the same time, I don't shy away from doing an injection or BG test at my desk (unless there was a particularly bad needle phobic in the region).

I think it's important for the employer and the first aider at the company to know, just in case something did happen. I have, as have many, had occasions where I hadn't realised my BG Level had dropped. If my employer knows I'm diabetic as well, it makes it easier to inform them that I have a hospital appointment with my consultant or DSN.

 

[Kerry-Michelle]

Re: Do you guys actually tell your employers you are diabeti

Hi,

I'm a nursery assistant, so I'm always running around after the children, when I've had interviews before I havent told them I'm type 1 diabetic until I've got the job. The reason I did this was because I told one company I was diabetic before my interview started and she told me to leave straight away.. I didn't even sit down in the interview room before I ended up leaving... So once you've got the job they can't do anything about it as it's classed as discrimination (so I've been told) so in your case I would let your employer know and maybe some close workmates incase you have a bad day and you have a low or whatever so they know what to do and can get you help..

My employers are fine with my diabetes they always ask me how I'm doing and feeling and if I need a break or anything to sort my self out or my levels and I've taught them all what to do if I have an episode.. To my surprise one day I came to work and they all told me how they researched into type 1 diabetes so now they know what it is and I don't have to explain why I take what medication I do to each different person at a different time...

All in all I think you should tell them..

I hope you get on okay

Kerry x

 

[Debsydora]

Re: Do you guys actually tell your employers you are diabeti

My last job I told them I was a diabetic, but still I had to work long hours on my own without a break, that was until I joined a union who sorted things out, my supervisor was the worse she just didnt understand diabetes, or didnt want to and always gave me the worse shifts when deliveries were coming in and I had to split myself in 4 to check deliveries, serve customers, cook and make sandwiches it was disgusting, but did get sorted out but with a union dealing with it.

 

[MonoJono]

Re: Do you guys actually tell your employers you are diabeti

It varies from place to place. I tend to think that the less you mention it, the less likely any employer is to think the diabetes will interfere with work. I mention it in any application forms but dont talk about it in interviews. When i begin a job i just mention it to my line manager.
One of my previous managers made me use up holiday time to attend hospital appointments (as the nhs far too slow to fit around a job) When that manager left, my new manager gave me the holiday days back.