Type 1 Attendance Meeting at Work.

[DapherCake]

Hello, I am a type 1 diabetic and have been for over 13 years. I got a new job in January and I quickly realised it is a very high stress environment with little support and care from the management time, but a job is a job right? Due to the stress of the job my blood sugar levels have been higher then normal, some days I have zero control and this has obviously lead to some serious illnesses. In the past 5 months I have taken 3 days off due to high blood sugar and not being able to bring it down.

My manager is now making me attend a attendance meeting, it's pretty serious .. it could end in a written warning. I have explained the seriousness of high blood sugar to my boss and explained what could happen if I work with high blood sugar but he doesn't care.

Is it possible to ask my Doctor for a letter to my boss, reassurance to give to my boss during the meeting that high blood sugar is very dangerous and requires full attentions (I'm talking levels at 24-28 for hours). Shall I get someone leaflets from the hospital to give in? Is there anything I can do?

Thanks.
Jessica.

 

[Diakat]

@DapherCake
My employers operate a similar system. If your three days were all in row you are unlikely to be in trouble. If however they were say three Mondays only then that looks like a pattern of not liking Monday so flags concerns.
A meeting could be positive for you in getting to present your side of things and having time to explain why you had the time off.
May I ask how high is high in this case?

 

[Rokaab]

Yes, some companies use the Bradford Factor for this purpose (https://www.bradfordfactorcalculator.com/) and the Bradford Factor calculations do not take into account disabilities/medical conditions or things like that.
As @Diakat says this would be a good time to present your side of things - its possible your company insists on an attendance meeting type thing if their 'Bradford Factor' (or whatever they use) flags a warning.

 

[InsulinWarrior]

Are you in the US? If so, we Yanks are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Employers are required to allow situations where an individual must be allowed to take care of themselves. For example, I get to use the womens lactating room (the one where breast feeding moms can pump breast milk at work) to inject my insulin.

 

[NicoleC1971]

Hello, I am a type 1 diabetic and have been for over 13 years. I got a new job in January and I quickly realised it is a very high stress environment with little support and care from the management time, but a job is a job right? Due to the stress of the job my blood sugar levels have been higher then normal, some days I have zero control and this has obviously lead to some serious illnesses. In the past 5 months I have taken 3 days off due to high blood sugar and not being able to bring it down.

My manager is now making me attend a attendance meeting, it's pretty serious .. it could end in a written warning. I have explained the seriousness of high blood sugar to my boss and explained what could happen if I work with high blood sugar but he doesn't care.

Is it possible to ask my Doctor for a letter to my boss, reassurance to give to my boss during the meeting that high blood sugar is very dangerous and requires full attentions (I'm talking levels at 24-28 for hours). Shall I get someone leaflets from the hospital to give in? Is there anything I can do?

Thanks.
Jessica.

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/How_we_...MItKyFuJvp4gIVzLDtCh0kbgA0EAAYASAAEgLiZ_D_BwE

These guys may be able to help you with regards to the legal position but as has been said, an attendance meeting could be a useful way to establish where you stand but more importantly to discuss why your blood sugars are so high in response to this stress. It is highly likely that there is a pattern of absenteeism in this company or in your department and HR should be noticing this and working with management to improve things. It just so happens that type 1s may show the stress more visibly than other folks who have sickies or duvet days when they get stressed.
If there is no sign of your employers seeking to understand and help you not be so stressed then I'd be looking to move on. Have worked in stress factories and happy places - it makes such a difference to feel cared for and able to voice concerns plus have some flexibility in dealing with diabetes blips. Your diabetes is NOT the issue here I would say.

 

[BeckiDover]

Hello, I am a type 1 diabetic and have been for over 13 years. I got a new job in January and I quickly realised it is a very high stress environment with little support and care from the management time, but a job is a job right? Due to the stress of the job my blood sugar levels have been higher then normal, some days I have zero control and this has obviously lead to some serious illnesses. In the past 5 months I have taken 3 days off due to high blood sugar and not being able to bring it down.

My manager is now making me attend a attendance meeting, it's pretty serious .. it could end in a written warning. I have explained the seriousness of high blood sugar to my boss and explained what could happen if I work with high blood sugar but he doesn't care.

Is it possible to ask my Doctor for a letter to my boss, reassurance to give to my boss during the meeting that high blood sugar is very dangerous and requires full attentions (I'm talking levels at 24-28 for hours). Shall I get someone leaflets from the hospital to give in? Is there anything I can do?

Thanks.
Jessica.

Your attendance meeting should hopefully be a time for you to air any problems with your employer too, not just a case of them telling you to improve your attendance and giving you a warning. You are also covered under the equality act; if you've disclosed to them you have a disability (which diabetes is covered under, even though you may not class yourself as disabled), they should work with you to understand and make any relevant adjustments to assist you with your work.

In regards to any leaflets etc to give to your employer to help understand, I found a very useful document on the Diabetes UK website called "Supporting people with diabetes in the workplace" - it may be good to give this to your employer and even colleagues.

Hope any of that helps

 

[ert]

Welcome. I'm sorry you're having a tough time at work and haven't been 100%. I always have the best guess of the cause of the high sugars. For example, a migraine, the flu, struggling to fend off the latest thing going around the office, and list this rather than 'high sugars'. Something's causing them.