Team leader recording sickness as 'diabetes'

Well he is doing no more than that done by a lot of HCPs where any condition is written off as being due to "complications of diabetes"

yes get him to record it correctly. Too many days down as "diabetes" and they could claim you are not in control if it comes down to any HR involvement. If he will not change them then write to HR and make sure it is in your records that they were not "due to diabetes"

Not everything is diabetes related @Jellyb and the recording of sickness should be accurate.
There may come a time when your sickness records are scrutinised and you do not want it recorded that every time you are absent that it is diabetes related. Perhaps he cannot spell vomiting.

Jellyb said:

Shortly after I was diagnosed last year I started vomiting at work one day - no reason, I hadn't previously felt unwell. At the time I put it down to the sudden changes in my diet and as I was still feeling nauseous and unwell, I phoned in sick the following day. We have a new system of recording sickness at work - my boss had reported it as 'diabetes'. I did find this a bit odd and to be honest, a little amusing - how can you have diabetes one day and be back to work and fine the next! As it was all very new to me - I didn't question him and soon forgot about it.

Anyway - fast forward to this week. I woke on Wednesday with a temperature and what I thought was the beginning of a migraine. I duly notified my boss of my absence. I went back to work on Thursday to find that once again, my sickness was reported as diabetes. When I asked him about it - his reply was 'Well, you do have diabetes, I didn't know what else to put.'

Am I being unreasonable by feeling like I have suddenly been labelled. I worry that if he constantly records stuff like this - it might look to the uninformed that diabetes is stopping me from doing my work.
Just needed to vent a bit!

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There are just so many reasons why the record of your absence should be accurately recorded. To be fair, as a line manager I have encountered a few systems, some of which are significantly better, and techno-numpty friendly than others. It is excellent you have access to your own records, and can at least keep tabs on things, but the downside of this is that if you do nothing and just move on, you are, albeit passively, agreeing the record is correct. I would therefore urge you to approach him to have your records corrected.

I have no idea what your company's sickness policy is, but my last employer, which was a large company, employing thousands, had an excellent sickness policy which over time provided excellent sickness support for employees - up to a year on full pay, followed by up to up to the balance of the employee's working life on half pay. What a fabulous, fabulous, disaster safety net?

But, and it is a big but, there were employer safety nets in there too, whereby an investigation would be required for multiple short term absences. From memory that was any single absence of more than 5 days in a rolling year, or anyone having 2 or more absences of any duration during the same rolling year. That might seem completely draconian, but in reality, if one of my direct reports, who had been routinely fit and well and attending work, unfortunately caught flu, then a few weeks later hurt their back, resulting a breach in either of the safety nets, I just had to have a quick chat with them and satisfy myself the issues were not related, and were not manifestations of work stress. Once done, we moved on, although the rule remained in place, meaning deeper investigation would be required on any subsequent absence, which would trigger the breach.

So, it is very much in your interest to make sure your records are correct, so that absences cannot be misconstrued as poor management of your diabetes. Obviously, diabetes related absences need to be reported as such, and could be to your advantage as well as your disadvantage. Personally, I would always be willing to cut a newly diagnosed diabetic a bit more slack in the early days.

I'm sure it doesn't have to be a big thing between you and your boss, but I'm positive neither of you wants the headache of going through why he should make alterations in a few months, should you need to explain multiple absences. HR/employee reward or HR Systems should be able to assist in the mechanics of correcting the record, if need be.

Good luck with it.

I had to talk to medical nurse, Atos, due to my long list of health problems. As I work for the government they have to do everything 'by the book'. To cut a long story short they increased the 'trigger point' for my sick record. Not greatly but at least they recognised that I could be off sick more often. They label the days off as 'diabetes/IBS related'. I still have to be very careful though

Hey Jellyb

I completely relate to your frustration when trying to explain Diabetes who people in work who do not understanding of the complex nature of the condition. I think you should still discuss this with your manage to get this changed as AndBreathe mentioned, it is vital to ensure your absence records are recorded accurately. If your Manager does not listen to you, does your Organisation or Company have an Occupational Health supplier service? As they will be able to inform your Manager whether your absences were related or unrelated to your Diabetes.

In terms of Sickness absence Policy, managing employee absence is usually based on frequency of absence i.e Short Term where you have a trigger point system as AndBreath mentioned or as Long Term Absences or Continuous Absence. The benefit of this is that it ensures consistency is apply to everyone and not due to the absence reason. In addition it means that you are being managed due to the number of days absence you have had and not because of the medical condition itself. That being said, it is still important to ensure that your absence is recorded accurately as managers can raise concerns with you if they spot a pattern in your absence.

In reference to your point about the Cakes! I can so relate to that one!

Jellyb said:

Thanks all for your replies.
Our sickness recording system means your line manager enters the reason as soon as your absence is reported. Then on your return you do a 'Self Certificate' on the computer where you see what they have put - this time I decided to look further into the choices that could be given, I couldn't believe that migraine/headache or vomiting/nausea weren't mentioned. Then you have to 'accept' their entry so I am relieved I decided to question his choice but I was surprised at his reaction to me.

Before I was diagnosed - I did have enough instances of sickness to 'trigger' a report. Looking back I reaiise that some of them were due to the diabetes. I felt very frustrated to be told by my previous line manager that because they were well spaced out and for a few different reasons - muscle strain, migraine, dental stuff - that this, in itself constituted a 'pattern' - I couldn't believe it - especially as all but one were backed up by medical or dental records. This line manager was tempted, by her own admission, to put me up to the next level but her line manager said, although it looked like a high amount it was because I had a period of 17days off for stress which, hopefully was under control. Just before I was due to come off the report I collapsed in the street and hurt my head. As I pointed out - if I was taking advantage - I would have fallen the next week - not with a week to go.

My current line manager knows nothing about diabetes - and I don't expect him to but it does give me concern when he constantly brings up the subject. Even on a normal 'bad day' - he says 'is it your diabetes' and I feel like saying - no - it's just a rubbish day! I did feel a little offended when he brought in cakes one day (in itself no problem at all) and all he was concerned about was - would a Muslim colleague be able to eat one. Don't get me wrong - I am quite proud of the fact that the usual office cakes and sweets hold absolutely no interest for me now - I have learned to explain that 'No, I don't even want a small piece'.

Again, thanks all - I was worried I had been making too much of a fuss.

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Do you have regular or periodic 1:1 meetings with your Manager? If you do, I would take that opportunity to bring up his apparent constant linkage of everyday events to your diabetes. He may well feel is showing supportive concern. Perhaps you can agree with him, that your diabetes won't be mentioned unless you need support, and that you accept responsibility for asking for the support you may need. Make it clear you're not putting a ban on saying the D word, but just saying it's coming up a little too frequently for your comfort and making it appear to be a much bigger part of your life than you want it to be.

That clearly makes you accountable and take ownership, but we can't have it all ways.

Just out of interest. Can you be sacked because of too many diabetes illness days?

ickihun said:

Just out of interest. Can you be sacked because of too many diabetes illness days?

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Yes , I would of been (company closed first) , its called dismissal due to capability, and TBH I would have had no problem with it as I was not able to do my job properly...........

But what I did not like was the implication that my poor diabetic control was somehow my fault, ........

Its was simply that I had a stressful job , that I coped with for the best part of 2 decades, however the stress of the job started to cause BS problems , completely out of my control...................

The council which I work for has diabetes down as an example of disability, I've asked that any time is off because of it (inc eye injection appointments etc) is put down as disability not sickness, not sure if this is the same wherever you work though?

mfactor said:

Yes , I would of been (company closed first) , its called dismissal due to capability, and TBH I would have had no problem with it as I was not able to do my job properly...........

But what I did not like was the implication that my poor diabetic control was somehow my fault, ........

Its was simply that I had a stressful job , that I coped with for the best part of 2 decades, however the stress of the job started to cause BS problems , completely out of my control...................

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It's strange isnt it that if they knew how hard diabetes is to manage and cope with they would have a bit more consideration. Ignorance comes in many forms. Just do what you can as they're responsible for themselves. I am no crusader and believe you can beat a drum but eventually they will switch off due to hearing just the noise. Beautiful music is only heard and appreciated by a few!

having worked as a team leader for a number of years previously I can tell you that there is no requirement to state what your illness is.... well definitely none I was aware of where I live. What is required is medical evidence to support your absence if you only have x days without evidence. Some workplaces require evidence to be provided for every absence, some don't. I would never question someone about what they were actually sick with unless they wanted to tell me. I would ask though if they had anything that was contagious and if so, they should see their doctor because we need to protect others in the workplace from it spreading. Eg. someone got the whooping cough one year so we had to take precautions to notify all staff that they had been exposed to whooping cough, etc. But really other than the must knows, it's not a requirement. I have a lot of information recorded on my HR file about my health and that is because I have been put through a lot of assessments because I'm no longer able to work full time. But yes, I do recall some silly comments being put on my HR record about why I was absent and quite often it was wrong. I remember diabetes being mentioned a few times too which in reality it was just an assumption they made and nothing to do with my diabetes. I did question it and just got told oh look it isn't anything serious and noone is really going to look at it (which they don't tend to from my experience unless there is something really wrong).

Mep said:

having worked as a team leader for a number of years previously I can tell you that there is no requirement to state what your illness is.... well definitely none I was aware of where I live. What is required is medical evidence to support your absence if you only have x days without evidence. Some workplaces require evidence to be provided for every absence, some don't. I would never question someone about what they were actually sick with unless they wanted to tell me. I would ask though if they had anything that was contagious and if so, they should see their doctor because we need to protect others in the workplace from it spreading. Eg. someone got the whooping cough one year so we had to take precautions to notify all staff that they had been exposed to whooping cough, etc. But really other than the must knows, it's not a requirement. I have a lot of information recorded on my HR file about my health and that is because I have been put through a lot of assessments because I'm no longer able to work full time. But yes, I do recall some silly comments being put on my HR record about why I was absent and quite often it was wrong. I remember diabetes being mentioned a few times too which in reality it was just an assumption they made and nothing to do with my diabetes. I did question it and just got told oh look it isn't anything serious and noone is really going to look at it (which they don't tend to from my experience unless there is something really wrong).

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I agree with your statement that there is no legal requirement to state the reason one may be taking sick leave, but my experience, as a Manager, is that almost without exception people will disclose their infirmity when calling in sick. You know the sort of thing: "I won't be in today; I have a dreadful migraine/tummy upset/flu" or whatever. As a Manager, I found it helpful in terms of planning cover or deferral of the absentee's commitments, in terms of their meetings, deadlines and so on. And of course, it manages everyone's expectations for someone might return to work.

As a Manager, I also had a responsibility to ensure that the people in my Span of Control were not being damaged in any way, by the work they are carrying out, or their workplace environment (adequate lighting/appropriate seating/monitor height etc).

It is a bit of a tricky path to tread - trying to empathise and support folks, without appearing to intrude into their private lives. For those with a disability, of any kind, it must be tricky to weigh up how much to disclose so that they are neither being disadvantaged, nor being seen as milking their circumstances, because as sure as eggs are eggs, there are always those who will think the best and worst of others.

AndBreathe said:

I agree with your statement that there is no legal requirement to state the reason one may be taking sick leave, but my experience, as a Manager, is that almost without exception people will disclose their infirmity when calling in sick. You know the sort of thing: "I won't be in today; I have a dreadful migraine/tummy upset/flu" or whatever. As a Manager, I found it helpful in terms of planning cover or deferral of the absentee's commitments, in terms of their meetings, deadlines and so on. And of course, it manages everyone's expectations for someone might return to work.

As a Manager, I also had a responsibility to ensure that the people in my Span of Control were not being damaged in any way, by the work they are carrying out, or their workplace environment (adequate lighting/appropriate seating/monitor height etc).

It is a bit of a tricky path to tread - trying to empathise and support folks, without appearing to intrude into their private lives. For those with a disability, of any kind, it must be tricky to weigh up how much to disclose so that they are neither being disadvantaged, nor being seen as milking their circumstances, because as sure as eggs are eggs, there are always those who will think the best and worst of others.

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Yes, that's true I used to note it if I was told what the ailment was too as we were supposed to record what we were told.

I happen to have been on both sides of the fence, being the boss and being the one who has been granted an partial invalidity pension to continue working part time. I have to have medical assessments every 1-2 years where both my doctor and their doctor decides what hours I can work. There's absolutely nothing they don't know about me. They have letters from all my specialists, including my speech pathologist.

The real issue is that sick leave is treated in a negative light in workplaces when it is there to help staff. I still know staff where I work who burst into tears because they're too sick to work (they're usually the ones who have had cancer treatment or other long term illness treatments). But all they hear is how everyone has to be at work and if you take sick leave you make the team look bad. So they're too scared to take any leave as they feel like they're letting others down. They also get it noted as a performance issue in their performance improvement plans. I remember having to do that for some staff previously and thinking this is just ridiculous as they have medical evidence and they're genuinely sick.

I do agree though that management needs to be able to plan ahead. Although sickness tends to be unpredictable even if it is chronic illnesses that people are dealing with. They are also responsible to get a support plan in place for employees if needed. That is pretty much what happened to me as I wound up having a break down at work and things just spiralled out of control because I was going through a lot of tests and not getting answers over a long period. I was struggling to work full time and look after staff. They now have me doing back office processing work which I don't mind at all as I touch type. I am just happy I can still do something at all even though I could well feel down and out for going backwards with my career because of illnesses.