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Work problems or just being over sensitive?

B

Brimstone_Prime

Newbie
Messages
1
Type of diabetes
Type 2
About three years ago I transferred to a new department at work, then for Christmas I received the gift of being diagnosed as Type 2. After returning to work after some time off I had a meeting with both my manager and department manager over the situation. Naturally being a new experience to everyone involved they were understanding, at first.
Because I would be working alone most of the time I felt it better if I returned to my previous department as I would be around more people if something happened, my second request was the possibility of moving my hours to and earlier shift, for the same reason and also as being on insulin I didn't want to be injecting while at work, I would have to inject at lunch but that's unavoidable. With the hour changes all I got was a we'll see what we can do.
I got told by my department manager that I couldn't go back to my previous department as I would be working alone and if something happened, which is ironic as over the years I am constantly working on my own.
Not long after because I was struggling with my new job and managing my diabetes I get called in to the office and questioned about my performance, asked if I would see Occupational Health for an assessment, then he started not so subtly suggesting that I would use my condition as an excuse for not doing my work.
Hearing this I realized that I'm on a road to nowhere where being diabetic is concerned, so I've kept my mouth shut even when I have a hypo.
Naturally as the years passed things are getting worse, I can't get a break to recover when I have a hypo, I've had to alter my insulin scheduling several times as I rarely get chance to take my entitled breaks. Whenever I've been called in to the office I inform them of this but all I get is "Well you should take your breaks" but it's not so easy when you are working alone and you receive a delivery that needs to be put away because it's a perishable or the delivery is so large that by the time you've offloaded it it's well past your break and you can't take the time back because you have countless other tasks that you need to get through.
I don't know if it's an 'out of sight out of mind' thing with my managers and they just think that if the ignore me they don't have to deal with me until they have to or they are just ignorant.
I have no confidence in my managers that I feel that the only way they'll do anything is if my condition gets to a point that I have an accident while at work.

Thanks for reading this little rant.
 
I think its a valid rant- I care for someone (my mother) alone and share some of your concerns-I have to say though that you must take your breaks to check blood glucose, take insulin, and food if you need to, to maintain your glucose at stable levels. No one but yourself will suffer if you do not (and possibly your family-you did not mention them but I assume that you have one.) I envy your being able to move about as much as you need to though-with caregiving you are bound by the needs of the person you are caring for. We can not be perfect, but we can take advantage of every break to make sure we are as healthy as we can be. I think that they may not improve conditions if you did have an accident at work-they may just not understand what you need-that is why you have to take advantage of every chance to take care of yourself. It is much easier to defend taking breaks that you are supposed to have than proving to them that your accident was the result of conditions that were not conductive to dealing well with your Diabetes. You also will be the one to deal with any disabilities that come as a result of injury-I know, I was injured at work several times in my 45 year work history. I have gouty arthritis as well as Diabetes. I wish you good health and happiness in knowing that you have done as well as you were able to.
 
You seem to be falling foul of that old Dilbert gag from your bosses- "I don't understand it, therefore it must be easy" :-(
 
I was careful to read your post and how you worded it. It seems many of the frustrations with your management team occurred several years ago when you were first diagnosed. Note: I am making that assumption because you used the words "Not long after..." to explain your interaction about your performance.

You then mentioned that your current struggles are because you can't get your entitled breaks. However, it seems you're not taking them because you feel obligated to perform the duties of your job instead. I also understood that your management team is telling you "Well you should take your entitled breaks."

I guess my confusion lies in how your managers can resolve the situation. If you are entitled to taking a break, your managers are telling you to take these entitled breaks, but you are not taking your breaks... It seems that the most logical course of action is to take your entitled breaks.

You have every right to be frustrated about the situation and feel free to rant, but unless you left out additional details it's difficult to see where your management is at fault.

Most countries have laws that protect diabetics from being discriminated against and the UK and USA are no exceptions. However, it's important to separate the difference between the daily tasks of managing diabetes, and struggling to manage your diabetes to a point that it's consistently affecting your ability to do your job.

Again, perhaps you left out some important details, but it seems that the most logical course of action moving forward is to find ways to avoid hypos (as much as reasonably possible) and establish a routine that allows you to take your entitled breaks to effectively manage your diabetes.
 
May I ask do you have deadlines with the offloading that you're referring to as part of your job? Eg. can you take a break and come back to it? I agree with what others have said. It's far more important for you to take your breaks so you can test, inject insulin, and eat. I used to be the type myself that never took the breaks I was supposed to take. I'd eat and inject on the job though. But then I think all that extra work I did eventually caught up with me. Basically what I'm saying is I was hard on myself.... is it possible you are being hard on yourself in regard to your work? Eg. thinking this must be done now, when in reality it can wait 15 mins or so. I'm my own worst enemy with thinking that way because if I'm asked to do something I do it straight away.... it's always been my work ethic... get it done. You say your managers are telling you to take breaks, so it's probably the best thing to do. I've learnt that work just continues to grow in volume regardless whether I don't take breaks or I do take breaks. These days I take my morning tea break of 15 mins and I take a half hour lunch break. I go home 2.30 pm so I don't need an afternoon break. But since I've been disciplined to do that I have found that at least I'm disconnecting from my job for a short time to refresh. In fact though I've been ordered by docs to do that as it's written up as part of the deal for me to continue to work there with my multiple illnesses and the limitations they've given me.
 
I'd suggest you write down the key responsibilities of your job on a day to day basis and what needs to be done to resolve the parts that are not working. For example you are one person alone, required to do x within x amount of time. If you are having a hypo what support is in place to allow you to protect your health and at the same time ensure that the job is fulfilled adequately. From what you describe above there is none. While it's fine for your employer to say you can take your entitled breaks, if you are placed in a situation where the continual choice is between taking the break and losing a product/failing to meet a target and not taking a break and endangering your health it does not sound like your employer has made appropriate arrangements.

There is a requirement under English law to make reasonable adjustments for those with a disability. What is reasonable depends on the circumstances. If there are other jobs with more than 1 person so you have back up if something goes wrong why is it not possible to do it for your job? If there are other areas to work where you would have back up, why is it not possible for you to work there.

Do you have a union? If you do it would be very helpful to take a rep with you to a meeting. It's very difficult to talk about something as personal as this calmly and having someone else present as support could be a big help for you.

Good luck.
 
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