Howdy,
So has diabetes ever gotten in the way of your employment or getting a job? I’m trying to get a new job but i’m constantly worried about my diabetes and that it might get in the way of working and i may not be able to eat whenever. Perhaps i’m just being paranoid.
If you don’t count disqualification from military service, no, never interfered with getting a job. How to deal with diabetes while actually on the job is another issue. I wouldn’t call it paranoia. Dealing with diabetes while on the job is a major consideration and well worth planning for. You will have to adjust your regimen, no doubt, but it’s doable. It has to be. What’s the alternative?
I’ve been a diabetic my entire working life. Just like everything that is D-releated, there will be some taxing moments. A little planning can help ease any disruption. I would keep glucose tabs in your work area and in your coat. Intense focus on a project can bring you low so if you’re in that kind of job, it’s a good idea to keep the carbs handy. I found most of my inconvenienced moments were purely self-inflicted because I didn’t keep rescue glucose handy. Depending on your management regimen, delaying meals doesn’t have to be a dangerous proposition. I find that with a pump I can skip meals without getting into any trouble. Good luck in the job hunt! I wish you the best.
It hasn’t interfered with my getting a job, no. But then, my jobs have mostly been regimented office-type jobs with regular schedules. However, diabetes has affected the type of job I would take. Suddenly, medical benefits/insurance coverage, etc. is more important to me than it ever was. I am now with a company that does not offer benefits – fortunately I can use my wife’s company’s health plan, but buying life insurance is costing me a fortune. It was nice when my company provided part of that.
Hasn’t affected me getting a job, but treatment by supervisors once I had the job left something to be desired. Staples Inc is not good place to work if you need ANY kind of accommodation, be it needing the freedom to leave the floor to treat a low blood sugar (only on pre approved, scheduled breaks), or needing to keep your Omnipod PDM on your person (sorry, looks too much like a cell phone), or needing to have your testing supplies easily accessible (Has anyone seen my little baggie of diabetes crap??? [after stumbling around for 10 minutes looking for said baggie where I had left it, not comprehending just how low I was cuz I couldn’t find my stuff to TEST] - Sorry, Jess, sez the manager, you can’t leave them under a register or behind the service desk or with Stephanie over in CPC … I locked them in the cash office…just page me whenever you need to get it and when I have time, I’ll come up & unlock the door for you). Regional manager backed him up, as did Staples Ethics. Big issues with lawyers & my endo…got let go (due to injuries sustained in an MVA, not diabetes stuff) and decided to just let the diabetes crap go rather than continue to fight them. Wasn’t worth the stress…but my endo said with my documentation & witnesses, I could have owned the company.
ANYWAY…off my soapbox…most employers are very willing to make reasonable accommodations. That being said, I don’t mention anything diabetes related until I’ve secured the job - once I’ve signed the paperwork, I lay out the accommodations I’ll need. Staples was the ONLY one who ever gave me any kind of crap.
Jeska, you have the law behind you. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to make reasonable accommodation, like carrying you PDM in your pocket, whether it looks like a cell phone or not. That is a reasonable accommodation. ADA also prohibits discrimination in the job application process. That one is harder to prove, so I have never mentioned D in an interview. After I have the job, I inform people and it has never been a problem.
I have never had a job where D was an issue. Everyone I work with knows how to help me, where my supplies are kept, etc. I also keep an emergency kit at the office and no one cares.
Yeah - their excuse was that paging the mgr to be let into the cash office (ahem…at HIS convenience???) was reasonable, whereas allowing me to deliberately disregard company policy as far as personal belongings “on the floor” (small ziploc baggie consisting of PDM or meter & insulin pens, strips, stabber, & glucose tabs, stashed under an unused register or on a shelf behind the svc desk) was UNreasonable. It’s whatever, though. Now they’re trying to tell my lawyer they have no record of my existence after having my employee file subpoenaed (re: the mva & their decision to “relieve me of my duties”)…It stresses me more to fight them on anything than it does to just breathe deep and try to let it go, you know? I filed official complaints, so I haven’t let them off scott-free…but a lawsuit would just be too big. :o(
reading your story makes me want to meet your manager and giving him a piece of my mind… or fist. I would have had a nice few choice words with him before walking out and suing him. I hope you get it all figured out. They owe you.
I agree with you. Were you physically harmed? Dd you get another job? Sometimes it’s better to just move on with life.
I just wonder what would’ve happened if you had a pump attached with tubing. Would they make you keep THAT locked up in the back?
Well, I lost the job because I was out on medical leave for so long due to the injuries sustained in the car accident…it’s going on 3 years since the accident, and my doctors still won’t release me to work, so no job - I’ve been gong to school instead. Just got my Associate in Accounting & will have my Bachelor in 2-3 more years, then depending on the job market, I’m planning on getting my Master Degree & getting into forensic accounting. So yeah…I’m trying to move on. Unfortunately, Staples is still trying to screw me every way they can. My attorneys need my employee file for dates & documentation, and all of a sudden I don’t exist? They really don’t like it when you file complaints against them. I was released to go back on extremely light duty (no bending, no putting my arms above shoulder level, no pushing, pulling or lifting over 5lbs, etc) and I lasted 2 and a half days before I ended up leaving halfway thru that 3rd day back to go straight to my doctor’s office because they were trying to make me do things beyond what my release note allowed me to. Filed a complaint, again shot down by Regional and Corporate. Their Ethics reporting hotline is a joke :o( I’m not one to make waves, so when I do try to stand up for myself, I tend to think I’ll at least be listened to & given fair treatment in getting things resolved, not told “Suck it up, soldier” (yeah, someone from Staples actually said that to me lol) & bullied or ignored…to the point that now they claim I never even worked for them??? Shady.
If I had a pump with tubing attached, who knows what they would have come up with. Hazardous? Too likely I’d catch it on something and hurt myself or others? Ok to have it on as long as NO part of it is visible…if any tubing peeks out I get written up? They’re hardcore.