I recently put together a presentation for a local support group on our rights in the workplace with diabetes. I'm self-employed and have no background in law, but nobody else wanted to speak about it, so I set out to educate myself. After the presentation, I drafted up a blog post based on what I found. This isn't a topic where I can claim much authority, but I did learn quite a bit.
In the US, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act provide us with accommodations that many PWD probably don't realize we may take advantage of - like using intermittent FMLA for doctor's appointments a few hours here and there, filing complaints with the EEOC when we believe we've experienced discrimination, requesting modified or standard schedules instead of swing shifts, the provision of accommodations for eating/checking/training, etc. I would be curious to know how those rights differ in other countries.
In my searching, I found many discussion threads (many here on TuD, too) detailing how people faced discrimination and ignorance from their employers. I would bet that most of us have a similar story to tell. Just another area where the general population (with and without D) is undereducated.
Great post. This is an important topic. I think many of us struggle with these workplace issues and if we don't know our rights and advocate for them, sometimes we can face real problems.
I agree that this is all worthwhile information and it's important we know our rights. However, in today's economy it can be one thing to advocate for rights and quite another to be concerned about keeping a job. While it's illegal, of course, to be fired for standing up for your rights (especially when the ADA is involved), if a company sees you as a trouble maker and wants to get rid of you they can always come up with reasons - none of us are so perfect we don't commit small infractions that can be documented over time.
Don't get me wrong, I believe in standing up and I spent most of my professional life as an advocate and a fighter. I had one battle I fought very hard when I worked for a county organization and it made me few friends but I believed (and still do) I was right (prior to my D diagnosis). But today when I'm retired with CalPers benefits and insurance (with no premium) for the rest of my life, I shudder to think that I'd risked all that.
So my advice is to pick your battles. And if they're large ones to make sure you have a union or other support behind you.
I agree that one should be prudent and careful. But often the employer and employee are both uninformed of the actual law and the rights of those with diabetes. Technically, you've only broken the law when you get caught. In many situations, direct line managers can step over the line and knowing your rights and who to talk to about problems makes a huge difference. You don't have to battle til death, but you won't be granted your rights by the "uninformed" unless you know your rights and ask for them.
In Canada, I've had to face a lot of discrimination as a type 1 diabetic, not only against my employer, but against insurance companies as well. They don't like dealing with PWD because we cost them too much money. A couple of years ago, I had chronic kidney failure. I was working at a company who made me believe after 4 1/2 years of working there, that they would support me when it came down to the transplant. When I started getting extremely ill, I left work and my insurance company refused to give me disability. My husband and I had to spend out of pocket money for everything including the dentist, prescriptions, etc. for six months. I was so lucky that my sister decided to donate her kidney to me, and soon after, I had the surgery.
Dealing with my workplace and my insurance companies made me incredibly upset, I ended up getting sicker that prior to going into surgery. Through this entire situation, I was been ridiculed, degraded, told I was a weak person and that I had no initiative, and that I needed to find a different career. The company also tried to force me to quit my job, so I phoned the Human Rights Commission who deals with these issues. It's been two years now and still, no decisions have been made.
I face discrimination with this disease all the time.
I was looking at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commision (EEOC) Diabetes question and answer page: http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/diabetes.html. Your situation with long and changing work hours sound like a situation discussed specifically on this website.
Look under the section of “Accommidating Employees with Diabetes”: Example: A nurse with insulin-treated diabetes rotated from working the 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. shift to the midnight to 8 a.m. shift. Her doctor wrote a note indicating that interferences in the nurse’s sleep, eating routine, and schedule of insulin shots were making it difficult for her to manage her diabetes. Her employer eliminated her midnight rotation.
Although these are some examples of the types of accommodations commonly requested by employees with diabetes, other employees may need different changes or adjustments. Employers should ask the particular employee requesting an accommodation because of his diabetes what he needs that will help him do his job. There also are extensive public and private resources to help employers identify reasonable accommodations. For example, the website for the Job Accommodation Network (http://janweb.icdi.wvu.edu/media/diabetes.html) provides information about many types of accommodations for employees with diabetes.
I hope this can provide you some help with your difficult situation.
If you have the power and mental strength to do so, fight it. Fighting with my company has taken a lot out of me, but I'm finally being heard. I find part of the problem as well is that not a lot of people can distinguish between T1 and T2, so they don't know T1 can potentially kill you, whereas T2 can be somewhat controlled. T1 is the more severe between the two and that's not recognized amongst the general public nor within the media or the Internet. If you feel discriminated against, fight. It's a matter of principle.
I am very fortunate to have a job now where I am able to take care of my medical needs without substantially impacting my job. I do policy research and largely set my own schedule, so I am able to easily work around my medical needs.
However, one aspect of this that I recently had to deal with involved confidentiality. I don't typically tell people I work with that I have T1 diabetes, partly because I don't want people making a big deal about it and partly because there just isn't any need. HOWEVER, I had a supervisor ask me last year if I was diabetic. I acknowledged that I was and she proceeded to tell others about my condition.
Now, in all fairness, I didn't explicitly ask for confidentiality. BUT, I did find out that she was in violation for discussing this with others without my consent. It's not a huge deal for me (I'm well-established in my career and less worried now about being discriminated against given my status), but I could imagine that for others it would be.
It’s not your problem they don’t have enough Gold techs it’s the organizations. If HR has approved your request then they really have to make it work. Hospitals, nursing homes, police, fire departments, assisted living, etc with all kinds of organization sizes can and have provided 24 coverage of all levels of staffing so that’s just bunk in my opinion.
To get your rights you may have to stick to your guns or you might have to file a complaint with EEOC.
When I was job hunting right after college, the AWD Act had not yet taken place. Every application I came across asked if you had cancer, diabetes, heart disease, or mental illness. There were 3 where the interviewer said "I'm afraid we just can't hire people with diabetes", and several more where it wasn't put so directly. So I chose to lie and not mark it down. The lady said "you're healthy as a horse, right?", and I said yes. And I got the job. Things are SO much better now.
