Does anyone here have diabetes and what does it mean for you and work

[Whengcame]

Are you allowed time to monitor your condition and treat appropriately or does work force you into neglecting your condition on work hours?

I assume you're referring to T1D?

I don't have it but I am close to someone who does and I can guarantee it is illegal for any employer to discriminate against you on grounds of health. They have to give you time to monitor your blood sugar/treat hypos etc by law

I was diagnosed as type 2 aged 42. Worked in the nhs. Got no provision made for me. Frequently did 12 hour shifts with no breaks etc. Honestly my work didn’t give a hoot.
One of my colleagues was a type 1 and she had a massive hypo at work one day because of the conditions.

I’ve had type 1 since I was 18. To be honest for me it has zero impact on my work, but I do work in an office with regular hours. I check my sugars at my desk if I need to, take insulin at my desk if I need to and keep a bottle
of lucozade in the kitchen fridge incase I need it.

In a job I had years ago I was taken aside and asked not to check my sugars etc at my work and to go to the toilet to do it, I went bloody apoplectic at them, strongly hinted they could be discriminating against me (no idea if they actually were) and that if they wanted to to monitor my sugars etc away from my desk they could provide a private room for me to do it in and could not expect me to go to a toilet to do it. It was never mentioned again.

I can guarantee it is illegal for any employer to discriminate against you on grounds of health

And I can guarantee you that it isn't. Employers are perfectly entitled to discriminate against you on the grounds of health - health is not a protected characteristic. They ought not to discriminate against anyone on the grounds of disability, but (a) employers, of course, never ever break the law, which is why employment tribunals are empty and crying out for cases and (b) the protections afforded by the Equality Act are not remotely as strong as people believe they are.

FWIIW, my employers, large public sector, would definitely encourage people with diabetes to manage their condition and provide the ability to do so (which is not always the same thing as people availing themselves of that, or managers recognising it as necessary), but I would never go so far as to say that they wouldn't act in discriminatory ways - and they can and do dismiss people under capability on the grounds of health.

Type I diabetes is covered by the Equality Act 2010 and it is therefore a legal requirement for companies to make reasonable adjustments for the condition.

Of course 'reasonable adjustments' is a slightly woolly phrase which some employers attempt to circumvent, but in general you should be allowed to test and monitor your condition – if the employer would prefer you not to do this at your desk or on the shop floor or whatever they would need to provide a suitable space for you to do so, suggesting you use the toilet is not reasonable.

You should be allowed to take insulin/have food if the monitoring suggests that you should. Sadly there is so little understanding of Type I diabetes, you may well have to argue your case quite forcefully.