Work and diabetes
Having diabetes doesn’t mean that you cannot get or keep a job. Diabetes UK believes that everyone with diabetes should be assessed on their own merits and should not be subjected to blanket bans on certain jobs. Although there are fairly few jobs with blanket bans these days we still believe there are too many.
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) was brought in to protect people with disabilities from being treated differently to other employees. Although most people with diabetes do not consider themselves disabled, diabetes is covered under the Act. If you feel you’ve been refused a job and you think that it’s solely because of your diabetes, it may be worth appealing the decision. This is also true if you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes, already in a job and find that you are being moved to another job or discharged on medical grounds.
There is no legal requirement to tell your employer or potential employer that you have diabetes but by doing so it will probably make it easier to arrange clinic appointments and manage your condition. We would advise you to be honest about your condition and if your diabetes is raised for example at interview then try to accentuate the positive - having diabetes now means that you are trying to lead a healthy lifestyle and that you will have a thorough medical check-up every year.
Unfortunately, the armed forces are still exempt from the DDA. We do receive calls from people who have recently been diagnosed with diabetes and are in the armed forces, but as there is no legal protection, unfortunately the result is medical retirement. The armed forces are the last employer to adopt a positive outlook on disability discrimination issues. Diabetes UK will continue to monitor the situation and look for ways to highlight cases of discrimination to get this situation reversed.
If you'd like further advice, please call the Equality and Human Rights Commission Helpline:
0845 604 6610 - England main number
0845 604 6620 - England textphone
0845 604 5510 - Scotland Main number
0845 604 5520 - Scotland Textphone
0845 604 8810 - Wales main number
0845 604 8820 - Wales textphone