Managing diabetes at work

Many people we talked to continued to work after being diagnosed with diabetes. Support from employers in being flexible about working hours and the Access to Work scheme in providing equipment helped several people to continue working.

Tina's employers are very supportive and Access to Work have provided her with a special camera which helps her to read.

Sometimes the type of work people did make it hard for them to keep working, especially if their job was physically demanding. People who had neuropathy in their feet found it difficult to continue doing jobs which required walking long distances or standing for long periods of time. One man, who was a paramedic said he took early retirement when he started taking insulin because he didn't want to be driving at high speed. A hairdresser found it hard to find time to eat properly and after developing neuropathy could no longer stand on her feet all day. Eating at the right time takes extra care and planning when working in a physically demanding job.

Duncan has no problem working and driving for long hours but his neuropathy means that walking to work is difficult.

While working as a paramedic, Gareth always made sure he had food or money with him, so that he can go at any time.

However desk-based jobs can also cause problems for people with diabetes. Some people whose eyes were affected said that they found reading difficult, particularly reading from a computer screen. One man said he had become more sensitive to fluorescent lights at work and he felt it created tensions amongst his colleagues that he needed to have the lights turned off.

Andy works in IT and now finds it hard to read from the computer screen which is stressful.

Some people felt that there were times when they were less productive at work, either because of a rise in blood glucose levels or general fatigue.

Andy says that people at work don't understand diabetes and how it affects him. His working day has changed a lot since he was diagnosed.

Occasionally Lawrence's blood glucose is very high which makes him feel sluggish in the mornings at work but by midday he picks up pace.

A few people were concerned that they might have difficulty getting another job if they needed to. Although many people with diabetes would not consider themselves disabled, diabetes is listed in the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) which protects people with disabilities from being treated differently to other employees. Advice about your rights in the workplace is available on the Diabetes UK website or from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (formerly the Disability Rights Commission) Helpline on 0845 604 6610.

Last reviewed November 2010.

Last updated Setember 2010.