Management at Work Advice

[Andrew Kennedy]

Hi All

I was only diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes 5 years ago at the age of 27. Following regular sessions with my Counsellor, it appears I have never really come to terms with the priory needs of my diabetes management, particularly until recent sessions!

I work in a particularly high pressured environment as a Building Surveyor and it has become apparent that much of my mental health struggle, particularly where work is concerned, is that my work life balance is totally out of sync. I am struggling to get regular consistent exercise sessions in, which I see key in managing the condition for me.

I only started my new job January 2021 and has become particularly apparent that I need to 'nip it in the bud' before I travel too far down the current path. However, I need a plan as to how to tackle it with my employer.

Does it seem reasonable to the community to make the following request;
My workload and site inspections need to be considered and designed to allow for the following life style requirements;
- Regular mealtimes, breakfast, lunch, evening meal
- Allow for 4 x weekly exercise sessions in evenings, no later than 6pm
- Less an intense workload to ensure I can take regular 5 minute breaks during the working day.

It would be great to hear the diabetes community opinion on these matters.

Thanks in advance
Andy

 

[Grldtnr]

I am not type 1 , but with regards Disability at work regulations, employers have to make reasonable allowance for employees who declare a disability, not that Diabetes is as such , rather a long-term medical condition
To me ,your requirements are entirely reasonable, you are not requesting anything that needs expense on the employers part, just conditions for your well-being ,which any employer has to consider.

 

[Amity Island]

Hi All

I was only diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes 5 years ago at the age of 27. Following regular sessions with my Counsellor, it appears I have never really come to terms with the priory needs of my diabetes management, particularly until recent sessions!

I work in a particularly high pressured environment as a Building Surveyor and it has become apparent that much of my mental health struggle, particularly where work is concerned, is that my work life balance is totally out of sync. I am struggling to get regular consistent exercise sessions in, which I see key in managing the condition for me.

I only started my new job January 2021 and has become particularly apparent that I need to 'nip it in the bud' before I travel too far down the current path. However, I need a plan as to how to tackle it with my employer.

Does it seem reasonable to the community to make the following request;
My workload and site inspections need to be considered and designed to allow for the following life style requirements;
- Regular mealtimes, breakfast, lunch, evening meal
- Allow for 4 x weekly exercise sessions in evenings, no later than 6pm
- Less an intense workload to ensure I can take regular 5 minute breaks during the working day.

It would be great to hear the diabetes community opinion on these matters.

Thanks in advance
Andy

Hi Andy,

Do you have a frestyle libre? You mention site visits, which I'd assume also require driving. For someone like yourself who has a varied and busy lifetstyle, the libre would make such a big difference and would simply allow you to live freely without too much worry. The regular lunch times are not so easy to adhere to, meetings can over run, meeting times can change etc again a libre would give you lots of reasurance that when you are sat in a meeting you can very easily check your glucose levels discretely. In terms of starting time, I think you will have more control over these but the finish times again are not so controllable. People with kids seem to be able to leave work on time when they need to, so there's no reason an employer couldn't "allow" you to leave on time. One needs to remember the contract you signed when you started with the company you work for, I am sure they specified your working hours e.g 9-5 and they should have absolutely no problem in honouring those hours.

In terms of your exercise, I find early morning sessions are much, much more easier to manage, in that I don't need to take on board any extra carbs nor bolus insulin in the morning to exercise and blood sugars remain unaffected throughout. Afternoon exercise would be a different matter though, requiring carbs, less insulin, timings etc.

 

[Peely66]

Hi Andrew,

My understanding from research into my own industry is that an employee can make a request for reasonable adjustment to their work pattern or conditions etc. under the Disability Discrimination Act 2010 (unless that has been superceded by another law since ) Diabetes is defined as a disability under the terms of this Act.

I would approach it via informal channels in the first instance (don't know how big a firm you work for and if they have HR dept or if you just need a chat with your line manager) I guess it's all a case of what is classed as "reasonable"?
Acas website has a wealth of information about this area and I'm sure the Diabetes UK helpline might be of some use.
I'm also sure there is a wealth of knowledge on here not yet tapped.

Personally I think your requests for regular meals and time to test are "reasonable" but I can't imagine myself approaching my employer to say I need to knock off now as I've got to go to the gym by 5. Do you work flexi time and are able to say knock of early if you've worked late one day?

Good luck with it all and let us know how you get on as this is a very interesting topic.

 

[Andrew Kennedy]

Thanks all for your responses, really appreciate it.

In all fairness, there is an overworking issue at play here too, but the main thing the additional working hours are doing is affecting my diabetes management.

The exercise is a good example of what it is affecting. Such is the intensity of my workload since I joined the company in January 2021 - it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain regular exercise in my personal life. This why I suggested a closure of work activities by 6 (at very latest) to allow myself to maintain this.

Its difficult - at times it become increasingly alarming that the way the property consultancy/construction industry is set up, it is unable to accommodate a range of health issues, including diabetes!

 

[Peely66]

Its difficult - at times it become increasingly alarming that the way the property consultancy/construction industry is set up, it is unable to accommodate a range of health issues, including diabetes!

I'd say that about a lot of industries at the moment! I work in the social care sector and often feel like my welfare is the last thing on my company's mind. They'd rather have a bunch of robo-carers...it's coming!!

 

[Spozkins]

100%. Duty of care means there should be a risk assessment regarding your diabetes and you should make known any conditions which make your condition more managenable. This is your employee right by law.

 

[Amity Island]

Thanks all for your responses, really appreciate it.

In all fairness, there is an overworking issue at play here too, but the main thing the additional working hours are doing is affecting my diabetes management.

The exercise is a good example of what it is affecting. Such is the intensity of my workload since I joined the company in January 2021 - it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain regular exercise in my personal life. This why I suggested a closure of work activities by 6 (at very latest) to allow myself to maintain this.

Its difficult - at times it become increasingly alarming that the way the property consultancy/construction industry is set up, it is unable to accommodate a range of health issues, including diabetes!

Hi Andrew,

Unfortunately, it's not just in the construction industry, it's pretty much throughout all professions and areas of life. It's the way most people experience their working life. There rarely seems to be the perfect balance of challenge vs stress. There is either too much work (too busy) or people are laid off (during quieter times).

Things are changing slowly and some companies now pride themselves on having and encouraging a life / work balance, it's just a matter of finding them. On the other hand we still have the workhouse mentality (old school) companies who aim to make as much profit as possible at any cost to peoples mental health and work life balance.

If I was in your position I'd try and stick it out, get as much experience as I can, get my c.v looking good over the next few years and then move on to a company with a more balanced work ethic.

 

[Leadinglights]

Even in what you would consider to be an enlightened work environment like in education people find it hard to achieve a work life balance, with more work being put on less people. Too many managers and not enough doers. There is always the emotional blackmail and people don't like to see the students suffer so just comply and take on more and more. The people I worked with would work into the early hours to meet the unrealistic deadlines imposed.

 

[SB2015]

Hi Andrew

can you tell us how you manage your Diabetes? There are different options which can make life a lot more flexible, which may well work better for you in your job. Are you on Multiple Daily Injections (MDI) or a pump? (Apologies if you have already told us elsewhere and I have missed it).

I found MDI very inflexible and the switch to a pump made my life a lot easier. It took some hard work to get it to match my daily needs but enabled me to turn my pump up or down as necessary for changes in my work patterns and levels of intensity of exercise.

With regard to exercise I did find that exercising before work made life a lot easier. The end of my work day was never easy to plan for and I found it impossible to book regular fixed sessions in the evenings. By getting my exercise (Very) early in the morning, it was hard getting up for it, but great knowing that I had time set aside for it.

I initially tried to manage meal times myself , but quickly realised that I needed to test and inject at an appropriate time interval before lunch. I did have the advantage that whilst teaching I knew when this would be. Once I was doing consultancy work it was a lot more difficult as I was driving around to meetings. Once I spoke to my line manager we came up with an effective plan.

I would recommend informal discussions initially.

 

[pinnig]

Hi Andy

The Equality Act of 2010 defines a number of protected characteristics. Disability is one of them and protects you from discrimination.

The Act describes a disability as a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial long-term effect on someone’s ability to do normal day to day activities.

If your diabetes has a significant impact on your day to day activity, including work you can ask for reasonable adjustments to be considered. What you describe seems reasonable and you should enter into discussions with your employer, one to advise them that you consider yourself to be disabled under the act and two, to discuss adjustments to mitigate against the substantial long term effects of the condition.

I would advise taking advice from your trade union and seeking an occupational health referral to assist with the discussion.

Your employer may not give you everything you ask for but if your requests are reasonable and their refusal was to disadvantage you when compared to a non disabled person it could constitute discrimination.

A reasonable employer should be able to reach agreement with you on some adjustments. Good luck with the discussion.

 

[Amity Island]

Hi Andrew

can you tell us how you manage your Diabetes? There are different options which can make life a lot more flexible, which may well work better for you in your job. Are you on Multiple Daily Injections (MDI) or a pump? (Apologies if you have already told us elsewhere and I have missed it).

I found MDI very inflexible and the switch to a pump made my life a lot easier. It took some hard work to get it to match my daily needs but enabled me to turn my pump up or down as necessary for changes in my work patterns and levels of intensity of exercise.

With regard to exercise I did find that exercising before work made life a lot easier. The end of my work day was never easy to plan for and I found it impossible to book regular fixed sessions in the evenings. By getting my exercise (Very) early in the morning, it was hard getting up for it, but great knowing that I had time set aside for it.

I initially tried to manage meal times myself , but quickly realised that I needed to test and inject at an appropriate time interval before lunch. I did have the advantage that whilst teaching I knew when this would be. Once I was doing consultancy work it was a lot more difficult as I was driving around to meetings. Once I spoke to my line manager we came up with an effective plan.

I would recommend informal discussions initially.

Definitely worthwhile an informal chat, I find once you start quoting laws, it usually leads to resentment, confrontation and an ensuing battle. If one has to resort to the law to convince an employer of their duties, there is something sadly wrong.

 

[Ivostas66]

It has taken me a couple of years and seeking out lots of advice from different sources, alongside constantly explaining the condition to management and HR to be at a stage where the working day has less of a negative impact upon my health than it used to. One example is mealtimes - I teach, and the school recently reduced the lunch break to just 20 minutes. This was causing horrendous post prandial spikes as you can imagine, but after a great deal of gentle persuasion on my part, HR reluctantly enabled me to have 15 minutes extra time (someone covers my lesson) so that I can scan, inject and eat. The change has been quite drastic and my levels are much more in control. I have found that there is a huge amount of ignorance about the illness. Having to explain to HR that being signed off from work last autumn for two weeks when I had very poor control of levels due to illness was like banging my head against a brick wall. Trying to explain the 42 things that can potentially cause changes to BG was met with scepticism (they thought it was simply because I must have been eating the wrong foods - "do you not check food packaging to see if it contains sugar?"!!) but eventually some staff whom I know well now realise that my management of the illness is really good and there is b***** all I could have done on the rare occasions when my BG is suddenly and unexpectedly crashing.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hope your conversations with your employer go well @Andrew Kennedy

Let us know how things go.

 

[Andrew Kennedy]

Hi All
This is great advise and really appreciate the conversations above.
Have a review/ catch up coming up soon, the dialogue above is going to be really useful in articulating my challenges to my employer in a very amicable way.
Thanks

 

[Piglet]

Hi Andrew,

I fully understand your struggles as in a previous life I could quite easily work 15 a day for 3-4 days at a time grabbing meals whenever I could. Exercise was not an issue as the job was quite physical anyway. I used to try to ensure I had some sweets in my pocket for emergencies and made sure those I worked with knew of my condition and to be fair most were understanding.

Others are indeed correct as Diabetes is covered under the Equality Act 2010 as a protected characteristic and risk assessments should be done under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1998 (AKA the 6 pack) some parts of these regs have been amended more recently.

Many people struggle with accepting their diabetes I know I did for nearly 30 years and the struggle of wanting to be `normal' is a common one. Whilst your employer has a `duty of care' towards you, consider your responsibility to your employer. Work life balance is vitally important for good mental health too

I always worked on the principle I ruled it and made it fit around my work/lifestyle and not the other way round. to be ruled by diabetes is a horrible contemplation, I would rather control it on my terms.

Hope this helps.
Piglet