In a survey of Britons living with diabetes, 19% claimed they had faced disciplinary action at some point for missing work as a result of the condition. An additional 25% claimed they had been grilled about sick days they had taken, while another 12% said they had been refused time off, although employment laws banning the discrimination of people with the condition.
Dexcom, which commissioned the report, is now calling for more to be done to educate companies about its responsibilities to employees living with diabetes. John Lister, General Manager of Dexcom EMEA says, “Our research shows that people with diabetes still feel discriminated against in their place of work, to the point that they feel unable to miss work for fear of missing out on promotions or even losing their jobs. Having to cope with the day to day struggle of diabetes is difficult enough, without the pressure that sufferers appear to be under as they try to continue to work and progress in their careers. We hope this research will prompt colleagues and bosses to re-examine how they view and treat people in their team who they know are living with diabetes.”
The survey questioned over 800 Britons living with diabetes, 60.7% claimed hospital appointments caused them to miss work, while 47% blamed exhaustion and 28% said they had taken time off after having a bad hypo.
The Disability Discrimination Act states that employers should make reasonable adjustments to stop diabetics being disadvantaged at work in comparison with non-diabetic workers. These could include adjusting working times, changing a person’s duties, allowing time off or even transferring the employee to a more appropriate position.
Dexcom’s CGM alerts users when blood sugar levels are too high or low, and have been proven to cut the rate of hypoglycaemic events by 72% among people with Type 1 diabetes.
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