Type 1 Diabetes in the Workplace
Disclosing information to a new or potential employer
Let's say you have type 1 diabetes and you're applying for a job--do you tell your potential employer about the disease? What about after receiving an offer--should you let them know then?
"The answer is simple," says Elizabeth A. Bower, RN, BC, and Certified Diabetes Educator for Sturgis Hospital in Sturgis, Michigan. "Do not tell employers at the time of the application." Bower urges workers with type 1 to be cautious about disclosure.
"Worries about health insurance rates might influence the employer not to hire," she warns. "They'd use some other excuse, but health insurance is the cause. And health insurance is what the diabetic desperately needs."
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), prohibits potential employers from asking job applicants whether they have type 1. Questions about insulin use or use of other prescription drugs are also prohibited during the job application process.
The decision about whether or not to disclose your diabetes is personal, however, and depends on your unique circumstances and what you are comfortable with. Both disclosure and nondisclosure have their merits and drawbacks.
Phil Southerland, an employee at Mass Mutual Financial Group and the president and founder of Team Type 1 (an eight-person, all-type 1 bike racing team), has a different strategy: He advocates talking about diabetes long before employers ask. "Let the employer know that because of this disease we are used to multi-tasking every day," says Southerland, who was diagnosed 27 years ago, when he was 7 months old. "It helps to differentiate us from the rest, which in a job interview is often the key to getting the 'yes.'"
If a job applicant takes Southerland's suggestion and volunteers information to an employer about type 1 diabetes, the Americans with Disabilities Act still limits the employer to only two questions about the disease:
- whether a reasonable accommodation is necessary, and
- what type of accommodation.
Rules change once a job offer is made. At that point employers are allowed to ask specifically whether the applicant has type 1 diabetes. If the answer is yes, additional questions about the new employee's condition are also permitted--how long the new employee has had type 1, whether the new employee takes any medication, and whether the condition is under control.
The employer can also require a medical exam once an offer is made, with one caveat: The exam can only be required if the employer treats all applicants the same. That is, only if all applicants given a job offer are asked for a medical exam.
Once an employer gives a job offer to an applicant who has type 1, the only way the offer can be withdrawn is if it becomes clear that:
- the applicant cannot do the essential functions of the job, or
- the applicant would pose a direct threat (e.g., a significant risk of substantial harm) to the health or safety of himself or others.
Even with the law on their side, Diabetes Educator Bower recommends people with type 1 keep quiet at first. "If no one asks, I advise them to wait a period of time before saying anything, "Bower says. "You know, wait to prove you are a good worker and then tell."
Workers with type 1 who do decide to disclose their condition should probably be prepared to answer plenty of questions from co-workers. "Be ready to provide your employer with educational resources," Bower recommends.
For more information, link to The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Web site on Questions and Answers About Diabetes in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act: http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/diabetes.html.
