This is the first of a series of articles about diabetes and employment. The series will cover defining how diabetes is a disability under the laws of The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); how employers may obtain and use medical information, what questions an employer or potential employer may ask about a medical condition; to whom and under what conditions an employer may or may not disclose that an employee has diabetes; what types of reasonable accommodations employees with diabetes need; how to request reasonable accommodations; and dealing with safety concerns on the job.

Discrimination against individuals with disabilities is prohibited under The Americans with Disabilities Act. This law applies to private employers with 15 or more employees, and state and local governments. Federal employees are covered under The Rehabilitation Act. Many states have their own laws prohibiting employment discrimination because a person has a disability.

Here are the conditions under which the ADA defines diabetes as a disability:

• When diabetes substantially limits one or more of a person's major life activities, such as eating or caring for oneself.
• When the side effects or complications from diabetes substantially limit a major life activity;
• When diabetes was substantially limiting in the past (i.e., before it was diagnosed and adequately treated);
• When diabetes does not significantly affect a person's everyday activities, but an employer treats the individual as if it does.

Some employers may be under the false assumption that having diabetes makes a person unable to work. The ADA decides whether a diabetic meets the condition of having a disability on an individual basis.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces the employment provisions of the ADA. Listed below are the ways to contact the EEOC.

EEOC's National Contact Center (NCC) customer service representatives are available to assist you in more than 100 languages between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. An automated system with answers to frequently asked questions is available on a 24-hour basis. You can reach the NCC:

By mail: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
P.O. Box 7033
Lawrence, Kansas 66044

By phone: 1-800-669-4000

If you have a TTY device for hearing impaired: TTY number is 1-800-669-6820

By Fax: 703-997-4890

By Email: Please include your zip code and/or city and state so that your email will be sent to the appropriate office.
info@ask.eeoc.gov

By Ellie Kuykendall