School and work

The individual care plan

An individual care plan is a written plan, made for one student, that tells school staff what support that student needs, when, from whom, and what to do in an emergency. Diabetes Canada says the principal should work with the student, the family and the student's health-care providers to write it and share it with staff.

Alberta's school guidelines say a plan should have two parts, a daily plan and an emergency plan. It can include:

• contact details for parents, guardians and emergency contacts
• when blood sugar checks happen, and whether the student needs help with them
• the student's prescribed insulin, and notes from their health-care team
• signs of a low or high to watch for, and what to do
• who on staff does what, including on field trips and at sports events
• where the emergency kit is kept
• when the plan will be reviewed

Review the plan every year, and whenever the student's care changes.

In Alberta

Rules for schools are set by each province and territory, so ask your school or school board what applies where you live.

Alberta Education published Guidelines for Supporting Students with Type 1 Diabetes in Schools in February 2019. They explain how students, parents and guardians, schools, school authorities and health-care providers can work together, and they are designed to work alongside existing policies from Alberta Education, Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services. The Government of Alberta says parents and guardians are mainly responsible for their child's medical needs, and encourages them to work with the school authority, for example on an individual care plan.

Your rights at work

Federal and provincial human rights laws prohibit discrimination based on disability, and under human rights law diabetes counts as a disability. If you are employed in federal work, the Canadian Human Rights Act applies and the Canadian Human Rights Commission handles complaints. Everyone else is covered by the human rights law of their province or territory.

Your employer has a duty to accommodate: they must make the changes you need to do the essential parts of your job, unless that would cause them undue hardship in terms of health, safety or cost. Diabetes Canada gives examples of common requests:

• regular breaks to check your blood sugar, eat a snack or take insulin
• a private place to check or take insulin, if you want one
• a place to rest after treating a low until your blood sugar is back to normal
• a place to keep snacks for treating lows
• time off for medical appointments

Often a problem can be fixed by explaining diabetes to your employer. If it can't, ask for help from your diabetes team, your union or a human rights officer. If a reasonable request is turned down, you can file a human rights complaint. There are deadlines, so act soon.

Telling your employer

Whether to tell your employer is usually your choice. Unless you work in a safety-sensitive job, you don't have to report a diabetes diagnosis on a job application or in an interview, unless a health question is directly tied to the job. If you are already working, you don't have to tell your employer about a new diagnosis unless you want to or you need an accommodation.

Safety-sensitive jobs are different. Firefighters, police officers, commercial pilots and cabin crew, train engineers and conductors, heavy machinery operators and commercial drivers have medical fitness checks when they are hired and regularly after. It is still discrimination to refuse you a job because you have diabetes, but you may be asked to show that your diabetes is well managed and your risk of lows is low.

Even if you keep your diagnosis private, you might choose to tell one co-worker you trust what a low looks like and where you keep your fast sugar.