DIABETES-MELLITUS AND EMPLOYMENT - IS THERE DISCRIMINATION IN THE WORKPLACE

The employment record of 102 diabetic workers (73 men, 29 women), iden tified in a cross-sectional survey of 5670 middle-aged people in a New Zealand workforce, was studied for evidence of discrimination in the workplace. Compared with 403 matched controls (292 men, 111 women), di abetic workers showed no significant differences in socioeconomic stat us, educational attainment, or distribution between occupational group s. Similarly, mean duration of current employment (12.3 vs 12.4 years) , mean number of jobs in the past 5 years (1.25 vs 1.34 jobs), frequen cy of sickness absence, and mean number of hours worked each week (43. 5 vs 43.3h) did not differ significantly between diabetic and non-diab etic groups, We found no significant differences in work stress, even among those diabetic individuals with poor blood glucose control. Ther e was no convincing evidence across a broad spectrum of industry thai diabetic workers did suffer discrimination in the workplace.