Office notebook. Cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, asthma, HIV, depression… Chronic diseases, constantly increasing, will affect 25% of the working population in 2025, compared to 15% in 2019, according to the National Agency for the Improvement of Conditions of work (Anact).
These are situations that managers cannot consider as a parenthesis in the lives of employees, as one would for the flu or a broken leg. Companies will have to “make do” and “make do” for a long time, because the primary characteristic of all these conditions is to be sustainable. The acceptability of particular situations by the work collective is therefore essential.
However, on the 16the International Labor Organization (ILO)-Defender of Rights barometer on the perception of discrimination in employment, carried out in the spring among 3,000 people and published Thursday December 14, alerts on the extent of hostile attitudes towards patients chronicles: “43% of assets reached (…) declare having experienced at least one situation of discrimination or discriminatory harassment, all criteria combined, in the context of their job search or career”, indicates the barometer.
Visible or invisible, lasting affection is disturbing. “Having a chronic illness that is visible or has repercussions on daily activities increases your exposure to discrimination”points to the document. “I was prohibited from training, under the pretext of protecting myself, even though I am a trainer, and I was prohibited from managing (the trainee, the work-study student) on the grounds that I am a sick person recognized by the occupational doctor , while I have always managed”, testifies a patient cited in the barometer.
Stigmatizing remarks
But the appearance of this type of condition can also cause “the incomprehension of those around you, personal or professional, due to the invisibility or non-permanence of most symptoms”. The stakes are high: 80% of chronic illnesses are invisible.
Some contexts are more conducive to discrimination than others. Returning from sick leave or requesting job adjustments are therefore opportunities to experience stigmatizing comments or hostile behavior. The barometer cites several edifying testimonies, including this one: “At the end of my sick leave, I was asked by email to continue with my leave without starting again (which is illegal and a cause for dismissal)”. Moral harassment is not far away. Chronically ill employees are overexposed to it: 55% say they have been victims, compared to 35% for the rest of the active population.
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