Diabetes complicates accommodation efforts; Nature of disease muddles application of ADA, FMLA.(News)(Family Medical Leave Act)(Americans with Disabilities Act)

Byline: JUDY GREENWALD

Employers with workers who suffer from diabetes not only have potentially daunting health care costs to consider but a host of legal requirements with which they must comply, including those raised by the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family Medical Leave Act, observers say.

An estimated 20.8 million U.S. residents are diabetic, with 54 million considered prediabetic, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With about 1.5 million new cases diagnosed a year, diabetes is an issue likely to confront employers more frequently in the coming years.

Management at any given company likely is unaware in the vast majority of cases if an employee is diabetic …