Mathew Boyd-Skinner has had a hard time finding a compassionate workplace.
The 36-year-old has had over 40 operations throughout his life and lives with Crohn's disease.
His old job was a negative experience for him.
"Their care factor was absolutely zero. They didn’t want to try and understand what I may be going through," he said.
"Because the Crohn’s disease wasn’t visible, they didn't believe I was sick and that's something that I struggled with and why I ended up leaving."
Crohn's disease is a lifelong illness and results in symptoms including abdominal pain, diarrhoea, weight loss and rectal bleeding.
"I still really suffer from fatigue and people are like, 'oh, it's just fatigue', but you can literally go to bed, get eight hours of sleep and wake up like you've had none," he said.
"Unless you suffer from Crohn’s disease you don't know what it is.”
After Boyd-Skinner quit his old job, he was upfront about his health challenges when interviewing with prospective bosses. He has since found a supportive environment working in a coffee van.
But that’s not the case for many workers.
Over a third of workers have left a job because of their chronic health condition
Two in five Australian workers are living with a chronic health condition according to the Working Well Report 2024.
The report was backed by pharmaceutical company AbbVie and the Australian Patient Advocacy Alliance, a peak body representing patient welfare.
It found many people are too afraid to disclose their condition for fear of stigma and discrimination.
The Working Well Report 2024 has highlighted the lack of support felt by Australian workers with chronic conditions.
Workers also said their workplace lacked empathy when it came to requesting additional sick days or flexible working conditions.
Deidre MacKechnie, from the Australian Patient Advocacy Alliance, explained that simple things like desks being far from a bathroom can contribute to workplace discomfort.
"A lot of the time they actually don't even declare their chronic condition because they're actually concerned about any sort of bias or discrimination that they might experience," she said.
"That's because they're working in a workplace that they think will not make allowances for that."
What is a chronic health condition?
Pain scientist Joshua Pate explained that a chronic health condition is a kind of disorder that continues longer than you'd like.
"The word chronic just means longer than you'd expect, more than three months is the typical definition that we see in the research," he said.
Other prevalent conditions include diabetes, osteoporosis and vascular disease.
"Throughout childhood there's about five kids in every classroom who are facing chronic pain. And so chronic conditions more broadly would be even bigger than that," he said.
"The data for children who have chronic pain, it shows that they miss 22 per cent of school, so that's about nine weeks across the year."
Chronic health conditions become more prevalent as people age.
Around 46 per cent of working Baby Boomers have a chronic condition compared to just 33 per cent of employed Gen Zs.
Pate said it was common for people with a concealable condition to hide the challenges they face.
Joshua Pate Has written a series of children's books for primary schoolers that are about pain and the latest neuroscience. Source: SBS News / Angelica Waite
Active solutions
Pate says there are many strategies people with a chronic illness can use.
"They all fall under the umbrella of being active," he said.
"Active meaning you are learning breathing exercises, and walking and getting back to doing the stuff you love.
"A lot of the research we're doing is in behaviour change and looking at how can we help people to engage in these long-term strategies."
For workplaces, MacKechnie said simple adjustments could improve employee satisfaction.
Mathew Boyd-Skinner now works at 'Bean Everywhere' and says his bosses have been amazing to work for. Source: SBS News / Cameron Carr
"Employers need to be actively discussing chronic illness in the workplace, listen to employee feedback and make adjustments where needed."
Boyd-Skinner is grateful his new job is very supportive and is proud to be speaking about working with Crohn's disease.
"I just want people to have more of an understanding of what we go through."
