International Day of People with Disability

Celebrated annually since 1992 upon the initiative of the United Nations, the International Day of People with Disability seeks to better understand and appreciate disability and to support those affected by it.

As we did last year, we decided to honor the testimony of a disabled employee and to highlight her feedback on the support she received to cope with her illness at work.

We interviewed Lucie Guiliani, Client Assistance Officer at Berger-Levrault in France, who suffers from a chronic illness, Meniere’s disease.

Berger-Levrault: Tell us about your professional career at Berger-Levrault…

Lucie Guiliani: I started working for Berger-Levrault about 10 years ago when I joined the Support department for the e.magnus product range. Since then, I have been assigned to various HR and Accounting product lines, always on the Support team, but I must admit that I am more attracted to our HR products! I am delighted to have been able to work on the e.sedit HR solution for the past 5 years and I feel completely fulfilled within the Support team.

Berger-Levrault: How does your disability affect your professional and/or personal life?

Lucie Guiliani: I suffer from an invisible disease, Meniere’s disease, which was diagnosed 20 years ago. This disease results in crisis episodes, more or less frequent and long, more or less invalidating, where I have dizziness as if I were on a boat! Sometimes I can’t stand upright because the whole room seems to turn as if in a carousel… I dread these attacks because I can’t predict their coming, nor their intensity, nor their duration. So far, there is no cure and the progress of the disease varies from one person to another.

As a result of the dizziness, I can sometimes find it difficult to concentrate and this also causes great fatigue. Between episodes, the disease fades away and allows me to rest as if nothing had happened.

On a personal level, daily life quickly becomes complicated when I have a crisis and I cannot take the car, do simple tasks, go to noisy public places… And my children, who see no “physical” harm, don’t necessarily understand the situation.

On the professional level, working from home allows me to stay at calm when my vertigo returns. I adapt my work rhythm according to the crisis’ intensity and I prefer writing to speaking. I sometimes regretfully give up taking part in team gatherings when I have to go to a restaurant, for example, because there is too much noise.

Berger-Levrault: What pushed you to declare yourself officially* disabled?

Lucie Guiliani: The biggest crisis I have ever faced! It took me more than a year to start the procedures (which are very long): fear of the negative image of a label, of being compelled to reduce my working hours, of being discredited by my colleagues… Between each crisis, I believed that the disease would disappear forever. And then slowly I started to accept it, thanks in particular to the medical team that treats me and to Marie-France Maurin’s testimony of last year, which led me to think that it was possible to live better with my illness at work. And I finally realized that I could continue my professional career by adapting the conditions I work in.

* In France, official recognition of the status of disabled worker allows people with disabilities to benefit from specific aids. In Quebec, the “Ordre des personnes handicapées du Québec” offers several programs and services – for more details, click here.

Berger-Levrault: How Berger-Levrault has provided you with concrete solutions to reconcile your work life and your disability?

Lucie Guiliani: I am grateful to the HR team who supported me with kindness and guided me to an independent organization to adapt my workstation. Berger-Levrault validated the recommended arrangements, which help to reduce the occurrence of vertigo by being correctly installed on site and at home, by moving my head less from left to right, for example. I also appreciate the goodwill and understanding of my hierarchy, allowing me to accommodate my work with my health problems on a daily basis. For example, in case of a major crisis, I am authorized to increase the frequency of my working days at home (to reduce the ambient noise and the risk of taking the car) and to modulate my work rhythm during the day.

Berger-Levrault: And how did this transition work out with your colleagues?

Lucie Guiliani: Most of my colleagues were already aware of my health problems and immediately understood the benefits of these job accommodations.

Berger-Levrault: Today, what would you do differently? Any advice to share?

Lucie Guiliani: Today, I regret not to have started the procedures earlier, I lost time in life comfort and at work. I didn’t think that Meniere’s disease was eligible for official recognition, I didn’t dare to ask.

I would advise people with illnesses that impact their work, with disabilities that are often invisible, not to be afraid to ask for information to improve their conditions and hope to be able to live better every day.

Thank you to Lucie for her testimony and a big support to her in her fight against the disease.