Telling employers about your epilepsy

This information applies to people in the UK only. If you live outside the UK, then more information about epilepsy and employment where you are will be available from your local epilepsy organisation.

You don’t have to tell your employer or a potential employer about your epilepsy, if you don’t feel it is relevant. For example, if your epilepsy is well controlled, and will not affect your ability to do your job safely and effectively, you may feel it isn't necessary to declare that you have epilepsy.

For some jobs, you will be asked to complete a medical questionnaire with the application form. Again, it is up to you to decide if your epilepsy is relevant to the job you are applying for. If not, you may choose to leave the questionnaire blank or put ‘to discuss at interview’.

If you do not declare your epilepsy and your epilepsy does affect your ability to do your job safely and effectively, this could mean that you have not fulfilled your responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act. In this case, your employer may be able to dismiss you for gross misconduct.

An employer could only dismiss you for gross misconduct if they could prove at an employment tribunal that the medical questionnaire gave you the opportunity to be specific about your epilepsy and how it may affect the job you were to do, but you didn’t declare it. They must also be able to prove that your epilepsy could have an impact on the job you wanted to do, at the time you applied for it.

If you don’t declare your epilepsy and later your seizures become more frequent or severe, and you feel it may start to have an effect on your work, you can change your mind and tell your employer at any time.

As soon as your employer knows about your epilepsy, your employer must acknowledge that you are covered by the Disability Discrimination Act.

When you are deciding whether or not to tell your employer about your epilepsy, you may find it helpful to consider the following very good reasons why it can be helpful to tell them.

• If your employer doesn’t know about your epilepsy, they would not be able to make any reasonable adjustments under the Disability Discrimination Act to help you in your work. Furthermore, they could not be blamed for not doing so.
• It is very important to make sure that you are fulfilling your responsibilities under the Health & Safety at Work Act.
  When should you tell your employer about your epilepsy?
  If you have decided that you will tell your employer about your epilepsy, it is up to you when you want to do this. You could wait until the interview or until the position has been offered to you. Some people choose to write ‘to discuss at interview’ on the medical section of an application form.

During an interview, employers can only ask questions about your epilepsy relating to how it affects your ability to do the specific job you applying for.

If your epilepsy may affect you during work, it would be advisable to talk to your employer about it at some stage before starting work. This would give them the chance to make any reasonable adjustments for you, before you begin the job.

Last updated 2 May 2007