Introduction to epilepsy and working in the UK

Many people with epilepsy go out to work and find that their epilepsy does not disrupt their work in any way. Nearly all jobs are open to people with epilepsy. Whether or not you have epilepsy, employers should assess you individually for your suitability to do a particular job. This assessment would include things such as whether you have the right qualifications, skills and experience.

By law, employers can’t refuse you a job simply because you have epilepsy, unless they have very good reasons for doing so. This may be, for example, if there is a law which prevents you from doing a job, such as driving a large goods vehicle. 

Legal matters

• Equality laws in the UK
• Epilepsy and discrimination
• Equality laws in the workplace
• Reasonable adjustments under the equality laws 
• Unfair treatment in the workplace 

Equality laws in the UK

Equality laws prevent unfair treatment (discrimination) of people with epilepsy. People in England, Scotland and Wales are covered by the Equality Act. People in Northern Ireland are covered by the Disability Discrimination Act.

On these web pages, whenever we use the term ‘equality laws’, we are referring to both the Equality Act and the Disability Discrimination Act.

You are covered by the equality laws if you have epilepsy, or if you have had epilepsy in the past. They apply to you even if you take anti-epileptic drugs that control your seizures. They also apply to you if you no longer have seizures or if you don’t take anti-epileptic drugs.

The Equality Act (England, Scotland and Wales)

The Equality Act came into force on 1 October 2010. It is one single law, which protects people from discrimination on the grounds of disability, race, religion and belief, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, sex, sexual orientation and age. The Equality Act protects many people, including those with epilepsy, from being treated less favourably than other people.

• More information about The Equality Act

The Disability Discrimination Act (Northern Ireland)

The Disability Discrimination Act first came into force in 1995. It protects disabled people, including people with epilepsy, from being treated less favourably than people who aren’t disabled.

• More information about The Disability Discrimination Act

Epilepsy and discrimination

According to the equality laws, somebody might be discriminating against you if you have epilepsy and:

• they treat you less well than somebody else; and
• the treatment is because you have epilepsy, or for a reason related to your epilepsy; and
• they cannot give you a good reason or explanation for that treatment.

Somebody might also be discriminating against you if:

• they behave towards you in a way that makes you feel intimidated, degraded or humiliated, and the behaviour is related to your epilepsy; or
• you have epilepsy and they have not made any reasonable adjustments to help you with any problems that epilepsy causes you. What is reasonable varies between employers, depending on the size of the organisation and the resources that are available to them.

Equality laws in the workplace

The equality laws mean that employers must not treat you less well than someone without epilepsy, unless they have very good reasons. One reason might be to avoid risks to your safety, or the safety of people working around you. This would be as long as there were no reasonable adjustments that could be made to ensure safety.

All employers have to consider you individually for your suitability to do a job. The only exceptions to this are jobs in the armed forces, which are not covered by the equality laws.

All areas of employment are covered by the equality laws, including the following:

• job advertisements
• application forms
• interviews
• job offers
• terms of employment
• training or promotion opportunities
• dismissal or redundancy

For example, an employer shouldn’t mention in a job advertisement that you have to have a driving licence, if driving is not an essential part of the job. This would be discriminating against people who can’t drive because they have epilepsy.

The Equality Act allows employers to take positive action for disabled people, if they so wish. For example, an employer could guarantee an interview for a disabled person, as long as they have all the necessary qualifications for the job.

Once you are in a job, your employers could not use your epilepsy as an excuse not to offer you a promotion.

Reasonable adjustments under the equality laws

The equality laws mean that employers have to make reasonable adjustments to help you into, or to remain in, work if you have epilepsy. A reasonable adjustment means that you are not at a disadvantage compared to someone without epilepsy. Here are some examples of reasonable adjustments that your employer could make for you if you have epilepsy.

• If you usually have seizures first thing in the morning, a reasonable adjustment may be to allow you to start and finish work later than other employees. This would only be reasonable if, for example, the workplace was open during those hours.
• If you always have a seizure at a certain time of day, your employer could make sure that you don’t work alone at that time. This would mean that a colleague could offer you help if you needed it.
• Some people find that tiredness or not getting enough sleep triggers their seizures. Other people find that rotating shift patterns make seizures more likely. If your seizures are triggered in this way, you could ask your employer to let you work on shifts that won’t affect your sleep pattern.
• You may sometimes need to take time off work for medical appointments for your epilepsy. You may also have sick days for reasons related to your epilepsy. Your employer could record and consider these separately to time off for other reasons, such as having another illness. This would mean that your epilepsy would not have a negative effect on your sickness record.

Unfair treatment in the workplace

The equality laws make it illegal for employers to treat people unfairly just because they have epilepsy. If you feel you are being discriminated against because of your epilepsy, talk it over with your manager or someone with a responsibility for human resources. If you belong to a union, you may want to contact them for help. There are also some organisations that may be able to offer you advice and support. These include:

• The Equality and Human Rights Commission (England, Scotland and Wales)
• The Equality Commission (Northern Ireland)
• Law Centres (England, Scotland and Wales)
• ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service)
• Disability Law Services