The information in this section is about epilepsy and working in the UK. If you live outside the UK, you can find out about working and epilepsy in your country by contacting your local epilepsy group.
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.
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.
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
We can provide references and information on the source material we use to write our epilepsy advice and information pages. Please contact our Epilepsy Helpline by email at helpline@epilepsy.org.uk.
This information has been produced under the terms of The Information Standard.
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Updated April 2011To be reviewed April 2013
Comments: read the 13 comments or add yours
Comments
I am a 55 yr old man diagnosed with Tonic Clonic epilepsy 5 years ago.I am a highly qualified Social Worker with a local authority experienced for 25+yrs. I have just been dismissed because I am not allowed to see clients alone.
My fiancee has epilepsy and takes medication to help control his seizures. He hadn't had any fits in over a year until 3 weeks ago & has had 4 since. His boss has now said he's going to have to let him go because 'he can't have him passing out all the time.'
We are unsure if this is covered by the equality act and could have a case of unfair dismissal? Any advice would be gratefully received!
Hi Katie,
I’m sorry to hear you’re fiancée’s seizures have returned and the problems he’s facing at work. As a person with epilepsy he is covered by the Equality Act. So his employer should do a risk assessment and make any reasonable adjustments. Only after trying to be more flexibly to accommodate your fiancées seizure could his employer take action and not be seen as discriminating. If you think he is being discriminated against, here is a list of organisations which may be able to help him.
Your fiancée also needs to help with the situation by seeing an epilepsy specialist. They will discuss the possible reasons for his seizures to have returned. They will also look to see if his medication dosage or the type of medication he is taking, needs altering. If your fiancée is not under an epilepsy specialist, he will need to ask his GP to refer him.
I hope this helps. Please ring our helpline i f you wish to discuss this further.
Diane
Advice and Information Team
I have recently started having more frequent seizures and need to rest afterwards for at least 24hours so this is impacting on work. i declared ny illness when i started and have been updating them on doctors appointments showing i am trying to get it under control again but have now been given a warning for absence after 3 occasions should this be only classed as 1due to it being all epilepsy related? thanks for your advice.
Hi
What a terrible situation to be in. If possible, you need to find out if others at your work place would be issued with a warning after three occasions of sick leave. Also you could see what it says in your terms and condition of employment about sick leave and warnings. If you are being treated differently to your work colleagues, this would be discrimination.
We don’t know if three sicks leaves due to your epilepsy should be logged as one, but we do know that due to your epilepsy, you are covered by the Equality Act. This act suggests companies record sick leave due to your epilepsy separately and, look at it separately from your general sick leave. If they don’t, it could be seen as indirect discrimination and/or discrimination arising from a disability. There is a fact sheet on Flexible working and time off for employers produced by the Equality and Human Rights commission.
Unfortunately, when a member of staff has substantial sick leave, their employer can assess them. If these absences are due to a disability, the employer has to make any ‘reasonable adjustments’ to help improve the situation. If after trying to be more flexibly to accommodate disability related absence and there is still a problem with absence, the employer would not be discriminating if they act upon this.
If you think you are being discriminated against you may wish to contact the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
I hope all works out ok. If we can be of any more help, please feel free to contact us again. You may wish to do this by either email, helpline@epilepsy.org.uk or the Epilepsy Helpline freephone 0808 800 5050.
Diane
Advice and Information Team
Hi,
I work for a charity for young homeless, I am the manager there and my hours of work are ok but I have to do a call out 1 in every 3 weeks ! We can get called up/out at all hours. My specialist doesn't want me to be doing this so he wrote a letter for me to give to my manager and they say they can't let me do this as its part of my job and if I can't do my job they can offer another role as working nights/ sleeps in another hostel we run which is less pay and hours that I really can't do. I haven't had a fit nearly 27 years but have been having what they call aura's for the past 5/6 years. I don't think my employer is beeing reasonable!! What do you think? Can they do this.
Hi Lisa
Due to your epilepsy you are covered by the Equality Laws. This means your employer must not discriminate against you or treat you any less favourably than other employees.
If there are no reasonable adjustments to keep you in your present position, it would be reasonable for your employer to offer you a more suitable job role. When your employer looked at your present position, their decision on not being able to make reasonable adjustments had to be justified. For example, it would be reasonable for them to allow you not to do the call-outs, but only if there is other people who could do that instead of you. If there aren’t other people available, then it might not be reasonable for them to make this adjustment. If you can’t stay in your present post, your employer offering you a different role, even if it was at a lower grade, would be a reasonable adjustment.
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:
I hope things work out well at work. If we can be of any more help, please feel free to contact our Advice and Information Team, either by email helpline@epilepsy.org.uk or the Epilepsy Helpline freephone 0808 800 5050.
Yours sincerely
Diane
I have a bit of a dilemma that I am afraid to say I brought on myself. After months of job searching and interviews and getting no where a couple of weeks ago I went on an interview and got offered the job, unfortunately they offered me the job and I hadnt mentioned my epilepsy yet and when I finally got this job offer it put me off of mentioning it. After a while it became clear that I would be expected to work on my own sometimes and with my condition how it is, occasionally unpredictable, obviously this isnt a good idea but the longer something is left the harder you find it to stand up and say something dont you? Well, I was supposed to be working a day shift and on my way in this morning I felt as though I may have a siezure, I made it to work and the person already there had to call in the on call member of staff, who I obviously came to clean to when she arrived but Im meant to be in tomorrow and not only am I dreading going in because of what I have done because I know I am in the wrong, but I know I am possibly going to hear the words 'this job may not be for you' and I cant say I blame them after today. Am I right in thinking this? My siezures are controlled ny medication but I can still on average have a siezure every couple of months. I feel so awful I just need some advice :(
Hi Christine
That does sound like a difficult situation to have got into. If your epilepsy could affect your ability to do your work safely, then you are obliged to tell your employer. If they can prove that you had the opportunity to do this, then they would have the right to dismiss you, I’m afraid.
Generally if someone does tell their employer they have epilepsy, they are covered by the Equality Act. So this does give them certain rights.
As you say, all you can do is hold your hands up. I do hope that it resolves well for you.
Cherry
Advice and Information Team
More information on telling your employer
More information on the Equality Act:
Hey, my boyfriend was only recently diagnosed with myoclonic as well as tonic clonic epilepsy, he was at the time working at sea, which he loved, however for obvious safety reasons he was dismissed from that job but now he is finding getting any work a struggle. He has at least two to three seizures a month and is only just on medication. The whole situation is making him very low so I'm desprately trying to find something that is both suitable for him (a bit of an adventure seeker) and his epilepsy! Can anyone suggest any work related role?
Thanks x
Hi Jodie
Finding work these days isn’t easy for anyone. For people with medical conditions and disabilities it could seem even harder. That is especially if you don’t know where to get some help in finding work. So, I hope the information below will help your boyfriend.
If your boyfriend has only been on epilepsy medicines for a month, it’s likely that his seizure frequency will improve with time. There is a good chance of him being seizure free once he’s on the right dose. This will open up further opportunities in employment. Even people with epilepsy whose seizures are completly controlled are covered by the Equality Act in Great Britain, or the Disability Discrimination Act in Northern Ireland. This means an employer cannot discriminate against them because of their epilepsy without very good reason.
Some employers are committed to employing disabled people Although your boyfriend probably doesn’t see himself as disabled, epilepsy would be considered to be a disability in this instance. You will know these employers as they will show the Positive about disabled people with the two ticks symbol, on their advertisements. This symbol will guarantee your boyfriend an interview if he meets the basic conditions for the job.
Your boyfriend can also get help from a Disability Employment Adviser (DEA). DEAs are based at Jobcentres. They can help him find a job or gain new skills. The DEA can also:
If you would like to discuss any of these issues further, please feel free to contact the Epilepsy Helpline freephone 0808 800 5050 or email helpline@epilepsy.org.uk
Rosanna
Advice and Information Team
Hi there. I am a 34 year woman who who who wast diagnosed with apilepsy aged and found ged fourteen it was linked to periods, from which I was switched from Tegretol to Epilim. Also have CP/ Ataxia and Hypermobile and Nystagmus to name but of few things. I was knew that Sodium Valoparate can affect liver function but I realose it could affect bone health. So from from what I've read on this website and on websites relating to my other conditions, whichever way way we look at it I'm more at risk of getting some of form of bone/joint disesase by some method or another. Oh well, such is life, soldier on regradless as if that's possible. I used to find it tough having to avoid alchol when I was younger but since I became a Christian 3 years ago, I find it much easier to resist becasue I have the twin reasons of health and faith plus Jesus with me in whatever I face. I also found not being able to the night club awkward ind aworld if you haven't been drunk or taken some kind of street drugs, or until recently smoked or undertaken some other risk taking behaviour then you hav't lived or "exspanded your mind" in other damaged you brain other bodily organ(s). Well, driving never really was never really feasible of the nature of my visual impairment and my co-ordination difficulties. think I'll stop there. still information useful Thanks.