Looking for work

• Disability Employment Advisers
• Special schemes to help you get a job
• Applying for jobs (England, Scotland and Wales)
• Job interviews 
• Telling potential employers about your epilepsy
• Employer’s insurance 

Disability Employment Advisers

Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) are based at your local [Jobcentre Plus]. DEAs provide a range of support, advice and information to disabled people. They can offer help if you are looking for a job, looking for training or need help to keep a job. They can also do employment assessments, to help find out how your epilepsy may have an effect on the type of work or training you want to do.
www.direct.gov.uk

Special schemes to help you get a job

There are various schemes available to help you get a job. Your Disability Employment Adviser can provide you with more information.

• Work Choice. Work Choice helps disabled people whose needs can’t be met through other work programmes or workplace adjustments. This might be because you need more specialised support to find employment or keep a job once you have started work. If Work Choice is for you, it will be tailored to meet your individual needs. It will focus on helping you achieve your full potential and move towards being more independent.
• New Deal for Disabled People. This is a programme of advice and practical support, which helps people move from disability and health-related benefits into paid employment. This scheme is not available everywhere, so please follow the link above for more information.  

Applying for jobs (England, Scotland and Wales)

The Equality Act means that employers can’t ask questions about your health or disabilities before they offer you a job, without good reasons. A good reason would be if a person needed to have reasonable adjustments made for a job interview or assessment. Or, the employer may need to know if there are any health and safety reasons why a person could not do a specific job. Employers should only use medical questionnaires, before offering you a job, when they are strictly necessary.

Job interviews

The equality laws mean that during an interview, employers can only ask questions about your epilepsy that relate directly to the job you are applying for. For example, they could ask how your epilepsy could affect your ability to do that job safely. They can also ask about reasonable adjustments they may need to make, to help you do the job.

Telling potential employers about your epilepsy

You don’t have to tell your employer or a potential employer about your epilepsy, if you don’t feel it’s relevant. This could be the case if your epilepsy is well controlled and won’t affect your ability to do your job safely and effectively.

If you don’t declare your epilepsy and it does affect your ability to do your job safely, your employer may be able to dismiss you. Your employer would have to prove that they gave you the opportunity to tell them how your epilepsy could affect your job. They would also have to prove that you didn’t provide this information. They must also prove that at the time you applied for the job, your epilepsy could have caused health and safety risks.

When you are deciding whether or not to tell your employer about your epilepsy, here are some things to consider.

• If your employer doesn’t know about your epilepsy, they can’t make reasonable adjustments under the equality laws to help you do your work. What’s more, they couldn’t be blamed for not doing so.
• If your employer doesn’t know about your epilepsy, they won’t know    how to help you during and after a seizure.
• It’s very important to make sure that you are fulfilling your responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
• You may not be covered by your employer’s insurance if they don’t    know that you have epilepsy.

If you do decide to tell your employer about your epilepsy, it would be advisable to do this before you begin the job. This would give them time to arrange any reasonable adjustments for you, if necessary.

If you don’t declare your epilepsy before starting a job, you can change your mind and tell your employer at any time. You might do this if your seizures become more frequent or severe, and you feel they may start to have an effect on your work.

Employer’s insurance

Your employer’s insurance may pay you compensation if you are injured at work, or if you become ill because of your work.

If you have not told your employer about your epilepsy you may not be covered by their insurance, for accidents related to your epilepsy. This means that you would not receive any compensation if you had an accident caused by your epilepsy.