Work and epilepsy

By law you don’t have to tell your employer about your epilepsy. This applies to your current employer or a possible future one.

If your epilepsy doesn’t affect you doing your job, you don’t have to tell your employer. But you must tell your employer if you think that your epilepsy will affect your own safety or the safety of other people around you. For example, if your role means you use equipment that might cause an injury if you have a seizure whilst using it.

You may worry about telling your employer, but it means that they will be able to help you. An employer can make reasonable adjustments and make sure you’re safe at work. This is especially important if you are struggling with parts of your job. Your employer is legally required to make any reasonable adjustments to support you.

Epilepsy Action has more information about your rights with epilepsy.

The Health and Safety at Work Act

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 also helps to protect people from discrimination.

This law means that employers must provide a safe workplace. They must protect their employees from any possible danger to their health at work. As an employee, you also have a responsibility to take care of your own and other people’s health and safety at work. Think about whether a seizure could affect your own safety, or someone else’s.

Your employer

If you decide to tell your employer about your epilepsy, it’s a good idea to do it before you start the job. This gives them time to make any reasonable adjustments you need.

You can change your mind and tell them at any time if you decide not to tell them straight away. Once you have told them, they should look to put in place reasonable adjustments. These should aim to reduce or remove any disadvantage caused by your epilepsy. You will be covered under the Equality Act as soon as you have told them that you have epilepsy.

You might be diagnosed with epilepsy while you’re working. You can speak to your line manager or human resources (HR) department. They can make reasonable adjustments to look after your health and wellbeing if needed.

Employers can learn about how to look after staff with epilepsy in our information page for employers.

The people you work with

It’s your decision whether you tell the people you work with about your epilepsy. If you do let them know, they might feel more confident about helping you if you have a seizure.

Your employer can tell your colleagues about your epilepsy for you. But only if you agree to this and give your consent.  They should talk to you about how you want to tell people. It might also be a good opportunity for your colleagues to learn more about epilepsy and how to help you.

We have Epilepsy awareness training for colleagues.

It depends on your skills, experience and how epilepsy affects your daily life. Most jobs should be open to you. Employers can only refuse you a job because of your epilepsy if they have very good reason.

You could be refused a role because:

• There are health and safety risks to you or somebody else. For example, a job that involves climbing ladders wouldn’t be safe if you’re still having seizures
• You don’t have the right type of driving licence for the job. For example, you’re not legally allowed to drive heavy goods vehicles if you have epilepsy. Even if your seizures are controlled by medicine. You might be able to apply for this type of licence if you’ve been seizure free and not taken epilepsy medicines for 10 years
• You apply for the Armed Forces. The Armed Forces aren’t covered by the equality laws. This means they can refuse to employ you because you have epilepsy or a history of epilepsy. The armed forces section below has more information

Disability Confident Employers

Look for the disability confident logo on adverts and application forms.

The logo means the employer is committed to employing people with a disability. Normally, applying for a job with a disability confident employer means you will be guaranteed an interview if you meet the essential conditions for the job. It doesn’t mean you’ll automatically be hired. The recruitment process will be used to identify the best person for the role.

You can find out more about the Disability Confident employer scheme on gov.uk.

The Armed Forces can refuse to employ you because you have epilepsy. They are not covered under the Equality Act.

You would not be able to join the Armed Forces if:

• You have had one or more seizures after your sixth birthday
• You’ve had a single seizure in the last 5 years

You may be able to join if:

• You’ve had a provoked seizure. This is a seizure with a specific cause that is not likely to happen again
• You have a history of childhood absence seizures which started before age 10, and you haven’t had seizures or treatment in the last 5 years
• You have a confirmed diagnosis of typical benign rolandic epilepsy of childhood and haven’t had seizures or treatment in the last 5 years. This syndrome is now called childhood epilepsy with centro-temporal spikes

A Single Service Occupational Physician will be responsible for the selection of recruits in your area. You can contact them for more information.

What happens if I have a seizure while I’m in the Armed Forces?

After a single seizure, you will be downgraded for 18 months and restricted on the work you can do. This is while investigations are carried out. If you have more than one seizure, you will be more restricted in the jobs you can do. You may be unfit for any trade in the Armed Forces.

This information is from the Joint Service Manual of Medical Fitness, October 2022.

It would be classed as discrimination for an employer to ask about your health before offering you a job. They can only ask if they have a good reason. They might provide the opportunity for you to tell them about your epilepsy, but you don’t have to.

They may ask so they can make reasonable adjustments for your job interview. For example, giving you extra time to do a test.

An employer can only ask questions about your health in a job interview if it links to an essential part of the job. They could ask how your epilepsy could affect your ability to do that job safely. If your epilepsy would not affect your ability to do the job safely and effectively, you don’t need to mention it.

You can choose to ignore questions about your health if you don’t think they’re relevant. This includes questions about your previous sickness absence. They also can’t refer you to or ask you to fill in a questionnaire from an occupational health adviser unless you agree.

Looking for a job can be stressful. But there are lots of organisations and websites that can support you and offer advice.

Volunteering and other types of work experience are valuable to show your skills and experience. You can include this experience on your CV. Scope have advice on writing your CV.

Epilepsy Action has lots of different volunteering opportunities. It’s a great way to develop new skills. Visit our volunteering page to learn more.

Jobcentre Plus work coaches

A work coach can help you in your search for work or to gain new skills. They can also tell you about disability-friendly employers in your area.

Appointments with work coaches are available if you are already claiming benefits.

For more information contact your JobcentrePlus online. If you live in Northern Ireland you can get help from your local Jobs and Benefits office.

Jobcentre Plus work coaches can help you to access the support below.

Intensive Personalised Employment Support

This is one-to-one support and training to help you find work. You can apply for this in England and Wales.

You may be able to get Intensive Personalised Employment Support if you:

• Have a disability or long-term health condition
• Live in England or Wales
• Are of working age

You can find out more or sign up by speaking to your Jobcentre Plus work coach.

The Work and Health Programme

If you live in England or Wales, the Work and Health Programme can help you find and keep a job if you’re out of work. You don’t have to be claiming benefits to apply.

Work Clubs

Anyone who’s unemployed can join a work club. Sometimes they are called job clubs. They’re run by local organisations like employers and community groups. They give you the chance to share knowledge, experience and job-hunting tips.

The gov.uk website has more information and a few examples of work clubs in each region.

Access to Work

Access to Work can offer support if you are invited to an interview. This might include having a support worker to help you to travel to an interview.

You can find out more or apply at gov.uk.

Talk to people

Talk to the people involved. They might be your colleagues, your line manager or your employer. You could tell them about our employment webpage. This will help them to understand epilepsy and provides tools to support you.

You can also speak to your human resources (HR) department, if your work has one. Part of the HR department’s job is to look after your health and wellness. They can offer you advice and support. They can help you understand any policies your work has in place that might be relevant for you. For example, a grievance procedure or a wellbeing policy.

‘Raising a grievance’ is when you have a problem or complaint at work that you want to take up with your employer. This is a more formal process, and your employer should have a grievance procedure that they follow.

If you’re a member of a union, you could ask them to be with you at any work meetings. If not, you could ask to bring a colleague or friend with you to meetings to discuss your work situation.

Keep notes

Keep notes of any actions or comments made that concern you. Also keep a note of how you’ve tried to sort the situation out. This can be useful if you decide to take more formal action later. This may be raising a grievance or getting legal advice.

Know your rights

Check your contract. In particular, the terms and conditions and the grievance procedure. Acas has information about grievance procedures and what you should expect from your employer.

Your employer can only get information from your doctor with your consent. They should only ask for information that is relevant to your epilepsy.

Seek advice as soon as possible. There are strict time limits for bringing cases to Employment Tribunals and courts. Citizens Advice has information and guidance about taking legal action.

Acas or your trade union can also offer advice. This applies to England, Scotland and Wales. In Northern Ireland you can contact Labour Relations Agency.

If you are a member of a trade union, they may also support you at an Employment Tribunal.

You can also take legal advice from a solicitor. It’s important to check from the start how much a solicitor will cost.

There are different options for free or affordable legal help. These include:

• Legal aid
• Insurance cover that includes legal expenses
• Advice charities
• Help from your trade union
• ‘No win, no fee’ schemes

Citizens Advice has more information for England,  Wales and Scotland. Information about legal aid in Northern Ireland can be found on nidirect’s website.

If you are having problems at work because of your epilepsy, here are some things you could do that might help:

• Keep your employer up to date with any changes to your health that could affect your work
• Make a note of your discussions and of any changes to your working conditions that are made as a result. This would be useful if your work situation became difficult and you needed to raise a grievance
• If your epilepsy has changed, you could ask your employer to arrange a new risk assessment for you. You may be able to do a wider range of tasks if you are having fewer seizures
• If you are off sick because of your epilepsy, keep them up to date with your situation

Your contract should tell you how much money you will be paid if you are off sick, and how long sick pay can last. It should also explain any rules that apply. Ask your manager or HR about their sick pay policy if there is nothing in your contract.

You can get statutory sick pay, or your employer may decide to pay you more. This is called company or contractual sick pay.

If you are too unwell to work, you can be paid statutory sick pay for up to 28 weeks. You are eligible for statutory sick pay if you:

• Are classed as an employee
• Earn an average of at least £123 per week
• Have been ill for more than 3 working days in a row

You’ll need a fit note if you’re off work for more than 7 days in a row. You can get this from a healthcare professional.

You can claim statutory sick pay for up to 28 weeks. After this, you might be able to claim Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).

See gov.uk for more information about statutory sick pay how much money you can get.

You might be likely to have time off because of your epilepsy. Counting absences due to your epilepsy separately may be a reasonable adjustment. Or your employer might allow more absences before triggering an absence review.

Having time off work to go to medical appointments could also be considered as a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act.

You should discuss this with your employer and check your employer’s absence policy. Your employer must make reasonable adjustments by law. But it is up to your employer to decide what is reasonable.

Some people may find it difficult to work because of their epilepsy, or other health reasons. The impact of epilepsy is different for everyone.

Our benefits page has more information about the help that’s available if you’re unable to work. You may be able to claim Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).