Employees

Employees

How does epilpesy affect work?

Although most people with epilepsy can do the job they want, work issues can be confusing and worrying for many people.
The type of work you can do depends on many things: your skills, qualifications, experience and what you want to do. This is
the same for everyone, whether they have epilepsy or not.

Your epilepsy may affect your work, depending on whether you have seizures, what your seizures are like and how often they happen. It also depends on the type of work you do (or want to do), and what risks having seizures at work might have for you or the people around you.

Can I do any job I want?

Not necessarily! All employers except the Armed Services - see below - have to comply with the DDA. The DDA covers you from when you apply for a job, throughout your work - including promotion and training - to when you leave it. It also applies whether you have a disability when you apply for a job or if your disability starts once you are employed.

This means that employers cannot refuse to give you a job just because you have epilepsy. However, this does not mean that you can definitely do any job you want to do either. You could be refused a job if your epilepsy puts you or others at risk.

The Armed Services

The Armed Services (British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force) do not have to follow the DDA. This means you may not be able to work in the Armed Services if you have, or have ever had, epilepsy.

What are the risks due to epilepsy?

The risks to safety at work due to your epilepsy will depend on what your epilepsy is like and the job you do - or want to do.

Some jobs are more risky than others if you have seizures. For example, working at heights, near open water or around unguarded machinery. Protective guards on machinery reduce the risk of injury to anyone using it.

Because each situation is different, your employer - or potential employer - may need to do a risk assessment to look at how your epilepsy could affect your safety at work.

Risk assessments

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act, employers have to make sure that all their employees are safe at work. To be able to do this, the employer needs to know about their employees’ disabilities or medical conditions, and assess any possible risks due to them. This is called a ‘risk assessment’.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) say it is important that risk assessments:

Are based on the individual’s circumstances - as each situation and each workplace is different

Include only factual information

Avoid assumptions - for example, not assuming something is going to happen just because they have epilepsy.

Employers may need to get medical advice or ask a specialist, such as a health and safety expert, to help with a risk assessment. This can also help to identify reasonable adjustments.

Driving regulations

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) sets the UK driving regulations. To get a Group 1 - car and motorbike -licence you must be seizure-free for one year, on or off anti-epileptic drugs. If you only have seizures while you are asleep, you can drive as long as they have only happened during sleep for the last three years. To get a Group 2 - LGV or PCV -licence you must be seizure-free, and off anti-epileptic drugs, for 10 years.

If you are seizure-free and the DVLA say you can drive, you should be able to apply for a job that involves driving. Your employer might use the DVLA regulations to decide whether your seizures are a risk to safety. They might think “if the DVLA say that you are safe to drive a car, is it fair to say that you can’t work with machinery?”

Other regulations

Many professions have a governing body that sets health and safety regulations. The governing body will usually look at your individual situation to see whether you can do the job safely, depending on your epilepsy. Contact the relevant governing body for your job for further details on their recruitment policies and guidelines.

What are ‘justifiable reasons’?

For some people, even after doing a risk assessment and considering reasonable adjustments, their epilepsy means that the job they want to do is a risk to their, or to other people’s, health and safety. If this is the case for you, an employer can dismiss you or refuse to employ you. This is a ‘justifiable reason’ because the Health and Safety at Work Act takes priority over the DDA.

What are ‘reasonable adjustments’?

The Disability Discrimination Act says that employers are expected to make reasonable adjustments for a person with a disability, if their disability puts them at a “substantial - not a small or trivial - disadvantage” compared to someone without a disability.

Reasonable adjustments are changes that employers are expected to make so that a person with a disability is not put at a disadvantage. Considering reasonable adjustments means looking at:
Whether anything about the job makes it difficult for the person to do it
Whether anything about the work environment makes it difficult for the person to do the work
Whether any changes to the job or environment would help to overcome these problems or risks.

Adjustments vary and will depend on how your disability affects you and your work. Your employer might consider making them when you apply for a job, or at any time during your employment. If you have epilepsy, adjustments might include:
Changing your working hours to avoid shift work if your seizures are brought on by tiredness
Making changes to the building or office to make it safer
Getting or changing equipment
Giving you time off for doctor or hospital appointments.

What is ‘reasonable’?

What is a ‘reasonable’ adjustment depends on the situation and your employer. There are some general guidelines for working this out. These include:
How practical the adjustment is to make
How effective the adjustment would be in helping you
The cost of making it and your employer’s financial situation.

Some employers can get help with the cost through Access to Work or other schemes. It might also depend on the effect it has on other employees and whether you would use the adjustment.

Do I have to tell my employer?

Although you don’t have to tell your employer about your epilepsy, there are many reasons why it is helpful. They include the following.

Employers have responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act. For your employer to be able to meet the health and safety regulations, they need to know whether their employees have disabilities. If your employer knows about your epilepsy they may make changes to your work or environment to make it safer for you. If you don’t tell your employer, you can’t hold them responsible for not doing health and safety assessments for you.

Employers are expected to make reasonable adjustments. If your employer knows about your epilepsy, they can make reasonable adjustments to your work or environment for you. But if your employer is not aware of your disability (and you don’t tell them), they don’t have to make reasonable adjustments, and you can’t hold them responsible for not making any.

The people you work with will be more able to help you if you have a seizure. If you tell your employer and the people you work with about your epilepsy and what your seizures are like, you can also tell them how to help you if you have a seizure. Often people feel more comfortable with epilepsy if they understand it and know what to do if someone has a seizure. This might make you, and them, more confident about what will happen if you have a seizure at work. And it might be helpful to have some epilepsy awareness training at work.

When is the best time to tell a new employer about my epilepsy?

If you decide to tell your new employer about your epilepsy, there are many opportunities for you to do this.

You could put it on the application form or include a covering letter with your application explaining about your epilepsy. You could include a letter from your GP or neurologist with details of your epilepsy. This could be an opportunity to be positive about your epilepsy and relate it to the role you are applying for, and help your potential employer to understand about your epilepsy before you have an interview.

You could put “to be discussed at interview” on the medical form. This form is used to see if there is any medical reason why you can’t do a job. Although some people are concerned about putting epilepsy on the form in case they are not considered fairly for a job, in good practice, the form is removed from the rest of the application. This means that your medical details will not be seen by the people who select people to interview. It is helpful to read the form carefully and bear in mind what could happen if you say that you do not have any disabilities and sign the declaration, and your employer finds out that this is not true. 

You might want to wait until you are invited for an interview, and talk about your epilepsy face to face. This gives you an opportunity to sell yourself, and your skills and experience, before mentioning your epilepsy. 

You might want to wait until a final interview, or you are offered the job, before mentioning your epilepsy. Once you have told your new employer about your epilepsy, they might do a risk assessment and consider reasonable adjustments for you. They may get medical advice, or ask a health and safety or occupational health expert, to help.

Finding and keeping a job

Often the best way to start looking for a job is through a local Jobcentre Plus office, personal contacts, newspaper and website adverts or employment agencies.

Jobcentre Plus offices have Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) who provide support to people with disabilities. They can help with assessments, referral to schemes for people with disabilities (such as WORKSTEP), job matching, and information on employers who are positive about employing people with disabilities.

If you are on benefits, you can get help, advice and support from Job Brokers through New Deal for Disabled People.
Visit www.direct.gov.uk for more details.

Access to Work

Access to Work is a scheme that supports people with disabilities and their employers. If you have problems or particular needs at work because of your epilepsy, Access to Work may be able to help find solutions. For example, they may be able to fund reasonable adjustments such as equipment or extra support at work, or help with the cost of getting to and from work if you are not able to drive or use public transport. Contact your Jobcentre Plus for details of your nearest Access to Work Team.

Other help with travel costs

If you do not drive because of your epilepsy, you can apply for a Disabled Person’s Railcard to get a third off most fares. Call 0845 605 0525 or visit www.disabledpersons-railcard.co.uk

You can also apply for a free national bus pass to travel around the UK for free. To apply, contact your local council, or www.direct.gov.uk/en/travelandtransport for more information.

Will I lose my job because of my epilepsy?

If you are already in a job and you develop epilepsy, or if your epilepsy changes and starts to cause difficulties at work, you might be worried about losing your job. Under the DDA, your employer is expected to make reasonable adjustments so that you can carry on working. These adjustments will vary depending on what would be useful for you. If you develop epilepsy, or your seizures are difficult to control, you may be referred to a neurologist - a doctor who specialises in neurological conditions such as epilepsy - to review your epilepsy. Although this may take a long time, the review may affect decisions about your job. For example, it may help to identify reasonable adjustments for you. It is worth remembering that some adjustments may be temporary while your epilepsy is being investigated or treated, or they may change over time.

Who can I talk to?

It is quite natural to wonder whether your epilepsy might affect your job. You may want to talk to your line manager, or  someone in your personnel or human resources department if you have one, about how you are feeling. Talking about any problems you are having might help them to support you or look for reasonable adjustments that would help you.
The NSE helpline offers support to anyone affected by epilepsy.

Who can help if I think I've been discriminated against?

Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service - Provides information and advice for employers and employees (see below).

Citizens Advice Bureau - Local CABs offer free confidential, impartial and independent advice (see below).

Equality and Human Rights Commission - For information on discrimination (see below).

Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation www.radar.org.uk

Trade Unions - Contact your work personnel or human resources department. Most trade unions have positive policies on the
employment of people with disabilities and can help in cases of discrimination.

Help with work, skills and training

Disability Employment Adviser at local Jobcentre Plus offices - May know what schemes are available locally to help you get back into work. Contact your local Jobcentre Plus office.

learndirect - Information on learndirect centres and courses: www.learndirect.co.uk

Local libraries and local colleges - Details of adult and further education courses. See your local phone book.

National Extension College - Infomration about Open Learning: www.nec.ac.uk

Open University - Information about Open Learning courses: www.open.ac.uk

Local volunteer bureau or Volunteering England - Volunteering can give you new skills and can show your commitment and initiative: www.navb.org.uk

Other organisations

Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service - Advice for employers and employees: www.acas.org.uk

Citizens Advice Bureau - Local CABs offer free confidential, impartial and independent advice: www.adviceguide.org.uk

Disability Law Service - A national charity which provides free legal advice about the DDA and employment: www.dls.org.uk

Employers’ Forum on Disability: www.employers-forum.co.uk

Equality and Human Rights Commission - Information on discrimination including disability discrimination and the DDA: www.equalityhumanrights.com

Health and Safety Executive - Gives guidance on health and safety legislation: www.hse.gov.uk

Jobcentre Plus - Provides information on training and employment. Disability Employment Advisers can provide support for people with disabilities. They have details of Access to Work teams: www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk

The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) - Independent organisation providing information on pension schemes
www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk

© The National Society for Epilepsy
Information produced in August 2008