Employment

Employment

Having epilepsy does not necessarily stop someone from doing the job they want, but there are many issues which can affect work. This information covers general points about epilepsy and employment. There is also specific information for people with epilepsy and for employers on other pages.

What is epilepsy?

Epilepsy is the tendency to have seizures that start in the brain. About 1 in 131 people in the UK have epilepsy. However, up to 70% of people with epilepsy do not have seizures because their seizures are controlled with medication.

There are many types of seizure. In some, the person loses consciousness and has convulsions (jerking movements). In others, they become confused and may not know what they are doing.

Epilepsy varies: how it affects one person can be different to how it affects someone else. It is important to look at each person’s epilepsy and how it affects them individually, before making decisions about work.

There are two important pieces of legislation that apply to employment: the Disability Discrimination Act and the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Disability Discrimination Act (1995, 2005)

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) protects people with disabilities from being treated unfairly because of their disability.

The Disability Discrimination Act says that someone discriminates against a person with a disability if “for a reason which relates to the disabled person’s disability, he treats him less favourably than he treats or would treat others” in the same circumstances and “he cannot show that the treatment in question is justified”.

In employment, this means it is illegal for an employer to treat someone with a disability worse than a person without a disability, without a good reason.

‘Equal’ does not mean ‘the same’

Treating everybody ‘equally’ is different from treating everyone ‘the same’. In fact, treating everyone the same can discriminate against someone with a disability if this puts them at a disadvantage because of their disability. For example, saying that “everyone has to use the stairs” puts people who use wheelchairs at a disadvantage.

For employers to treat all employees equally, they may need to treat someone with a disability differently to someone without a disability. Treating people equally means treating everyone appropriately for them so that they have equal opportunities at work.

What is a disability?

The Disability Discrimination Act says that someone has a disability if they have “a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities”.

Here, ‘substantial’ means it is difficult and time-consuming to carry out activities compared to someone without a disability, and ‘long-term’ means at least 12 months. ‘Day-to-day activities’ include getting around, hearing and seeing, and being able to remember and concentrate.

Epilepsy is a physical condition and is covered by the DDA. People with epilepsy are protected under the DDA even if their seizures are controlled or if they don’t consider themselves to be ‘disabled’.

Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

The Health and Safety at Work Act says that it is an employer’s duty “to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees”.

The Health and Safety at Work Act says that employers are responsible for making sure that all their employees are safe at work and protected from possible dangers to their health. This includes making sure that the job and the work environment is safe and has no health risks. Employees are also responsible for their own safety at work, and the safety of their work colleagues. 

© The National Society for Epilepsy
Information produced in August 2008

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