Epilepsy in workplace

Help for union reps in supporting members with epilepsy is available in a new TUC guide.

Epilepsy in the workplace was written for the TUC by Kathy Bairstow, a UNISON member who works as the senior advice and information officer at the Epilepsy Action charity.

The guide is based on the social model of disability, which means epilepsy is not seen as a barrier to work. However, there may be external barriers to accessing work in the form of ignorance, prejudice and failure by employers to make workplace adaptations.

If someone has epilepsy, it means they have a tendency to have epileptic seizures. Epilepsy is not necessarily a life-long diagnosis, and doctors may consider that someone no longer has epilepsy if they go without seizures for a long enough time.

In the UK, there are over 600,000 people with epilepsy. Around seven in every 10 people with epilepsy can have their seizures controlled with the right dose of the right drug. However, uncontrolled seizures, or even a single breakthrough seizure, can have a huge impact on a person’s working life.

The guide educates trade union members about epilepsy, and provides guidance on reasonable workplace adjustments and making workplaces epilepsy-friendly.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Despite legal protection, workers with epilepsy still encounter ignorance, prejudice and discrimination. Trade unions challenge all such attitudes and behaviour and this guide will help them to do so from a position of understanding and strength.”

www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/EpilepsyInTheWorkplace.pdf