66% OF PEOPLE IN THE UK WITH EPILEPSY ARE CURRENTLY NOT IN EMPLOYMENT

Over 220,000 people of working age in the UK have epilepsy as their main disabling condition, making it one of the most common serious neurological conditions in the world.

Yet despite its prevalence, epilepsy remains a socially stigmatised condition, particularly in the UK workplace.

Those affected commonly face problems when it comes to finding and maintaining work, at every stage from an initial application process. The employment rate for people with epilepsy is far lower than for those with most other disabilities, according to data from the Office for National Statistics[1]. The employment rate for people with epilepsy as their main condition is only 34.2% compared to 53.2% for people with disabilities generally and 81.8% for those without a disability. People with epilepsy are more likely to be economically inactive than people with any other disability and are more than twice as likely as those without the condition to be unemployed.

Epilepsy is a fluctuating condition, which affect individuals differently. In some instances, people with epilepsy are not able to work at all due to their condition. For those that are able to work, they often report facing misunderstanding about their condition and even discrimination.

So, with only 75,000 people with epilepsy in employment, it begs the question, what about the other 145,000?

Epilepsy Action is trying to find answers as there are very few jobs that someone with the condition cannot do.

With research from YouGov showing that 26% of Brits would be concerned about working with someone with epilepsy[2] and 63% admitting they would not know how to respond if a colleague had a seizure, a lack of understanding of the condition is clearly one of the main barriers to increasing employment.

On the other hand, more than three quarters (76%) of people have not been offered any training on how to deal with a colleague suffering a seizure, this despite current UK regulations stating that employers must provide their staff with the required information, instruction and training to ensure their health, and the safety of their colleagues at work.

Epilepsy Action are calling out to all employers to implement simple steps to help close the unemployment gap. In the studio to explain more is CEO of the charity, Epilepsy Action, Philip Lee.