Employers' attitudes to epilepsy.

Obtaining employment is often difficult for a person with epilepsy. Recent studies have shown that public attitudes towards epilepsy have improved'2 but finding ajob is still difficult for 25-75% of the 140 000 potential employees with epilepsy in the United Kingdom.34 It has been said that the reason for this difficulty is prejudice and discrimination which reflects a prevailing ignorance about epilepsy and its consequences. Many patients come to expect this prejudice and lower their sights accordingly.5 Employers give several reasons for not employing people with epilepsy, notably a fear of increased accident rates at work,67 an increase in employers' liability insurance premiums,89 and the obligations imposed on employers by the Health and Safety at Work Act. These reasons are surprising as there are no factual grounds for them. Major epileptic convulsions would constitute a serious inconvenience for certain employees and their colleagues. It would clearly be unreasonable to employ people who are not permitted to drive a car for work for which driving is necessary. Frequent attacks would probably reduce the efficiency of a patient with epilepsy in dealing directly with the general public, particularly in selling goods or services. Epilepsy is also a reasonable bar to work up ladders or on scaffolding. Nevertheless, many jobs, especially of an administrative or clerical nature, would not be appreciably affected by occasional epileptic attacks. In such cases undue apprehension, ignorance, or prejudice is possibly the principal stumbling block. The present study was designed to establish whether a relation exists between the accuracy of employers' knowledge of epilepsy and the opportunities for employment for people with epilepsy in the Southampton area.