epilepsy and work

[Toddyboy12]

hi. My son started having sleep seizures around 10 years ago when he was 14. He could go 6-12 months between seizures. The last couple years the time between has decreased to maybe 3-6 months again always at night during sleep. 2 months ago he had his first awake seizure whilst he was at work he got taken to hospital then went home. That night he ended up having 6/7 seizures back to back ended up back in hospital for a few days. He was officially diagnosed with both epilepsy and was told he could no longer drive a shed had an awake seizure. He drives for a living so as you can imagine has had a massive effect on his life. He has been signed off work since the seizures and has been on full pay. He has a meeting with his employers next week to see what the next step is. I know employers have to make reasonable adjustments and he could do a different role that doesn’t involve driving. But the issue is he cannot get to his place of work as he can’t drive. He’s gona apply for access to work to see if that will help. But my question is can his employer pay him off? Do they have to do everything they can to accommodate him? One of his colleagues has said he would be prepared to pick him up if needed.

[Shorehampete]

Hi Toddyboy 12.Sorry to hear about your son. I had a similar situation when I started having sleep seizures around 6 years ago and couldn't drive for a year. The drive to work was 10 miles each way with no public transport available. Unfortunately my boss wasn't very accommodating and advertised my job while I was still in hospital. I applied for access to work which took 3 months to approve but they would only pay half the cost of the taxi. As I really needed the job I ended up buying an electric bike and commuted to work each day on that. He still wasn't convinced I would stick with it but just to prove a point I did. I told him I could have sued him for unfair dismissal but he didn't care. If they are happy to find a new role within the company and they have been paying him while he has been off sick then they have fulfilled their legal responsibilities as far as I'm aware. They sound like a good company to work for and hopefully he shall be okay.

PS. I left that job as soon as I got my license back. Didn't even give any notice.

Shoreham Pete

[Slof]

Hi Toddyboy 12, an employer has a duty to make adjustments to a role that are reasonable. It's up to the employer to decide what's reasonable and what isn't. If someone is incapable of doing a role then they could be dismissed (as long as adjustments have been considered). It sounds like you are doing the right thing getting Access to Work involved and I would expect your son to be supported until Access to Work has made their decision. From what you've said, your son can do other work at the company which is great and the sticking point is the travel. I'd suggest your son goes to the meeting with proposals as to how things could work - would changing hours help so could he start later? could the employer pay taxi fare until Access to Work make a decision etc Think of as many ideas as possible so that the employer can explore all the options. Hopefully it will all work out for your son - let us know!

[Toddyboy12 in reply to Slof]

thank you for your reply. Yeah he’s doing all he can and wants to get back to work as he’s been off nearly 2 months now. He’s been a good employee for 4 years now but I know at the end of the day we are all just a number that’s easily replaced. Although he works for a big company his team is quite small so imagine him being off has made a big difference. I guess it’s hard to know what they will do and infact they may well have already made their decision whether good or bad. I suggested another option would be to go back on a phased return maybe 2/3 days a week to see how things go.

[Toddyboy12 in reply to Slof]

hi

My son had his meeting today.

All went well although they said he can longer do the role he was doing as it was driving but they said they would do all they could to find him a suitable role in the company. He has another meeting in a few weeks and has to provide information about how he can get to his place of work. He was told by his epilepsy nurse that he wouldn’t be able to work alone but he doesn’t work in a environment that’s dangerous like a factory or operating machinery etc he works in a small amusement arcade type establishment so I don’t see any reason why he couldn’t work alone. That would be the only sticking point in him getting back to work.

[GillyA in reply to Toddyboy12]

Hi, a bit late, but hopefully it’s helpful if I say I’ve also had the line about no lone working. For what it’s worth I’ve always felt it’s a bit silly for many of us. Obviously heights, ladders or machinery aren’t doable, but for those who work in a safe environment like an office, it can be safer than at home, with stairs, cooking, etc.

I do work on my own at times, normally into the evening or at the weekend, I don’t believe I’m any less safe than at home. I should say my seizures are well, but not completely controlled. Life isn’t perfect and we live in the real world.

Having said this, we all have to make our own judgment about what we are doing or what can be done to manage risk (check ins by phone or using some form of fall alarm may help everyone). I hope things go well for your son, it sounds like he has a considerate employer - they are out there.

[Toddyboy12 in reply to GillyA]

Hi. Thank you for your reply.

Yeah they are being helpful at this unsettling time for him. I agree with everything you’ve said. Totally depends on what job your doing like working at height near open water etc would be high risk. He’s at home alone 3 days a week looking after his year old child but I guess as an employer they have the responsibility for their employees and some don’t want to take that on. From what I’ve read it’s definitely not black and white, each employer looking at the individual employee depending on what type of seizures and when they have them.

[Slof]

That all sounds very positive! Hopefully they can find something else for him - if it's something he's not done before then it would be reasonable to be offered training and a trial. Fingers crossed your son can find a way to get in to work. He's clearly seen as an asset to the company!

[Toddyboy12 in reply to Slof]

Thank you.

The job would be what he did before he got the driving job so he knows how to do it luckily it’s just the lone working that could be an issue

[Slof]

Your son could try to see if his consultant or occupational health would have a different view as to whether he could work alone. Although from what you said about back to back seizures it's probably unlikely. Only other things I could think of would be some sort of alert (though I've never seen one!) or maybe a buddy? Hopefully it will all be for a relatively short period and he'll be at least awake seizure free for a year.

[Toddyboy12 in reply to Slof]

The back to back seizures were a one off on that particular night as was the awake one. All previous ones had been asleep and just one. Really don’t know what had happened to make him have that many in one night