Some employers have concerns about employing a person with MS, often because of misconceptions about how a person may be affected by this medical condition. MS is an individual disease and does not automatically lead to severe disability. The majority of people with MS are able to continue working long after diagnosis.
Most people with MS are diagnosed in the prime of their working lives, when they have valuable experience and expertise to contribute to the workplace. For this reason alone, for you as an employer, it may be very worthwhile to look carefully at how MS really affects an individual’s ability to work, and how that person could be retained in your workplace.
If you would like specialist advice and support, the MS Society can work with you with the aim of enabling a person with MS to continue making a successful contribution to your business.
For a person with MS, continuing to work generally brings very significant benefits. If you can retain an employee with MS, you will be helping that person as well as, potentially, the productivity of your business.
In addition, the law prohibits employers discriminating against employees and other workers with a disability. The legal definition of ‘disability’ includes MS. This means that employers generally cannot treat workers with MS less favourably than workers without that disability, or impose working conditions that unreasonably disadvantage workers with MS.
(Source: Working Together: Employing People with Multiple Sclerosis, MS Australia)
