If the chronic disease is known, chronically ill people can be discriminated also during employment: by the colleagues through exclusion or the spreading of rumours, or by the employer by assigning a different area of work, such as an activity that does not require contact with customers.

People with visible illnesses and strongly stigmatized illnesses, such as obesity or mental illness, are at risk of losing their jobs. That is also the case for diseases whose course could have an impact on the performance. This is possible for instance with multiple scleroses.  People with multiple scleroses are at risk of getting fired due to inability to work or reduced capacity for work.