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This Disability Alliance factsheet is a basic introduction to the access to work scheme. You can find out more detailed information about back to work schemes and benefits in Disability Rights UK's Disability Rights Handbook.
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If you want to work but have a disability that makes working a problem you may be able to get help from the access to work scheme. This provides practical advice to help you overcome these problems. It can also give you grants towards extra employment costs.
You can get help if you are employed or self-employed, and you are disabled. This employment can be full time, part time or temporary. Access to Work is not available to enable you to undertake voluntary work.
You can also get help to support you to take part in a Jobcentre Plus Work Trial.
Disabled has the same meaning as in the Equality Act 2010 which defines disability as 'a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on [your] ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities'
Disabled can also include disabilities that are only apparent in the workplace. An example of this might be where you started work and found that your eyesight was affected by computer screens but had not noticed this problem before you started work.
Whatever the employment status of the applicant, Access to Work will pay up to 100 per cent of the approved costs of:
Access to work also offers other help, which includes special aids or equipment for employment and adaptations to premises and existing equipment. Access to work will not however fund items which are regarded as standard equipment, standard business costs or standard health and safety requirements.
This means that any item which would normally be needed to do the job, whether a person is disabled or not, will not be paid for. The Job Centre Plus has issued new guidance listing examples of items that should be considered as standard equipment and so cannot be funded by access to work. The guidance does however make it clear that this is not an exhaustive list.
You can download the guidance, DEP 2010-2088, at http://deposits.parliament.uk/.
Items listed as standard in the new, updated guidance include:
In addition, the new guidance confirms that adaptations to new premises can no longer be funded through access to work.
If you are starting a new job and make a claim for Access to Work during the first six weeks of commencing this employment, Access to Work will pay 100% of all approved costs. It is therefore very important that if you need help in work, you contact Access to Work as soon as you can so your employer does not have to share any costs.
Put simply, you will get up to 100% of all approved costs if you are:
Otherwise, if you have been in your job for 6 weeks or more when you first apply for help, access to work will pay a proportion of the costs of support as follows:
Currently there is no contracted provision for Access to Work customers who require support for mental health issues.
Remploy has recently been appointed as preferred bidder to become the UK’s sole provider of the mental health support service for Access to Work. The contract will be awarded and go live in November 2011.
The range of support for people with mental health conditions, which will be given for six months, will include:
Contact the access to work centre directly where you will be offered advice and guidance from an access to work advisor. You should contact the centres below by telephone, textphone, fax, email or by post. Please note that there are no walk-in facilities, these are postal addresses only:
London
Contact this centre if you work in:
Jobcentre Plus
Access to Work Operational Support Unit
Nine Elms Lane
London
SW95 9BH
Telephone: 020 8426 3110
Textphone: 020 8426 3133
Fax: 020 8426 3134
Email: atwosu.london@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk
Cardiff
Contact this centre if you work in:
Jobcentre Plus
Access to Work Operational Support Unit
Alexandra House
377 Cowbridge Road East
Cardiff
CF5 1WU
Telephone: 02920 423 291
Textphone: 02920 644 886
Fax: 02920 423 342
Email: atwosu.cardiff@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk
Glasgow
Contact this centre if you work in:
Jobcentre Plus
Access to Work Operational Support Unit
Anniesland JCP
Baird Street
Glasgow
G90 8AN
Telephone: 0141 950 5327
Textphone: 0845 6025850
Fax: 0141 950 5265
Email: atwosu.glasgow@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk
Northern Ireland
Disablement Advisory Service
5th Floor
Gloucester House
Chichester Street
Belfast
BT1 4RA
Telephone: 02890 252317
Textphone: 02890 252213
Fax: 02890 252330
Email: disablementadvisory.servicemailbox@delni.gov.uk
You could also contact your local Jobcentre or Jobcentre Plus office and ask to talk to an access to work adviser or a Disability Employment Adviser (DEA) for advice and an application form.
Access to Work funding is available for up to three years. At the end of this period your need’s will reviewed to assess if continued or further funding is required. As long as you need the funding, you should continue to get it.
You can get help and information at your local advice centre, such as a Citizens Advice Bureau. You can get more information about where to get personal advice from our Factsheet F15 - Finding a local advice centre.
You can get more information on Access to Work on the Directgov website at www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/index.htm.
For information about the scheme in Northern Ireland on the NI direct website at www.nidirect.gov.uk.
This Disability Alliance factsheet is a basic introduction to the access to work scheme. You can find out more detailed information about back to work schemes and benefits in Disability Rights UK's Disability Rights Handbook.
All our publications are available at www.disabilityalliance.org/shop.htm. You can also place an order by contacting Disability Rights UK on 020 7247 8776 (this is not an advice line) or by fax on 020 7247 8765. All our factsheets are available at www.disabilityalliance.org/fact.htm.
6 October 2011
