Employment

Information for Employees - Access to Work Scheme

Summary: Access to Work aims to assist disabled people who are in paid employment or with a job to start by providing practical support and helping to meet additional costs associated with overcoming work related obstacles resulting from disability.

• What is Access to Work (ATW)?
• Am I eligible for help through Access to Work?
• What type of help is provided through Access to Work?
• How will my needs be assessed?
• How long will it take to get the help needed?
• Who will buy the help needed?
• How much is the Access to Work grant?
• How to apply for Access to Work?
• What will the ATW Adviser Need to Know?
• Complaints and disagreements

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What is Access to Work (ATW)?

Access to Work aims to assist disabled people who are in paid employment or with a job to start by providing practical support and helping to meet additional costs associated with overcoming work related obstacles resulting from disability.

How does it do this?

Access to Work brings together provision from several smaller programmes within a flexible programme driven by the needs of you and your employer. It seeks to deliver high quality, cost effective and well managed support. The flexibilities within the programme allow a wide range of provisions to meet your needs because of disability. Key principles of Access to Work are to meet only the additional costs of employing a person because of their disability.

Am I eligible for help through Access to Work?

Basic conditions

In order to receive Access to Work assistance, you will need to satisfy the following basic conditions. You therefore must:

• Be disabled (and the disability is likely to last for 12 months or longer)

or

• Be in need of support at a job interview with an employer
• Have a job to start

or

• Be in a job, whether as an employed or self-employed person
• Be in need of support to progress in, or take up work, on a more equal basis with non-disabled colleagues
• Be resident in Great Britain, excluding Northern Ireland, with a job in Great Britain (support can, however, be used to cover the client for overseas visits providing the job is based in the UK).

Other eligibility criteria may apply and the ATW Adviser will be able to advise you in more detail about the conditions that apply and whether or not you are eligible for help.

What type of help is provided through Access to Work?

Access to Work can help you in a number of ways. For example, it can help pay for:

• Adaptations to Premises and Equipment - Modification of an employer’s or self-employed person’s premises or equipment.
• Communication Support at Interview - Help with the costs of employing an interpreter or communicator to accompany a hearing impaired person, where there might be communication difficulties at a job interview with an employer.
• Miscellaneous - “One off” items of support that do not fit elsewhere, such as a grant towards the costs of deaf awareness training for close colleagues of a deaf person.
• Special Aids and Equipment - Provision of aids and equipment which a non-disabled person doing the same job would not need.
• Support Workers - Help with the costs of employing personal support for a job interview, on your journey to and from work or other help including Personal Reader.
• Travel to Work - Support when you incur extra costs in travelling to and from work because of your disability.

How will my needs be assessed?

The ATW Adviser will normally phone or visit you at your place of work. They will also need to discuss the application with your employer to enable them to arrive at the most effective provision.

Sometimes specialist or technical advice may be needed, the ATW Adviser will arrange for a specialist provider, such as the RNIB, to complete an assessment and recommend appropriate support. A written and confidential report will be sent to the ATW Adviser, who will use the information to help them to decide on the level of support that can be approved.

The ATW Adviser will seek formal approval of the recommendations and once approved the Employment Service will write to both you and your employer informing you of the level of approved support and the grant available.

How long will it take to get the help needed?

The Employment Service aims to arrange the help needed in the shortest possible time. However, if it is likely to take some time, the ATW Adviser will explore temporary alternatives, for example a support worker or reader, while the permanent provision is sorted out.

Who will buy the help needed?

Once the assessment process has been completed the ATW Adviser will discuss your needs with you and your employer and will agree what help can be provided through Access to Work. The ATW Adviser may ask your employer to obtain quotes in order to arrive at the approved cost.

It is usually the employers or self-employed person’s responsibility to procure or purchase support and equipment required and then claim a grant towards the approved cost from Access to Work.

Your employer should not purchase any items until the Employment Service has notified you both that they have approved the agreed support. The Employment Service will send your employer a claim form and will ask for proof of purchase.

How much is the Access to Work grant?

Funding varies depending on your employment status as follows:

• Unemployed people: (unemployed people starting a new job) 100% of identified costs of all types of support
• People changing jobs: (with their current employer) 100% of identified costs of all types of support
• Employed people - cost sharing: Employers are required to cost share ATW by paying the first £300 plus a further minimum 20% of the cost up to a ceiling of £10,000. The Employment Service will pay the remaining amount up to a maximum of 80% and up to 100% of agreed costs over and above £10,000 (see also business benefit below). The ATW Adviser is responsible for agreeing the level of cost sharing with the employer.
• Self-employed people: 100% of all identified costs for all funding (see also business benefit below).
• Travel to work: 100% of identified travel costs to work and within work irrespective of employment status. Normal public transport costs and employer travel and subsistence payments are taken into account and deducted from the grant made.
• Communicator support at interview 100% of identified costs irrespective of employment status.
• Support Worker 100% of identified costs irrespective of employment status.

The business benefit: In some cases ATW support may incur a business benefit, for example if other members of staff use your specialist equipment as part of their own work. In these instances the business benefit costs will be estimated and deducted from the ATW costs before normal cost sharing rules are applied as detailed above.

How to apply for Access to Work?

Either you or your employer should contact your local Job Centre and ask to be referred to either the ATW Adviser or the ATW Business Centre, who will tell you more about Access to Work and how it works in your area.

What will the ATW Adviser Need to Know?

There are actions that you can take yourself to help the ATW Adviser to deal with the application quickly. Do not wait until you have started your new job before asking for help, the sooner the ATW Adviser knows about the request for support the more time they will have to get help ready for when you start.

The ATW Adviser will need some detailed information, it will help if you can ask your employer for the following information to pass on to the ATW Adviser. This may include any or all of the following:

• A job description for the new job;
• Your expected start date;
• Contact details for your line manager;
• Contact details for your employer’s Information Technology specialist;
• Contact details about who will authorise the purchase and cost sharing.

Complaints and disagreements

If you are not satisfied with the service you get from the ATW Business Centre in discussions about Access To Work, you should write to the ABC Manager straight away explaining what happened or why you are not satisfied. If, when you have the reply, you are still dissatisfied you should ask for the matter to be referred to the Regional Disability Services Manager who will carry out a full investigation.

Also check out our guidelines for employers

Information for employees

Content author: sarah.raisanen@rnib.org.uk

Last updated: 20/11/2008 11:13