Access to Work offers helping hand to stay in employment

SUPPORT is available to help those with a physical or mental health condition or disability to get or stay in work.

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) have highlighted the Access to Work scheme, which offers grants to those eligible to help with a variety of extra costs.

While the support given depends on each individual's needs, grants can be used to help pay for practical backing with a claimant's work, help with managing mental health at work and money to pay for communication support at job interviews.

Mental health support can include measures such as a tailored plan to help a claimant get or stay and work or one-to-one sessions with a mental health professional.

Access to Work can aid with communication support at interviews by providing a BSL interpreter or lipspeaker for those who are deaf or hard of hearing. For those who have a physical or mental health condition or have learning difficulties, other support is available.

Money from the scheme can also be used to pay for things like vehicle adaptations to allow someone to get to work, taxi fares to visit a support worker or go to work if public transport is not a practical option or a support worker or job coach to help in the workplace.

Working from home is included in the scheme.

An applicant's earning are not a factor in gaining an Access to Work grant and will not affect the payment of other benefits. Applicants or employers may need to pay some costs up front and pay then back later.

Access to Work will not pay for reasonable adjustments ie changes an employer must make to legally support someone in their job.

To check eligibility, visit https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work/eligibility and to apply go to https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work/apply