Supporting disabled people in employment

The Government’s Access to Work grants can help an employee gain employment or stay in work if they have a physical or mental health condition or disability.

It does this by funding one or more practical support needs depending on the individual. Applications are made via the Gov.uk website and for April 2023 to March 2024 funding can be up to a maximum value of £66,000.

The support needs that can be funded include:

• Special aids and equipment requirements such as assistive technology and software or coloured overlays for dyslexic workers.
• Travel to and from work such as taxi fares or adaptations to your vehicle.
• Communication support at interview such as a sign language interpreter or note taker.
• Access to a variety of support workers helping with British Sign Language, professional coaching or dyslexia coping strategies.
• Support with managing mental health at work including one-to-one sessions with a mental health professional or a tailored plan to help individuals attain employment or stay in their job.

Employers should incorporate awareness and understanding of this support in managers’ annual training or induction programmes, so that everyone has knowledge of the support available.

The Government has built a new online portal, which is in live testing and offers employers advice and guidance on managing health and disability in the workplace.

The guidance supports employers to manage health-related absences and establish supportive keep-in-touch arrangements, have conversations about challenges in the workplace or with the role, that if supported differently, may retain staff or support them back into work.

By taking part in the testing of this new service, you willl receive free information on disability and health-related employment matters and support the development of what can become an excellent staff management tool.

Visit the site ‘Support with Employee Health and Disability’ to find out more and make your contribution to its development.

This Government accreditation scheme encourages organisations to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, train and develop disabled people.

Being a Disability Confident business means you can draw from wider talent communities, secure and retain quality staff and lead the way in your sector on tackling the disability employment gap. Disability Confident businesses are recognised as going the extra mile to make sure disabled people get a fair chance such as:

• Advertising your commitment to recruiting and retaining disabled people in job adverts.
• Offering other routes to employment such as apprenticeships or internships.
• Identifying and addressing barriers that may prevent or deter disabled people from applying to your vacancies.

There are three levels of Disability Confidence that an employer can attain to reflect entry level through to leadership status. These are:

• Level 1: Disability Confident Committed
• Level 2: Disability Confident Employer
• Level 3: Disability Confident Leader

To sign-up visit the Gov.uk website.

Once signed up you can use your Disability Confident badge in your job adverts to help people identify you as an inclusive employer and determine the level of disability confidence you have in your organisation. All scheme employers have their jobs advertised on the Government’s Find a Job website which is promoted by JobCentre Plus as a valuable resource for people seeking employment.