Jobcentre Plus is a government-funded employment agency and social security office that helps people find work. It is a part of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The information below outlines the various support available through Jobcentre Plus and is intended to help you find and keep a job.
Access to Work is a grant from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) which helps pay for practical support so that disabled people can do their jobs. It is provided where some needs support or adaptions beyond the reasonable adjustments which an employer is legally obliged to provide under the equality Act 2010.
If you have a health condition or a disability, Access to Work can provide practical and financial support to help you overcome barriers to starting or keeping a job.
Access to Work advisors can also give practical advice to an employer or work experience provider.
If eligible for Access to Work, support will be available for customers aged 16-24 when undertaking a work experience opportunity.
How can it help me?
Access to Work can help to pay for support you may need because of your health condition or disability, for example:
practical help during your time on work experience such as a support worker, job coach or a sign-language interpreter aids and equipment in your workplace
adapting equipment to make it easier for you to use
money towards any extra travel costs to and from work experience if you can’t use available public transport or your own mode of transport
an interpreter or other support at a job interview if you have difficulty communicating.
Do I qualify for this help?
You can apply for Access to Work support for work experience if you have a disability or health condition that has a long-term negative effect on your ability to do your work experience. Long-term means lasting or likely to last for at least 12 months and:
you are aged 16 or over
you live in Great Britain (England, Scotland or Wales)
you are about to start a new work experience opportunity.
How do I apply?
To apply, you’ll need:
your National Insurance number
your workplace address
the name, email address and work phone number of a workplace contact – this should be someone who can authorise payment for the items and services in your support offer
your unique tax reference number (if you’re self-employed)
Access to Work
Telephone: 0800 121 7479
Textphone: 0800 121 7579
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm
Specialist Employability Support provides mentoring and training to help you into work if you’re disabled and can’t use other employment programmes. Find out more at GOV.UK – Specialist Employability Support.
Work experience enables you to spend time on an employer’s premises, observing the workplace, undertaking tasks (under supervision) alongside adults working there and learning the skills and behaviours needed at work.
Work experience is designed to bridge the gap between education and the world of work. It can:
make you aware of jobs that you have not previously thought of
inform career choices
give you a chance to prove yourself to an employer
enable you to develop the relevant occupational skills and help instil the attitudes and behaviours expected at work.
A new Work and Health Programme is expected to be introduced in 2017. It will replace both Work Choice and Work Programme, with the aim of transforming employment support for people that find it hardest to get a job; those with health conditions and disabilities and the very long term unemployed.
