Recruiting and employing disabled staff

Advice on disability and funding for employers

The Department for Work and Pensions' Jobcentre Plus provides information and advice to employers to support them in adopting good employment policies and practices in the recruitment, retention, training and career development of disabled people. Read about assistance for employers wanting to employ disabled people on the Jobcentre Plus website.

Jobcentre Plus operates a scheme called Access to Work. This is designed to help overcome the problems associated with disability and pays a grant towards extra costs that result from employing a disabled individual.

The grant is up to 100 per cent of the approved costs for someone who is starting a job with you. For existing employees, the grant provides 80 per cent of the approved costs over the first £300. You can read about the Access to Work scheme on the Jobcentre Plus website.

Talk to a Disability Employment Adviser (DEA) at your local Jobcentre Plus for further advice on employing disabled people. You can search for your local office on the Jobcentre Plus website.

You can also talk to a DEA about the Job Introduction Scheme, which can provide a weekly grant towards the employment or training costs for the first few weeks of employing a disabled person. This gives you and the new employee time to discover whether the job is right for them. You can read about the Job Introduction Scheme on the Jobcentre Plus website.

WorkStep is an individually tailored package of practical support for employers with disabled employees whose needs are more complex. You can read about Workstep on the Jobcentre Plus website.

The Work Preparation programme is designed to let disabled people try out different types of work. Jobcentre Plus arranges these. You can read about the Work Preparation programme on the Jobcentre Plus website.