Website of the Department of Health

Getting the best from your Jobcentre

Jobcentre Plus is responsible for the national network of Jobcentres. These can offer skilled advice at every stage of your search for a job, and make sure you have access to the benefits or allowances you are entitled to claim. The Jobcentre service starts with the range of job vacancies always on display.

Your first contact will almost certainly be with a Client Adviser who can let you know about the different ways you can get help to find a job, or take up training that will help you with your future job choices.

If you have a disability that affects the kind of work you can do, you will be eligible to join many of the programmes open to people who have been unemployed for some time,without having to wait for the qualifying period.

Your Disability Employment Adviser (DEA)

You and your Client Adviser may decide that further specialist advice and help would be a good idea.The Client Adviser can then arrange for you to have an interview with a Disability Employment Adviser (DEA).

If you are already in a job, but are experiencing difficulties that relate to your disability, your DEA may be able to help. This can be especially welcome if you have recently become disabled, if the effects of your disability have altered in some way, or perhaps if the job you are doing is changing.

DEAs work as part of the local Placing, Assessment and Counselling Team (PACT), which works with employers as well as with disabled people.The DEA is usually based at the Jobcentre and can help with:

Access to Work programme

This programme can help you make the most of opportunities in work by providing a range of assistance to help overcome obstacles caused by your disability, for example:

The DEA can give you more information about the range of help available and any eligibility conditions that apply.

Equipment

Access to Work can supply a wide range of equipment for use in work including:

For people who are blind or partially sighted: for example, special computer equipment, closed circuit TV, large print output devices, tape recorders, pocket memos, talking calculators, Braille measuring devices, personal readers and help with fares to work.

For people who are deaf or hard of hearing: for example, amplifiers, loud-speaking telephone amplifiers, text terminals.

For people with walking, standing or sitting problems: for example, electrically powered wheelchairs with riser seats, stand-up and kerb-mounting facilities.

For people who have other physical disabilities or communication difficulties: for example, electronic writing systems, special computer equipment or software, page-turners, special chairs.

Working from home

More and more people and their employers are opting for work at home to cut down on both travelling and office space.This trend favours people who, because of a disability, cannot get to work easily.Wordprocessing, typesetting, viewdata editing, estimating, accountancy, graphic design, software writing, payroll work and invoicing are all examples of jobs where information can be transferred electronically between home and office.Your DEA should be able to advise you on any local opportunities.

Supported employment

If you do not feel ready or able to work in open employment, your DEA may still consider work under the Supported Employment Programme, each part of which receives government financial help:

• Remploy (opens new window)

Job Introduction Scheme

If you have the opportunity of a job, but you and your employer have some concerns about whether, because of your disability, there will be practical difficulties, the Job Introduction Scheme can provide breathing space. It can fund a short trial period - usually six weeks - by making a contribution towards your wages. This gives both you and your employer time to decide.

Getting priority for employment help

New Deal for Disabled People (NDDP) helps people in receipt of a disability or health-related benefit into work. It is completely voluntary and you decide whether or not you wish to join.

NDDP was extended nationally from July 2001, offering customers with health conditions or disabilities (who are on qualifying incapacity benefits) access to a network of innovative Job Brokers who will help them find and keep work.

NDDP aims to help customers overcome the barriers that prevent them from finding and keeping work. Job Brokers drawn from the private, public and voluntary sectors work with employers to match their customers' skills to available vacancies. They also help their customers to understand and compete in the labour market and support them in finding and keeping employment. They actively promote the advantages of employing disabled people to employers.

Action point: For more information about NDDP and details of Job Brokers operating in your area, telephone the NDDP
Helpline: 0800 137177;
Textphone: 0800 435550;
Website: www.newdeal.gov.uk/nddp.
Or contact your local Jobcentre, Jobcentre Plus office or Social Security office.

• New Deal for Disabled People (opens new window)

What kind of employer?

Look out for employers who use this disability symbol on job advertisements, application forms and recruitment literature. It shows a company is positive about employing disabled people and will be keen to know about your abilities.