Access to Work

What is Access to Work?

Access to Work can help you get or stay in work if you have a physical or mental health condition or disability.

The support you get will depend on your needs. Through Access to Work, you can apply for:

• a grant to help pay for practical support with your work
• support with managing your mental health at work
• money to pay for communication support at job interviews

Practical support with your work

Access to Work could give you a grant to help pay for things like:

• specialist equipment and assistive software
• support workers, like a BSL interpreter, a job coach or a travel buddy
• costs of travelling to work, if you cannot use public transport
• adaptations to your vehicle so you can get to work
• physical changes to your workplace

Your workplace can include your home if you work from there some or all of the time.

It does not matter how much you earn. If you get an Access to Work grant, it will not affect any other benefits you get and you will not have to pay it back.

You or your employer may need to pay some costs up front and claim them back later.

Mental health support

You can get support to manage your mental health at work, which might include:

• a tailored plan to help you get or stay in work
• one-to-one sessions with a mental health professional

Communication support for job interviews

Access to Work can help pay for communication support at a job interview if:

• you’re deaf or hard of hearing and need a BSL interpreter or lipspeaker
• you have a physical or mental health condition or learning difficulty and need communication support