The aim of the Employment Service is to offer disabled people particular help and advice in finding and retaining work or appropriate training; and to help and encourage employers to make work or training opportunities available to them.

The Employment Service is responsible for the national network of Jobcentres. These can offer advice at every stage of your search for a job, and make sure you have access to 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 programs open to people who have been unemployed for some time, without having to wait for the qualifying period.

If you are already in a job, but experience 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

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:

A communicator if you are deaf or have impaired hearing (you can have a communicator at a job interview, as well as at work;

A part time reader or assistant at work if you are blind or have a visual impairment;

A support worker if you need help, either at work or getting to work;

Equipment (or alterations to equipment) to meet your particular needs;

Alterations to premises or your working environment;

Adaptations to a car, or help towards taxi fares or other transport costs if you cannot use public transport to get to work.

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;

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. Word - processing, type - setting, viewdata editing work and invoicing are all examples of jobs where information can be transferred electronically between home computer 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:

Workshops run by local authorities and voluntary bodies;

Supported placements sponsored by local authorities and voluntary groups in which severely disabled people work alongside non-disabled colleagues in a wide range of jobs;

Remploy Ltd which employs around 9,800 mostly severely disabled people in over 90 factories throughout the country and around 3,300 severely disabled people on their Interwork supported placement scheme: Tel: 0208 235 0500

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