Navigating Access to Work: an Employer's Guide

Access to Work (ATW) is a UK Government grant, applicable to any health condition impacting a person at work, with up to ￡66,000 worth of funding available per person, per year.

However, the process can be very bureaucratic and un-ADHD-friendly, so I made a free course to help people navigate it. Here's an extract from the chapter on this from ADHD Works at Work.

What is Access to Work (ATW)?

ATW funds support for anybody with a health condition impacting them at work, with the aim of supporting them to get or stay in work. This health condition doesn’t have to be a disability, it just has to be a ‘physical or mental health condition or disability that means you need support to do your job or get to and from work’.?

This work includes people who are self-employed, Directors of companies, and people doing apprenticeships. Bizarrely, it doesn't cover the Civil Service, as there’s another system in place where employers provide this support directly.

Help involving 'support workers', such as coaching, training and administration, is fully reclaimable from Access to Work. Employers may be asked to share costs for other types of support that may provide a benefit to the employer, such as equipment or adaptations to premises.

An employee will need to put contact details down for their employer when applying, which can cause various complications set out below.

Employers should take particular care with these, especially to avoid unintentional discrimination:?

1) Lack of awareness, understanding around or engagement with the processes?

Many people I know have unfortunately been met with dubious treatment as a result of enquiring about ATW with their employers. As many employers are unaware that this exists, and it sounds ‘too good to be true’, they might ask the employee to search for more information to prove that they can apply, for example.

Understandably, this can cause a lot of pressure and anxiety for the individual. Technically, an employee doesn’t need their employer’s permission to apply for ATW, however, on a practical level, they do need their engagement. When a person applies to ATW, their employer is informed about the application and asked to confirm their employment and role within the company.

They may also be asked whether they consent to cost-sharing, if support where this is relevant (e.g equipment) is granted. This is primarily for administrative purposes, as opposed to being involved in the details of the assessment or support. Once this confirmation is provided, the process is handled by ATW and the individual. Depending on the support awarded, an employer may be asked to pay for this by the employee, and reclaim it back on their behalf.??

However, if an employer is unaware about or does not trust any of the above, or doesn't have processes in place, they may refuse to engage with the process. ATW have strict timelines to work with, so caseworkers may need confirmation and a response within a certain period of time to keep a case open. This means that employees may need to chase up their employer, which can feel stressful and embarrassing.

Needless to say, the burden shouldn’t be put on the employees to prove anything about ATW and they shouldn’t be victimised as a result of applying!

If an employer doesn't wish to pay for support upfront, an individual may fund this themselves and claim it back (as happens with self-employed people, for example). This may not always be possible for individuals on a practical level, and so having the support of their employer is crucially important in enabling them to access the support they need.

2) Lack of clear structure or process, such as contact details to provide in applications

If an employer is unaware about ATW, they may not know how to support an employee looking to apply for the scheme. For example, if an employee asks their manager whose contact details they should put down to confirm their employment, they may not know. Taking a common sense approach, this would usually be the same people who would confirm employment status to referencing services, such as rental agencies, such as HR.?

An employer can simplify this process by centralising and documenting the processes in an accessible location, such as on an intranet. Encouraging and supporting employees to apply for ATW is sensible, as they'll be able to access support above and beyond that which is legally required, supporting them to do their jobs to the very best of their abilities. ATW can also fund training for employers such as disability awareness training, in addition to coaching for managers and teams, which benefits everybody.

3) Confusion between reasonable adjustments and ATW support

ATW will not pay for reasonable adjustments or support that would be required by law. For example, if a person required wheelchair accessible entrances to enter their office, this would be a reasonable adjustment legally required under the Equality Act that an employer must cover.?

In contrast, ATW can fund support above and beyond reasonable adjustments. This is complex, because the ATW process mostly involves conversations with the individual concerned, as opposed to an employer. The ATW website currently states that they will ‘advise your employer if changes should be made as reasonable adjustments’, but they do not do assessment as an Occupational Health expert would, in making recommendations for employers to follow such as by providing flexible working times.?

An employee applying for ATW does not discharge an employer’s legal obligations to provide adjustments: it is not a replacement.

If an employer becomes aware of a potential disability such as ADHD because of being notified about an ATW application, the same processes should be followed as though the individual was disclosing ADHD without this context.

They may not necessarily need or want support from an employer at that point, but the processes should still be followed in line with their wishes. Unfortunately, ATW applications can take a long time to process once a person has applied (around 6 months!). The conversation should be kept open, with reassurance and easy methods of communication.

A person may have a workplace assessment as part of their ATW award, but this doesn't usually make suggestions for reasonable adjustments. Confusingly, some of these awards could potentially be considered a reasonable adjustment if they would reduce or remove the significant disadvantage a person experiences at work because of their disability, but ultimately only a tribunal would be able to confirm this.?

So, this process doesn't replace any Occupational Health assessments which would typically provide a report of recommendations for adjustments to an employer and employee.

4) Confusion around payments and communication ?

Once opened, the ATW application process can be complicated, involving various conversations with ATW caseworkers and workplace assessors, resulting in a report setting out an individual’s award.?

During this application process, there may be inconsistencies and confusion, especially in relation to communications between ATW caseworkers, workplace assessors, employers, and employees. I spend a lot of time as an ADHD Coach helping people to navigate this, such as by confirming the processes that should be followed. Understandably, this can be confusing for everyone!?

The grant isn’t means tested, so it’s awarded regardless of how much a person earns or has in savings.

In my experience, the majority of ATW awards I have seen have provided support such as coaching, administrative support, software, and tools such as whiteboards or electronic readers. Personally, I have seen very few cases where an employer is expected to cost share, or where there has been awards for awards where this may be required, such as relating to adaptations for an office.?

Employers will often pay for the support that is awarded and claim the money for this back from ATW directly. This is because after making an award, ATW will usually require the support to be purchased before paying for this. For an individual, this can be very difficult if they don’t have the money in the first place!

It is also important for employers to remember that this support is not them ‘paying’ to support an individual - the money will be reimbursed (or cost-shared, if relevant). Viewing this as ‘special treatment’ or placing any expectations on an employee as a result of supporting them to access this support should not be happening.?

Instead, employees should be helped to actually make the most of this support, such as by employers making reasonable adjustments to allow them time to use it.

ATW can be very complicated for employers to understand where their responsibility lies, but ultimately, they can take a practical approach and work with this support to help their employees perform to the best of their abilities.?

What is the ATW process?

Initially, an application needs to be made, which is usually done online. This should take approximately 15-30 minutes, and involves questions such as relating the condition a person has and how this shows up for them at work. No medical documents are required, and a person doesn’t have to know in advance what support would help them.

When the application has been processed, a caseworker from ATW will contact the individual and if they are employed, their employer, to confirm their employment details.?

If the person knows what support they want, this process may be fairly straight forward. For example, they may tell their caseworker that they’d like to have coaching with a particular provider, and an award for this may be granted.?

If they aren't sure what support they need, or a caseworker feels it would be beneficial, a workplace assessment may be arranged to help establish what support may be helpful. This could happen at a persons’ workplace, but is often held remotely, either via video call or telephone.

Afterwards, the assessor will provide recommendations of support back to the ATW caseworker, who may discuss these with the individual. Once the decision is made, a final report is posted to the applicant setting out the terms of their award and how they can ask for this decision to be reconsidered if they are not happy with it.?

Overall, it’s important that the support is tailored to the individual’s needs. My first award from ATW was for a coaching provider whose website was focused on Dyslexia, which I was obviously very upset at, as I'm not Dyslexic! I requested a reconsideration which was turned over and allowed me to access the life changing ADHD coaching I needed.?

The support usually has to be purchased before it can be reclaimed for from ATW, as explained above. In an employment context, an employer would usually do this and reclaim it back for an employee.

The support is typically granted for a certain period of time, such as a few months, or for a certain number of hours or sessions,? and with certain providers. However, in my experience, this grant can be adapted to and used for the individual’s provider and format of choice, without this needing to be formally adapted on the award. For example, if an award is made for ￡1000 for 10 x 2 hour coaching sessions, this could be used with the provider an individual chooses, even if this award works out to more or less sessions in total. For support workers such as administrative help, this may be granted for a longer period such as 1 year.

When the support allocation has been used, an individual can apply for a renewal online, if needed. You can also apply again if your job situation changes during this period, for example, such as becoming self-employed.?

What kind of support can be awarded through ATW?

ATW can fund a variety of different support, which should help a person to stay in work, and should be cost effective.?

The support should be focused on the context of the workplace. Mental health support is available by applying directly to one of the ATW providers set out on their website.

For an ADHD-er, types of support awarded through ATW may include:

• ADHD Workplace Coaching?/ Workplace Strategy Training
• Administrative / Other Assistant (Support Worker)
• Software?(such as dictation, organisational, and note taking software)
• Equipment?(such as standing desks, adjustable chairs, laptops, headphones, monitors, electronic notebooks, and whiteboards)
• Training (such as disability awareness training for organisations, managers and teams)
• Travel?(such as taxis)

Ultimately, this support can be the difference between surviving and thriving at work. It's bizarre that this isn't available to job-seekers, but for those of us fortunate to be in work, it can help us to stay there.

Having been able to access ADHD coaching and administrative help, this has enabled me to stay in work personally. If you don't know it exists, then it's impossible to use - and as an employer, this is an incredible opportunity to support your employees to be able to reach their full potential at work.

As this is relevant to any health condition (regardless of whether this is a disability in law), such as anxiety, chronic fatigue, depression, or long Covid, ATW is an extraordinarily helpful source of support for employers and employees alike.?

Apply for ATW here

Do the free ATW course here

Read ADHD Works at Work here

Become an ADHD Coach in June here