Supporting People with Disabilitiesinto Employment – the G4S WorkProgramme
16th September 2012
John Newland, Customer Services andEmployer Liaison Manager
The Work Programme
Flagship government programme to support people on benefits intoemployment
For the first time people on Job Seekers Allowance (main UKunemployment benefit) and Employment Support Allowance (mainbenefit for people unable to work due to a health condition) aresupported on the same programme
‘Black box’ approach which allows providers to innovate in theirdelivery
Long term payment by results programme which rewards providersfor supporting people into employment for 2 years
Differential payments according to benefit type
Launched in June 2011
Delivered by ‘Prime Contractors’ in 18 areas
Financial structure
The G4S Work Programme
G4S deliver the Work Programme in 3 areas – the South East,Manchester and Cheshire and North Yorkshire and the Humber
G4S adopt a pure ‘Prime Contractor’ model where we act as amanaging agent and manage local supply chains of JobBrokers
We contract to 25 Job Brokers who deliver the end to endservice across the UK
Services are supported by a local Knowledge Bank of specialistproviders who deliver ad hoc services as required
Employment Support Allowance /Incapacity Benefit
Around 5 million people are on benefits in the UK, around half ofthese are on the main health benefits – Employment SupportAllowance (ESA) and Incapacity Benefit (IB)
ESA replaced IB in 2008 – IB customers are being migrated toESA but there are still residual ‘stock’ IB customers
A small but significant % of IB and ESA customers are claimingbenefits due to a visual impairment
All new claimants of ESA are required to undertake a medicaltest to examine their capability for work
Work Capability Assessment (WCA)
Visually impaired claimants are tested on their ability to getaround out of doors independently and communicate with otherpeople e.g. being able to understand a simple messageregarding the location of a fire escape
The WCA assesses both hearing and sight, so points areawarded if you can hear but not see the message
Claimants are either placed in the ‘Work Related Activity Group’(WRAG) and assessed as fit to work or the ‘Support Group’ withno requirement to work
If claimants are visually impaired but have no other disabilitiesthey are usually placed into the WRAG
Differential payments
Support for people who are visuallyimpaired
JCP would notify Job Broker if a customer had a visual impairment. Thecustomer would not be precluded from anything.
Job Brokers have in-house ‘Condition Management’ services delivered byOccupational Therapists who offer advice on what work clients can do with theirdisability
Appointments are delivered flexibly – sometimes by phone or in person, at timesto suit the client and in private rooms (according to client preference), can alsogo out to meet them in a convenient location.
Materials available in Braille and in a range of larger print sizes and formscompleted on the customer’s behalf
Specialist external support from Knowledge Bank providers such as Foresight,RNIB and Action for Blind
Typical interventions include supported work placements (3-6 months) leadingto paid employment
Extra funding for work e.g. computer adaptations or a paid Support Worker isavailable through Access to Work
Visually impaired people and theWork Programme
Less than 4% of G4S Work Programme clients have a visualimpairment (average 1.5 people out of a caseload of 50)
10% of these have entered employment or become selfemployed
Not many customers with visual impairments have beenreferred – largely due to issues with low levels of ESA referralsfrom JCP
Self employment is not a common outcome due to lack ofAdvisor knowledge (30% of advisors feel confident providing VIsupport)
Visual impairment specialists tend to focus on paid employmentwith supportive employers
If the customer has a severe visual impairment where they needa guide dog or specialist equipment in day to day life forexample they would be referred to Work Choice
Low Referrals of customerswith a visual impairment
•Almost 90% of advisors said thatless than 10% of customers, oftenonly 1 or 2 people, had a visualimpairment
•Some VI customers may be slippingthrough the net
•A lot of work still to do to get morecustomers onto the Workprogramme
Client case study
One of our Work Programme customers at Remploy inManchester has a visual impairment whereby he is unable toread unless the text is in a large font. His advisor used specialistsoftware called “Dolphin” in a well lit room. This meant hereceived the same quality of service as any other customerwould. His advisor supported him with updating his CV, jobsearching and interview techniques. A job arose at supportiveemployer in the North west and the customer was put forwardfor it. With the help of his advisor he prepared for the interview.The employer was impressed and willing to make thereasonable necessary adjustments to take the customer on.The customer is now thoroughly enjoying his new job. He feltthat Remploy were very supportive about his disability and hewouldn’t be where he is now without them.(Anonymous)
Self-employment for the visuallyimpaired: challenges & opportunities
Self-employment is not a common outcome for the visually impaired onthe Work Programme
Neither core Work Programme Advisors or visual impairment specialistAdvisors are skilled in supporting customers in this area
However, there is an increasing focus on self-employment for thevisually impaired – e.g. specialist awareness and support training foradvisors
Employer’s attitude and support is key as discrimination is stillprevalent
Our research has shown that employers believe that if a person has avisual impairment they won’t be able to do the job and this will impacton other skills which is not the case
G4S W2W are developing a guide for advisors to increase employer’sunderstanding of visual impairments and the reasonable adjustmentsthat can be made
Any questions?