Edition 3: Access To Work Part 2

Hello and welcome back to Dopamine Diaries!

My last article on the Access To Work grant got a lot of positive feedback but it also opened up some conversations so I thought I'd write a part 2 and cover the following FAQs:

• Who has to source the provider (eg the coach, training provider etc)
• Do employers have to legally provide the recommendations?
• How quickly should they be provided?
• What should you ask for as an employee and how should you prepare for the assessment

Who sources the providers/equipment?

• The ATW guidance from the government is quite vague and doesn't specify who's responsibility it is to do this 🥲
• It may not be sustainable for a company to do this for all employees using ATW but I recommend you source 1-3 reliable providers that cover common ATW awards such as coaching, co-coaching, disability awareness training etc. This is what my company did and it meant I didn't have to any of the research, calls and paperwork myself which was really helpful and I got a really good coach who actually had ADHD too
• As an employer you should consider the burden this puts on an ND employee who may already be struggling at work

A story shared by a friend:

I had my ATW assessment and my employer/managers gave everything to me to sort out of the award list; including filling out all the forms etc afterwards. I was told I had to order what I needed and arrange everything, all on top of the workload of my actual job. Because of this, I only actually took 2 out of 14 recommended suggestions, as it was way too overwhelming a process for me to sort out myself. Because my employer couldn't be bothered sorting it out themselves, they piled it onto my plate, and I got less support as a result.

Do you have to legally provide the recommendations?

• Technically it's not deny recommendations from ATW, however if the employee suffers a detriment as a result this can be considered to be disability discrimination.
• As ATW cover all or the majority of the costs, this would be pretty hard to argue your case as to why you denied support determined by a specialist assessor to lower barriers of a disabled employee to a tribunal.

Case study:

A recent employment tribunal case upheld the claims of the claimant (ND employee) and ordered the respondent (employer) to pay a tribunal award because of their failure to provide the recommendations from Access to Work. Some were completely denied and some were only provided after an unreasonable delay which caused the claimant increased challenges and distress at work and a detriment to their performance. Read the full tribunal decision here.

How quickly should you provide the recommendations?

• You have 9 months to claim the costs from the date of the assessment so it's important to start actioning the awards as quick as possible as it can take time to find a suitable coach, get the paperwork done etc
• Similar to the previous question, if you cause unreasonable delays which create additional distress and result in a detriment (eg negative impact on work performance) it may be viewed unfavourably by a tribunal
• I advise working together to create clear expectations and timelines to reduce the risk of stress on both sides

A story from another friend:

HR purposely waited until the assessments expired after 6 months, before they did anything. So I got no support either, because my HR team kept 'forgetting' to sort it out until after it expired.

For employees, what should you ask for and how to prep for the assessment?

• Don't make the mistake I did and go into the assessment totally unprepared
• Whilst my assessor was great, my mind kept going blank and I ended up with quite a generic set of awards from ATW that they give to most people
• Start to compile a list of your daily tasks, areas of barriers (meetings, work environment, time management etc) and what might help you and bring it to the assessment
• Whilst it's not extensive, I've started to compile a list of Access to Work recommendations from myself and others who have gone through the process. You can access it on this link here

In summary

• Whilst not explicitly stated by ATW, employers should try to support employees in sourcing a coach, training providers etc to reduce the burden
• Employers are not legally required to implement ATW recommendations however it is good practice and if a detriment (ie decline in work performance occurs) this can be seen as disability discrimination
• As you have 9 months to claim, don't delay getting your support in place
• For employees, ensure you prepare for your assessment and don't be afraid to ask for something they don't recommend themselves or you'll end up with the generic list of things they give to a lot of people

Leanne Maskell has a guide on ATW here, but as the process has changed shes making a new one and asking people to share in the comments of this post what they want included so please do add your questions to help Leanne make the new guide as useful as possible!

Thanks for reading and stay fabulous!

Parul x