Access to Work is a government grant that disabled people and those with long-term health conditions can apply for to get:
- 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
Before going to Access to Work, we ask colleagues to complete their ClearTalents profile, and speak to our internal Occupational Health team, and KeyTools if appropriate. This is because there may be straight forward and easy to adjustments we can help with quickly, and sometimes the wait times for Access to Work are lengthy (12-26 weeks plus at times). On occasions their recommendations do not align with our internal catalogues which can also create further delays in getting you the support you need.
We recommend using Access to Work for supporting with assessments in complex cases, and for adjustments that are likely to incur a large cost. For example, someone who needs a British Sign Language Interpreter, has complex mental health needs, or requires support getting to and from work through a taxi service may benefit from going to Access to Work for an assessment. Maximus is Access to Work’s provider for Mental Health Support Services, and it is free to use. More information can be found on the Maximus AtW page.
Where an employee has had an Access to Work assessment, Network Rail is responsible for purchasing the adjustments recommended, not the employee. Network Rail can claim back £1,000 +20% of the cost of the adjustments. This will be claimed back into the adjustments cost centre, and then refunded back to the regional or functional adjustments cost centres.
Any adjustments funded by Network Rail are owned by Network Rail, including those bought through Access to Work. At the end of an employee’s contract they must be returned to the business.
A note on Taxis
Note this is for travel in work time only and does not apply to travel to and from work – Access to Work can provide taxis to and from work for employees.
Taxis to and from work are not funded or processed by Network Rail, the employee organises this directly with Access to Work. The employee can either set up an account with the taxi firm, send Access to Work invoices, and Access to Work pay the firm directly. Or the employee can pay the fares, send Access to Work the invoices and they will reimburse them. The employee can choose the frequency of sending invoices – weekly, fortnightly, or monthly. The employee is expected to contribute based on their normal method of travelling to work. If they can drive or they were getting a lift, it will be 25p per mile. If they were or would be using public transport, it would be their bus or train fare. The funding can be agreed for a maximum of 3 years, but the case manager will decide on this depending on whether the customers health condition is likely to change.
For further guidance on Access to Work please contact the adjustments team via their shared inbox – AdjustmentsTeam@networkrail.co.uk