• Replies 5 replies
  • Subscribers 28 subscribers
  • Views 955 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

Access to Work = Deny individuals any support!

Coogybear

Just heard from Access to Work that a course billed by the NAS as able to be paid for by the fund, is not allowed as it is a group course!

NAS STATES:-Our two-day course is priced at £380 + VAT. Funding for the course can be applied for through the Government's Access to Work programme, which supports adults with disabilities in the workplace.

What is the fund for, for goodness sake?!!!!!!!

So far I've had brickwalls at every turn with Access To Work.

Once again, the parents are left to grapple alone with the child, with no guidence and little support. Given I have two on the spectrum, it's just too overwhelming.

So weary, so tired of fighting for the basics to allow my son the simple privilege of contributing to society. Does the govenment want him to just sit at home and draw unemployment benefit?

Dispicable!!!!!!

Parents

  • I think I should say a bit more on this subject.

    I don't think Access to Work has quite got their heads around Autism.

    They try to fob you off with 10-12 pounds an hour when their official limit is £15 an hour. But note that this has to pay for EVERYTHING including employers National Insurance, holiday pay, sick pay, any training, and any other overheads you incur because you are employing them. At 10-12 pounds an hour, this is basically minimum wage!

    I have very strong objections to just paying somebody the minimum wage. But there is more: Access to Work assme that a support role is unskilled. Supporting somebody with autism is NOT unskilled and also the rate should depend on the job they are supporting.

    I managed to argue for more because I knew from experience that I would not get the person I needed for so little wage. I also pointed out that a major factor in me loosing my job was because they pay too little to enable recruitment of someone of sufficient callibre. [Note the maximum they pay has not gone up in 10 years at least!]

    If you are employed the onus is on your employer to find the support worker and to negociate the Access to Work bureaucracy to get the funds.

    But if you are self employed or run your own business, you are in trouble

    1) It is extremely difficult to get funding from Access to Work

    2) Once you have fought long and hard to get the support you need, there is no help in putting that support in place. If you are lucky you will find an agency which provides support for people with autism. Otherwise you have to recruit the right person, figure out payroll, and figure out job specs, person specs, and employment contracts. If you don't this right the consequences can be very expensive.

    I have managed (2) with some support from someone who runs their own company, but it was tough.

Reply

  • I think I should say a bit more on this subject.

    I don't think Access to Work has quite got their heads around Autism.

    They try to fob you off with 10-12 pounds an hour when their official limit is £15 an hour. But note that this has to pay for EVERYTHING including employers National Insurance, holiday pay, sick pay, any training, and any other overheads you incur because you are employing them. At 10-12 pounds an hour, this is basically minimum wage!

    I have very strong objections to just paying somebody the minimum wage. But there is more: Access to Work assme that a support role is unskilled. Supporting somebody with autism is NOT unskilled and also the rate should depend on the job they are supporting.

    I managed to argue for more because I knew from experience that I would not get the person I needed for so little wage. I also pointed out that a major factor in me loosing my job was because they pay too little to enable recruitment of someone of sufficient callibre. [Note the maximum they pay has not gone up in 10 years at least!]

    If you are employed the onus is on your employer to find the support worker and to negociate the Access to Work bureaucracy to get the funds.

    But if you are self employed or run your own business, you are in trouble

    1) It is extremely difficult to get funding from Access to Work

    2) Once you have fought long and hard to get the support you need, there is no help in putting that support in place. If you are lucky you will find an agency which provides support for people with autism. Otherwise you have to recruit the right person, figure out payroll, and figure out job specs, person specs, and employment contracts. If you don't this right the consequences can be very expensive.

    I have managed (2) with some support from someone who runs their own company, but it was tough.

Children
No Data