Working for Work : Chapter 4 : Welfare to Work

Illness Benefit / Invalidity Payment and Work

People in receipt of Illness Benefit and Invalidity Pension are allowed to participate in approved 'rehabilitative' work and retain their payment.

Rehabilitative Work

• You must be in receipt of Illness Benefit for at least 6 months before you can apply to the Department of Social Protection for an exemption to engage in rehabilitative employment.
• You do not have to be in receipt of Invalidity Pension for a specific amount of time in order to apply for an exemption to engage in rehabilitative work.

Assessment of Earnings from Rehabilitative Work

Income from rehabilitative work does not affect payment on either Illness Benefit or Invalidity Pension payments.

Limits on Hours Worked

You can work for up to 20 hours per week while in receipt of Illness Benefit or Invalidity pension. If you work for more than 20 hours per week your payment could be suspended. You will not qualify for payment of Illness Benefit or Invalidity pension if you engage in full-time employment.

Tax and Income from Employment

If you are getting Invalidity Pension or Illness Benefit and take up rehabilitative work you can keep your payment in full, but you may have to pay income tax on your total income - that is your social welfare payment and your income from employment.

Community Employment (CE)

Persons on Invalidity Pension and Illness Benefit are allowed to participate on Community Employment (CE). Income from rehabilitative work under the Community Employment (CE) will not affect any Invalidity Pension or Illness Benefit payment, but you may have to pay tax on your total income - social welfare payment plus Community Employment payment.

FÁS Training Courses

Persons on Illness Benefit and Invalidity Pension are allowed to participate on FÁS Training Courses. The recipient will continue to receive their Illness Benefit/Invalidity Pension payment in addition to the standard FÁS Training Allowance. You may have to pay income tax on your total income - that is your social welfare payment and your income from the FÁS Training Allowance.

Secondary Benefits and Working

Secondary Benefits, such as Fuel Allowance, Rent Supplement, Household Benefits Package and Medical Card, Free Fuel etc., may be affected by part-time rehabilitative work including participation on Community Employment (CE) and FÁS Training Courses. Please check with the INOU (01) 856 0088 for further information.

Illness Benefit/Invalidity Pension and spouse/civil partner/cohabitant Working

If your spouse or partner works, is engaged in self-employment or has an income from a course of training or education, that income will not affect your payment. However, if you are receiving a Qualified Adult payment for your spouse/civil partner/cohabitant any earnings over €100 your spouse/civil partner/cohabitant has will affect the Qualified Adult payment you receive for them. If your adult dependant is earning between €100 and €310 you will get a reduced-rate Qualified Adult payment. If your Qualified Adult is earning more than €310 you will not receive any payment for them.

Illness Benefit/Invalidity Pension and Maintenance

Receiving maintenance while on Illness Benefit or Invalidity Pension will not affect your payment, but may affect other Secondary Benefits.

Family Income Supplement (FIS)

If a person on Illness Benefit or Invalidity Pension engages in approved rehabilitative work (not including Community Employment) for more than 19 hours per week s/he may apply for the weekly tax-free Family Income Supplement payment (see FIS in this Chapter). Please note that FIS is not payable together with Illness Benefit. If a person qualifies for both they can chose the most financially beneficial payment to them.

Employment Supports for Persons with Disabilities

Employers wishing to employ persons with disabilities may take advantage of the following supports:

Wage Subsidy Scheme (WSS)

This scheme, operated by FÁS, provides financial incentives to employers, outside the public sector, to employ disabled people who work more than 20 hours per week.

A person on the Wage Subsidy Scheme is subject to the same conditions of employment as other employees. These conditions include PRSI contributions, annual leave, tax deductions and the going rate for the job.

Subsidies available through this scheme are structured under 3 separate strands and employers can benefit under one or all, simultaneously.

Strand I subsidy is a general subsidy for any perceived productivity shortfall in excess of 20% for a disabled person, in comparison to a non disabled peer. An employee must work a minimum of 21 hours per week up to a maximum of 39 hours per week. The rate of subsidy is €5.30 per hour and is based on the number of hours worked, giving a total annual subsidy available of €10,748 per annum based on a 39 hour week.

Strand 2 applies where a company employs more than two disabled people. The company can avail of a grant to cover the additional supervisory, management and other work based costs. This top-up is based on the overall number of disabled employees employed and will range on a sliding scale from an additional 10% of wage subsidy for 3 to 6 disabled employees to a maximum of 50% of wage subsidy for 23+ disabled employees.

Strand 3 is where an employer employs 30 or more disabled workers. The employer can avail of a grant of €30,000 per annum towards the expense of employing an Employment Assistance Officer.

This programme is not available to the Public Sector as defined by the Disability Act 2005.

Supported Employment Programme (SEP)

The Supported Employment Programme provides additional assistance for disabled persons to find and obtain employment. Support is provided through a range of organisations and included among the supports are Job Coaches who assist disabled persons and their employers.

Supported Employment has four main phases:

• Phase A: A needs assessment
• Phase B: Job sourcing and development
• Phase C: Matching the jobseeker with a suitable employer --
• Phase D: Aftercare and follow-up

There are a range of grants available for people with disabilities and employers including:

Workplace Equipment Adaptation Grant: This scheme is paid to assist employers to make the workplace more accessible to persons with disabilities. It is also available to self-employed people with disabilities. This grant is restricted to the private sector and the maximum award is normally ?6,348.70. This scheme is administered by FÁS and applications should be made at your local FÁS office.

Job Interview Interpreter Grant: Under its Job Interview Interpreter Grant Scheme FÁS will normally pay a set fee for a three hour period to provide for the services of an interpreter to support speech or hearing impaired persons who wish to attend job interviews. Travel costs for the interpreter are paid at a fixed rate.

Personal Reader Grant: The Personal Reader Grant (PRG) enables blind or partially sighted people to employ a personal reader to assist them with work related reading. A fee per hour in line with the national minimum wage can be made for a maximum of 640 hours per annum.

Contact your local FÁS office or Local Employment Service (LES) for further information on these supports. Alternatively consult the Disability Portal on the FÁS website at www.fas.ie

Last Updated: 31/08/2011 ^ back to top