Employment support information
Information on employment for people with disabilities about finding work, training, work schemes and rights at work. Find out about the role of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and disability discrimination legislation.
Help with finding work
You can get help to gain new skills, find a job or stay in work from a range of organisations, including JobCentres, careers services and voluntary organisations.
Jobs and Benefits offices
These give skilled advice at every stage of your search for a job and make sure you know which benefits or allowances you're entitled to claim. They can also support you if you're concerned about the impact of your disability on your existing job.
Your local Jobs and Benefits office can help and advise you regardless of your situation - even if you don't have any work experience or if you haven't worked for a long time.
Advisers for people receiving incapacity benefits
Most Jobs and Benefits offices have a specialist adviser who can support you if you are claiming incapacity benefits or refer you to further specialist help.
Work schemes and programmes
If you have a disability that affects the kind of work you can do, you may be eligible to join some of the many programmes open to people who have been unemployed for some time.
Working and receiving disability and incapacity benefits
Personal Independence Payment
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a benefit that has replaced Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for people between 16 and State Pension age. PIP can be paid whether you are in or out of work or training.
You must have a long term health condition or a disability that affects your daily living or mobility. You will have had these problems for three months and expect them to continue for at least nine months. PIP is designed to help towards some of the extra costs that will help you live more independently.
If you receive PIP and are about to start or return to work, your PIP will stay the same as long as your care and/or your mobility needs have not changed.
If there is a change in how your health condition or disability affects how well you carry out everyday activities, report this change to the Department for Communities. PIP can be reviewed and, if necessary, a new decision made.
This could result in either an increase or a decrease in the amount of PIP you are entitled to.
Employment and Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefit - 'Permitted Work'
If you receive Employment and Support Allowance or Incapacity Benefit, you may be able to do some limited work. This is called Permitted Work. If you get Employment and Support Allowance or Incapacity Benefit and a wage, this could affect income-related benefits you receive, like Housing Benefit or Rate Relief.
Declaring a disability
You don't have to declare a disability - it is your own decision. However, there are some things you might want to consider in making that decision.
Telling a potential employer about your disability
Although you may be uncertain about how an employer may react, there are good reasons for telling a potential employer about a disability.
Employment is covered by the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). This means it is unlawful for employers to discriminate against people with disabilities in their recruitment and selection procedures.
Under the DDA, employers must consider making any 'reasonable adjustments' you might need in order to allow you to work for them. If you don't declare a disability, an employment tribunal might decide that your employer was justified in failing to make adjustments for you. However, it could also decide that your employer could reasonably be expected to know about your disability even if you have not declared it.
It is worth remembering that if your employer does not know you have a disability, they cannot make any adjustments to help you succeed in your job.
Deciding how and when to declare a disability
The DDA is the law but keep these points in mind when deciding whether to declare a disability.
If you're asked in an interview or on an application form whether you have a health condition or disability, answer in a straightforward way. Make the distinction between a health condition and a disability.
If you sign a declaration saying you do not have a disability when in fact you do, this may have consequences later on.
Application forms and medical questionnaires
Some application forms ask direct questions about disability, so you can give all the details you feel are important when completing the form.
If necessary, explain how your disability would affect you in a work environment - or say that it has no practical effect. Focus on your abilities and why you think you're the right person for the job.
If you feel that having a disability, or your life experience due to your disability, increases your ability to do the job, mention this on the part of the application form that asks why you're suitable for the job. If you don't declare a disability, it may be harder to explain its positive aspects later on.
You may also be asked direct questions about disability and health on a medical questionnaire. Whether you will need to fill one out, and at what stage you do this, can depend on the type of job or employer.
Attending interviews
If you're shortlisted for an interview and need practical support, such as a sign language interpreter or help getting to the interview, you should contact the employer to arrange this.
It's much easier for employers to respond to your needs if they can prepare beforehand. It's a good idea to declare a disability before an interview, although legally you don't have to.
If you wait until the interview and you have a disability you haven't told the employer about, it may take them by surprise. They may ask irrelevant questions about your disability that you could have answered simply on the application form. The time should be spent explaining why and how you're the right person for the job, not focusing on issues of disability.
Employers with a commitment to employing people with disabilities
Your decision to declare your disability may be influenced by your judgement about the attitude of a particular employer. The following points may help you make that judgement. Many employers have equal opportunities policies. These organisations will have a certain commitment to recruiting and employing without prejudice.
You may feel more comfortable disclosing a disability if the organisation has an equal opportunities policy.
The Work Psychology Service
The Work Psychology Service delivers employment assessments to a wide range of the people across Northern Ireland with disabilities and health conditions. You can be referred to this service through your local Jobs and Benefits office.
The service complements the work of other advisors or practitioners in dealing with complex cases.
The Work Psychology Service offers an assessment service for anyone in Northern Ireland who has a disability and is struggling in their job as a result of their health condition and/or disability. The assessment will help to identify reasonable adjustments to support them in relevant aspects of their work.
Employers and their employee who wish to be referred for an assessment should at first contact the Work Psychology Service by email or phone:
- email: wps@communities-ni.gov.uk
- phone: 028 9037 6305
During the COVID-19 pandemic both of these services are delivered remotely.
Finding out more at Jobs and Benefits offices
If you're worried about declaring your disability and would like help, talk to your local Jobs and Benefits office. They can help you decide on the best way to explain your suitability for the job. Or, if you would find it helpful, they may contact the employer on your behalf.
Disability discrimination at work
If you think that your employer, or prospective employer, has subjected you to disability discrimination, you may want to consider taking action.
Action to take if you are discriminated against
As a first step, you might want to have an informal discussion with your employer, or prospective employer, about your needs and why you feel you are being discriminated against. Remind the employer of your rights and their responsibilities under the DDA.
If this discussion does not give you a satisfactory outcome, you can make a complaint about your treatment through your employer's internal grievance procedure, if you are already in employment.
If you are still not satisfied, you might want to contact the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, follow the 'Questions Procedure' or make a complaint to an Industrial Tribunal - or all three.
If you wish to make a complaint to an Industrial Tribunal, you must do so within three months of the date of the alleged act of discrimination taking place.
Help and advice from the Equality Commission
The Equality Commission provides free and confidential advice to people who believe they have been subjected to disability discrimination and other forms of unlawful discrimination.
It also gives free general advice to employers and service providers on recommended good practice under the DDA.
For more information, contact the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.
Information about the tribunal process is available on the Equality Commission’s website:
The Questions Procedure
The Questions Procedure allows you to ask for information from an employer that might help you prove whether you have been subjected to unlawful discrimination. To use the Questions Procedure you must get a DDA questionnaire.
You need to fill in the first part of this questionnaire yourself, setting out the reasons why you feel you have been discriminated against - and ask the employer to comment on your claim. You then need to ask the employer to reply to the questionnaire.
Whether you agree with them, your employer's answers in the questionnaire should help you decide if you can resolve the dispute or need to make a complaint to an Industrial Tribunal.
More information is available from the Equality Commission’s website:
Industrial Tribunals and the Fair Employment Tribunal
Industrial Tribunals are independent judicial bodies in Northern Ireland that hear and decide claims to do with employment matters. These include a range of claims about:
- unfair dismissal
- breaking of contract
- wages and other payments
Industrial Tribunals also deal with claims about discrimination on the grounds of:
- sex
- race
- disability
- sexual orientation
- age
- part time working
- equal pay
The Fair Employment Tribunal is an independent judicial body in Northern Ireland. It hears claims about allegations of discrimination on the grounds of religious belief and political opinion in employment.
The Office of the Industrial Tribunals and the Fair Employment Tribunal can give you information about tribunal publications. It can also explain how the tribunal system works and answer general queries about tribunal matters.