The Department of Social Protection has expanded the wage subsidy scheme, which aims to support more people with disabilities in gaining employment. The scheme assists with the costs of modifying roles for employees and offers a subsidy ranging from €6.30 to €9.45 per hour, depending on the number of workers participating in the scheme. 

What does this imply for businesses:  

If a job requires employees to carry 20kg during their working hours, but that employee can only carry 5kg of the required weight due to a disability or the disability restricts their ability to perform such a task, the scheme can be used to pay the employer to change the role or pay to cover the cost of the 15kg that remains. This payment is only available to the business that employs the person directly, and not any other third parties on behalf of the employer or employee.  

The scheme is paid directly to the employer, who pays the employee as usual, and if your business is getting this grant for an employee, it cannot apply for any other financial assistance to the department for the same employee. If the business has already applied for financial assistance from the government, it cannot apply for the wage subsidy scheme.  

Eligible Employers  

Employers from the non-public sector who are tax compliant can avail themselves of this scheme. Working hours for employees with disability covered by the scheme are from 15 – 39 hours, though employers can offer more than these hours, but the scheme only covers the mentioned hours. 

Employees Covered 

Employees in your work environment can be covered under this scheme if they meet the following criteria: 

• If they’re 18 and over, up to retirement 
• Have a disability or health condition that impacts their ability to work and requires the employer to adapt the role to fit the needs of the employee 
• Must have an employment contract for at least 6 months  
• Must be working at least 15 hours a week 
• They can be new, continuing or returning to work on partial capacity benefit for the last 12 months and must have been in work for less than 12 months.  

Reminder: The employee does not need to be on any disability payment to qualify, but if they receive such payments, they need no further medical assessment.  

Employees covered in this scheme must also meet the general employment requirements, such as:  

• Must have Social Insurance (PRSI) contribution 
• Tax deduction 
• Annual leave 
• Other leave entitlement 

Rate of Subsidy 

The subsidy is based on how many people the employer hires and is based on three strands.  

Strand 1 base wage payment to employers who hire a person with a disability is €6.30 per hour. 

Strand 2 payment increases automatically as the employer hires more employees with disabilities, and the payments are as follows: 

Strand 3 is for those employers who employ 25 or more employees and are bound to receive up to €30,000 towards the cost of employing an Employment Assistance Officer. 

Reminder: A company is entitled to not more than 5 Employment Assistance Officers paid for in this strand.  

How to Apply 

To apply for the scheme, the employer and employee must do the following: 

• The employer fills out the employer application form  
• The employee fills out the employee application form and meets an Employment Services Officer from the department to register on the WSS system as someone with a disability 
• The employer and employee agree that the employee has a limited ability to do their job due to their disability or health condition, and as a result, the job’s tasks or role must be significantly adapted 
• The employer must have tax clearance – the employer should provide a tax clearance access number and a printout of the tax clearance application result for electronic tax clearance as proof of this. The subsidy cannot be paid without an up-to-date tax clearance certificate. 
• The employer must also provide a signed contract of employment detailing the terms and conditions of employment, including gross wage, job description (and person specification if available), annual leave, sick leave, and maternity/paternity leave entitlements. The contract of employment must be for a minimum of 6 months 

If an application is approved, the department will inform both the employer and employee to confirm the terms of approval. 

Relevant links: 

• Employer Application: Wage Subsidy Scheme (WSS1ER) 
• Employee Application: Wage Subsidy Scheme (WSS1EE) 
• Work Adaptation Report Form: Wage Subsidy Scheme (WSS2) 
• Application Form for Strand 3: Wage Subsidy Scheme (WSS4) 
• Supplier Set-up Form (V06-2020) 
• Wage Subsidy Scheme: Confidential Medical and Functional Capacity Report (WSS DCMA) 

    Visit Gov.ie to learn more.