Employment Support Allowance

Employment and support allowance (ESA) was introduced on October 27th 2008. It is paid to people whose ability to work is limited by disability or ill health

Employment and support allowance replaces both incapacity benefit and income support paid on the grounds of incapacity.

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Qualifying criteria for Employment Support Allowance

All claimants must:

• have a limited capability for work. You must have been unable to work for four consecutive days. Whether or not you have a limited capability will be determined by the assessment process (see below for more details) and;
• be over the age of 16 but have not yet reached pensionable age and;
• be resident in Great Britain except for periods of temporary absence and;
• not be entitled to Income Support and;
• not be entitled to Jobseekers Allowance or be a member of a couple entitled to joint-claim Jobseekers Allowance;
• not be in a period of entitlement to statutory sick pay
• pass the contributions test or the low income test(see below).

Men reach pensionable age on their 65th birthday. Currently women are pensionable from their 60th birthday but this will gradually increase to 65 over the next 11 years. Women born before 6.4.50 will be pensionable on their 60th birthday. Women born after 5.4.55 will be pensionable on their 65th birthday.

Women born between 6.4.50 and 5.4.55 will be pensionable somewhere between their 60th and 65th birthday. Appendix 1 to chapter 41 of the DWP's Decision Makers Guide has a month by month breakdown of the respective dates.

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The ESA assessment process.

All applicants for ESA will be required to undergo an assessment process. This process has four main components-

• The limited capability for work test. This test determines whether your health or disability limits your ability to obtain a job. If you pass this test then you remain on Employment and Support Allowance. If you fail then you should claim jobseekers' allowance instead.
• The limited capability for work-related activity test. This determines whether claimants are placed in either the support group or the work-related activity group. Those in the support group will not be required to undertake work-related activities.
• The work-focused health-related assessment. This is only undertaken by those claimants that have been placed in the work-related activity group. It is carried out by a healthcare professional and its findings are used as the basis for discussion at the work-focused interview.
• The work-focused interview. Those applicants who are placed in the work-related activity group are required to attend six of these interviews. At interview an action plan will be drawn up with a view to getting you back into work. Failure to attend or participate in these interviews will result in sanctions being applied to your benefit.

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Rates of payment

What level of ESA you get will depend on whether you qualify for contribution-based ESA or income-related ESA or a combination of both. Our ESA rates page gives full details. You will be paid a lower rate during the 13 week assessment phase (see above) and a higher rate when you are in the "main" phase. People who are placed in the support group will receive more than those placed in the work-related group.

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The contributory allowance and the income-related allowance.

The contributory allowance replaces incapacity benefit and is based on your national insurance contribution record. You will need to have paid a certain level of national insurance contributions over a set number of years. If you meet this requirement then you will receive a flat-rate benefit. People under the age of 20 who have a limited capability for work will not need to meet the contributory requirements. This also applies to people under 25 who have been in education or approved training.

The income-related allowance replaces income support paid on the grounds of incapacity. It is intended to provide for your basic living costs and can help towards mortgage interest payments. Your needs and those of your partner (if you have one) will be compared with your resources - the income-related allowance will be calculated from this comparison.

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Applying for Employment and Support Allowance

To apply for Employment and Support Allowance you can-

• telephone 0800 055 6688 between 8-6pm Monday-Friday or
• if you have speech or hearing impairment you can phone the DWP textphone service on 0800 023 4888 or
• claim online for Employment and Support Allowance. Please note that you will need to register with the Government Gateway in order to access this service or
• download the Employment and Support Allowance application pack in pdf format (at the bottom of the page) from the Jobcentreplus site. You can also obtain guidance notes for the pack and for the work capability assessment from this page.

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Sanctions

Those claimants that are placed in the work-related activity group will be required to attend and participate in a work-focused health-related assessment and a series of work-focused interviews. Those who fail to attend or participate will be sanctioned. Your benefit will be cut by £12 for each of the first four weeks of non-attendance and by £24 for each subsequent week.

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Appeals

Nearly all ESA decisions carry the right of appeal. Most ESA appeals are likely to relate to:

• the medical assessments;
• the means test;
• the work-seeking conditions.

Appeals about the medical assessments are likely to be heard by a two-person tribunal made up of a lawyer and a doctor.

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