We have now seen a few cases emerge where Deaf people who work in Deaf organisations are being told that they cannot get Access to Work support because if the organisation employed a non-disabled person they would still need an interpreter to work with their Deaf clients. They are saying that this isn’t an additional expense of employing a disabled person. This is known as “additionality”.

We are currently looking into the legalities of this. 

Having experienced, “job redesign”, and “non-communication days”, we are now facing this new challenge to Deaf people gaining employment. 

It has yet to be seen whether or not Access to Work will try to apply this rule to Deaf social workers or other government funded staff who work with the Deaf community.  We will be watching closely. 

If you have experienced this, or know anyone who has, please contact us by emailing: emilysmith2007@mail.com or via Twitter @emilysmith2007 #StopChanges2AtW.