Applying for Access to Work

To make a new application, you will need to give AtW your National Insurance Number, your work address and contact details, and a description of the work you will do. You may be asked to keep a work diary for a short time, so that you can accurately estimate the amount of time you need support for.

The in-house interpreting co-ordinator is responsible for completing the monthly claim forms, so in order to make it easier to discuss any queries that arise with individual claims, please also fill in an authorisation form, which allows the named person to raise queries on your behalf. You do not have to fill in this form if you don’t want to, it is only for administrative convenience.

Once the application is made you may receive a request for a workplace assessment, when an assessor from AtW comes to a meeting at your workplace and asks questions about your day to day job. On the basis of this and a work diary, AtW will assess your needs and email you, informing you of how many hours you will be allocated, and how much it will cost. Please send a copy to the interpreting co-ordinator.

Since April 2016 there has been a cap placed on the total amount allowed as a yearly claim. This is not your total budget, it is a guideline limit. No spending will be allowed beyond that limit in any one year, but you will be expected to keep within your allocated budget. For example, you might be given a budget of 20 hours per month at £25 per hour for in-house support, plus 9 hours per month at £45 per hour for freelance support, giving you a total budget per year of 29*12=348 hours. If you use all your allocation, this means you would spend £6000 for in-house support and £4860 for freelance support. If you need to spend more, you will need to contact your AtW adviser to ask for an extension.

The interpreter co-ordinator deals with the monthly claim forms, so all you need to do is check the figures against your bookings on the BSL Beam, and if you agree, sign the forms. There are two forms: the large form with everyone’s portion of the shared in-house interpreting costs on it, and the smaller one, with your individual freelance costs on it. Copies of the invoices will be attached to the forms for you to check. The forms will not be sent off to AtW until they have been signed, so please sign them promptly at the beginning of each month, so that DCAL can reclaim the money it has already spent on your behalf.

If any of your details change (for example if you move house, or parts of your job change), you will need to fill in a change of details form, and email it to AtW. Please also send a copy to the in-house interpreting co-ordinator (unless it’s your bank details: we don’t want to know that kind of personal detail).

If you have any special adaptations for your work, AtW can pay for them, if you tell them as soon as you are aware you need them. You will need to give details of exactly what your needs are, and they will come an assess you for the new piece of equipment, as necessary.