Connect to Work – Eligibility Criteria
Who is Eligible?
Connect to Work is a free, voluntary employment support programme for people who are not currently in paid work and face barriers to employment, belong to a disadvantaged group or who are in work but are at risk of losing their job because of their long term health condition or disability
For full eligibility and suitability criteria click HERE
Connect to Work supports these groups of people
- Have a disability or long-term health condition, or is one of the specified list of disadvantaged groups.
- Offenders (someone who is serving a community service) or ex-offender (someone who has completed a custodial or community sentence)
- Carers
- Ex-carers
- Homeless people
- Former member of Armed Forces (HMAF), a member of HMAF reserves, or a partner of current or former Armed Forces personnel
- People for whom a drug or alcohol dependency, including a history of dependency, presents a significant barrier to employment
- Care experienced young person or a care leaver
- Refugees, a resettled Afghan
- People on the Ukrainian scheme
- Victims or survivor of domestic abuse
- Young people identified as being involved or at risk of being involved in serious violence
- Victims of modern slavery
To be eligible for support you must
- Be entitled to work in UK and receive support
- Be out of work and not required to seek employment as a condition of receiving benefits
- Be of working age, aged 18 or more in England, or in exceptional circumstances, aged 16 or 17 (for example, if they are not in education or employment)
- Have the right to work in the UK
- Have the right to live in the UK and are resident in England or Wales
- Not belong to a group which has no entitlement to public funds without the right to work. (People with No Recourse to Public Funds in the UK but have the right to work in the UK can access Connect to Work (if they meet other criteria)
- Not be on another DWP employment programme
- Be available to participate in Connect to Work
