Employers FAQ

Usually, no — employing a person with a disability does not automatically increase your insurance costs in Ireland. Insurers mainly assess the type of work, workplace risks, claims history, and your health and safety measures. An employee’s disability alone is not usually a reason for higher premiums.
Your duty as an employer is to provide reasonable accommodations where needed. This may include adapting equipment, duties, or workplace access. Insurance costs would only be likely to rise if there is a specific added risk in the role or workplace. The key is to assess the job properly and keep your safety procedures up to date.
So in practice, hiring a person with a disability should not by itself increase your insurance costs.

EmployAbility Service Louth is a free recruitment service providing a professional and practical approach to meeting your recruitment needs. Through extensive profiling and job matching we provide effective recruitment which promotes equality and inclusion across all employment sectors. Our ongoing and specialised support can reduce your training and recruitment costs. We strive at all times to find the right person for the right job and create good job matches. We want to assist you as an employer to create equal opportunities with positive outcomes for both parties. To achieve our goals we really need to give you a good service that meets your needs as an employer.

Yes, except in the following circumstances.

There are some exceptions to those entitled to receive the national minimum wage. The legislation does not apply to a person employed by a close relative (for example, a spouse or parent) nor does it apply to those in statutory apprenticeships. Also some employees such as young people under 18 and trainees are only guaranteed a reduced or sub-minimum rate of the national minimum wage.

Yes. A Wage Subsidy Scheme is available through INTREO for an employee with a disability where there is a productivity shortfall. Where the employee is paid the National Minimum Wage of €14.15, the Subsidy is €7.50 per hour, for a job of at least 15 hours per week. We provide assistance in the administration of these financial incentives on behalf of an employer.

Our service is free and can significantly reduce the cost of selection and recruitment in these challenging times. In addition, many employers are eligible for the Wage Subsidy Scheme as well as many other grants and financial supports which can be accessed through the reasonable accommodation fund. We provide assistance in the administration of these financial incentives on behalf of an employer.

For the full details of all available grants please visit our Grants for Employers page.

Our screening process involves the scrutiny of each of our client’s attributes including their knowledge, experience and transferable skills. For any position an employer is seeking to fill we would usually be able to shortlist 3 or 4 highly qualified individuals for your consideration from our large pool of job seekers. The selection process may then include an unpaid job trial or working interview for the preferred candidate, as agreed between the employer, the candidate, and the Job Coach.

Each of our clients has a dedicated Employment Facilitator who is there to provide advice and guidance to the employer and to create the best opportunity for a smooth and successful integration of their new employee into the company. This may include disability awareness training or information on what reasonable accommodations a person may need in order to perform their role and contribute to the success of the company. Our ongoing support is tailored to meet the individual requirements of the employer; this provides the maximum assistance to each employment situation.

EmployAbility Service Louth offers a comprehensive job matching, recruitment advice and employment support service for the business community. As well as having available a pool of fully qualified, skilled and conscientious job seekers drawn from every field of industry, we also screen our candidates to fit your precise labour requirements.

Our recruitment advice service is then available to address any query you may have in enabling a suitable candidate to take up a position in your company.

Once our client is in post our employment support service is only a phone call away to provide ongoing advice and guidance.

We can also support employers who are already employing people with a disability but who may be facing difficulties as a result of their condition.

Our service is fully funded by The Department of Social Protection and provided completely free of charge.

Customers often appreciate that a business is making an effort to employ people with disabilities. Employing people with a disability can attract and maintain a wider customer base. Promoting inclusion and addressing the large scale unemployment experienced by people with disabilities is an important expression of responsibility (both corporate and community).

Just like any other staff member, if it's not working out you try and sort out any difficulties. Through EmployAbility Service Louth you have the assistance of a facilitator to support you as well as the new employee. Solutions can usually be found, but if it's not possible, the employment may come to an end as it would with any employee in accordance with your terms and conditions of employment. However this is a rare occurrence as having the support of the EmployAbility Service Louth means that troubleshooting is always the best way forward.

If you have no vacancies at the moment you may be able to provide someone with the opportunity to gain valuable experience with your business without any monetary outlay or cost to you.

At EmployAbility Service Louth we believe that employing people with disabilities makes good business sense. There are around 40 million consumers across the European Union with a disability. Promoting social inclusion and addressing the large scale unemployment experienced by people with disabilities is an important expression of responsibility (both corporate and community). Furthermore, research shows that providing equal opportunities for all candidates in recruitment gives the widest choice of applicants, helps to overcome skills shortages, improves job satisfaction and raises employee morale generally. In short, having a diverse workforce which includes people with a disability is good employment practice and makes great business sense!

As with all staff members, the same terms and conditions apply to an employee receiving support from EmployAbility Service Louth.

If you want to find out more about our service please call EmployAbility Service Louth on 042-9386718 email or find us on Facebook.