Grants for Employers

The following Grants and supports are available to employers to assist them. To find out more or apply for any of these please contact your local Intreo, Employment office or EmployAbility Service Office.

• Wage Subsidy Scheme provides financial incentives to employers, outside the public sector, to employ a person with a disability. The employee must work for 21 hours or more per week. A person on the Wage Subsidy Scheme is subject to the same conditions of employment as other employees. These conditions include PRSI contributions, annual leave, tax deductions and the going rate for the job. The rate of subsidy is €6.30 per hour and is based on the number of hours worked, giving a total annual subsidy available of €12,776.40 per annum based on 39 hour week.

• Disability Awareness Training A grant is available to provide funding so that employers in the private sector can invest in Disability Awareness Training for their staff. The purpose of the training is to deliver clear and accurate information about disability and to address questions or concerns that employers and employees may have about working with people with disabilities.

• JobsPlus is an incentive from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection to encourage and reward employers who offer employment opportunities to the long term unemployed. Grants of €7,500 and €10,000 are available.

• JobsPlus Youth is an expansion of the JobsPlus employer incentive scheme, and will see employers receive cash grants to assist with wage costs when they hire persons under the age of 25 on Jobseekers 4 months qualifying period and amounts.

• The Work Placement Experience Programme (WPEP) is a 6-month, 30 hour per week voluntary work experience programme. The programme is for jobseekers that are currently getting a qualifying social welfare payment and who have been unemployed for six months (156 days) or more.
  The weekly rate of payment is €311.
  See the qualifying list on the gov.ie website.
  If you would like to re-train and gain experience in another type of employment, this programme can help you build new skills and gain work experience. You cannot take a placement where you already have built up experience in the role.
  You can work part-time while you are on the programme, provided the part-time work does not impact your placement. The part-time work cannot be with the WPEP host.

• Workplace Equipment / Adaptation Grant If you are a disabled person who has been offered employment or are in employment, and require a more accessible workplace or adapted equipment to do your job, you or your employer may be able to get a grant towards the costs of adapting premises or equipment from The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, (currently up to €6,350).

• Employee Retention Grant Scheme (ERGS) This scheme enables employers to retain the services of an employee who acquires a disability that impacts on their ability to continue to do their job.
  Through the ERGS, an employee may be offered re-training so that they can undertake alternate duties, or modified techniques may be devised to enable them to continue doing the same job.

• Personal Reader Grant If you are blind or visually impaired and you need assistance with job-related reading, you may be entitled to a grant to allow you to employ a Personal Reader.
  The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection will pay a fee per hour, in line with minimum wage. It will be paid up to a maximum of 640 hours per annum.

Wage Subsidy Scheme Examples

Minimum rate of pay = €10.50 per hour

Examples