Transferring part-funded access to work equipment to new employer?

HannahRD

Hi all,

I am new to the community - one of the helpline advisors suggested this might be the best place to get advice/insight into a very specific challenge I am facing. 

I am moving jobs and my current employer has agreed to transfer my equipment that was fully funded by AtW to my new employer, BUT one item (an ipad and some related equipment) was only part funded, even though I applied to AtW on my third day of work, as AtW designated it a 'business benefit' item, meaning they felt it would be beneficial for my organisation , not just me (even though my boss explained we literally cannot use Apple items with our system). This was at the end of a long journey with access to work that required extensive battaling as they had initially denied all funding through a lack of understanding on the DWP advisors part. It was incredibly stressful and upsetting, especially as I was obviously still very new in my role. My employer has said they will sell this item to me, but at a cost of £100s that I cannot afford.

Does anyone have any advice on getting part funded items transferred to a new employer? I am so desperate not to have to battle with AtW again as it really effected my confidence and mental health last time and caused a huge flare up in one of my conditions.

Any advice would be incredibly welcome, thank you

Tori_Scope

Hello and welcome to the community @HannahRD Thanks for joining and posting your question.

We've done a little research into this, and it does unfortunately look as though your employer has the right to keep that equipment, or sell it onto you, if they choose. They don't have to give it to you for free. This is because they're the ones to receive the AtW grant, so they're the purchaser. 

Have you spoken to your company's HR department? Are they the ones who confirmed you could transfer over the fully-funded equipment to your new job?

Did the company pay for the remainder of that part-funded piece of equipment?

I think perhaps your only option, other than buying it from the company, is to reapply when you move jobs. I've sent some colleagues from our assistive tech team an email about this, just to confirm that this is correct, and to see whether they have any other advice or tips they can offer. 

Here's a Scope information page on keeping disability equipment for reference.

Andy_Scope

Hi @HannahRD

Apart from the options that @Tori_Scope says your current employer owns the equipment.  Apart from the options above your other option is to talk to your new employer and ask if they are willing to pay your old employer for the equipment.

The reason you can use with your new employer is that with the kit that's being released for free and them buying the rest of the kit you can be up and running effectively from day 1.

They may not like the idea of buying used equipment that they could have 100% funding for.  If that's put forward I'd point out that currently Access to Work (AtW) have considerable delays and as you experienced previously Access to Work expect employers to pay 100% of the costs for equipment that they (AtW) consider to be a business essential, and they'll end up paying that amount (or more) anyway if you apply for funding.

I if your old employer wants all the money that they paid out and the kit is older than 1 year I'd ask them to reduce the amount that they want as its old and normally businesses devalue kit over time.

  

HannahRD

Thank you both for your advice - it's hugely appreciated. I'm now in further discussion with my employer about how I might be able to pay for the items and how much they plan to charge. I cannot face going through Access to work for anything more than the most basic things next time as I had such an awful experiance last time, so feel very relieved that my employer has now relented and is considering a more reasonable route both in terms of cost and payment. Thank you again. 

Tori_Scope

It's good to hear that your current employer is relenting a bit @HannahRD Please do keep us updated, as I'm sure that others could benefit from reading about your experiences. You can also let us know if you have any further questions of course. 

Please also feel free to stick around and join in with some of the other discussions our members post. You can see a list of our most recent discussions here, or get to know other members in the coffee lounge.

P.S. our social media team passed on to us the tweet you put out. Thanks for your kind words