Permitted work in support group for ESA

Vicky05
Vicky05 Online Community Member Posts: 4 Listener
in Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

Hi there 😊


I am currently in the support group on ESA and I am still employed in my job with the NHS. I am looking at the possibility of working 1-2 hours a week to start with to try and keep my job and professional registration in place. I am going to try and work up to being able to work one day a week which will be 7.5-8 hours. I am trying to find some advice on if I am allowed to do this work when I’m in the support group? And what the implications are of me letting the DWP know I want to start permitted work as I am really concerned they will cut or stop my benefits.

I have tried numerous times to contact the job centre as my last appointment with my work coach was in December and all other appointments have been cancelled and never rearranged. There’s no direct number for my job centre so I get through to a national line to be told they will contact my local job centre and request a call back within 3 working hours and they never call back within that time frame. So I missed the call last time and was told via voicemail that the appointments haven’t been rearranged and they’ll contact me at some point in the future. I called ESA today and was on hold for an hour and a half, I finally got through to be told I was being transferred to another department and they sent me through to a fax number and then I was cut off!

I did contact citizens advice who were able to give me some generic advice and send me the permitted work form which was helpful but I am wondering if anyone else can let me know if they’ve been though this process of letting the DWP know about permitted work? And were your benefits affected?


Thank you so much!

Comments

  • flour
    flour Online Community Member Posts: 110 Empowering

    Hello @Vicky05

    You can do work whilst claiming ESA in the support group. This is called permitted work (PW).

    You can work up to 15h 59m per week and earn up to £195 pw. E.g. 2 hours at £90 per hour is fine.

    My advice is to send a Freepost letter to the ESA office of your claim informing them you are starting work, how many hours, how much you'll be paid, how often, and who your employer is. Then they can write to you with more questions usually in the form of a Permitted Work form. Or you can fill out the PW form from Citizens Advice and send it in.

    You don't need to speak to anyone at ESA or JCP to start PW.

    You can be reviewed by ESA at any time. You can do an SAR at gov.uk and ask for a copy of your ESA file, included in this will be the WCA details including the next review point.

    Provided the work does not directly conflict with your ESA WCA descriptors and report you should be fine (a copy would be provided in the SAR). Such as, in the report you cannot lift anything above shoulder height, but at work you're lifting boxes over your head as part of your duties.

    Just to check, your current employment with the NHS. Whats happening with this at the moment with hours, pay, sick pay, contract etc…?

    Hope this helps

  • MW123
    MW123 Scope Member Posts: 1,204 Championing
    edited April 22

    @Vicky05 Firstly, welcome to Scope.

    I have found official government guidance that outlines the details of permitted work while receiving ESA. This guidance was last updated on 7 April 2025, making it highly relevant and potentially helpful in answering some of your questions. Here is the link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employment-and-support-allowance-permitted-work-form/permitted-work-factsheet P.S. I’m not sure if this applies to you, as you’re still with your employer, but hopefully, you find it helpful. Wishing you the best with trying work for a few hours, hope everything goes well for you!

  • Vicky05
    Vicky05 Online Community Member Posts: 4 Listener

    @flour thank you so much that’s all really helpful to know. And great that I don’t need to contact the DWP or job centre before starting permitted work so I’ll try and fill out the PW form and get it sent off to them. Could you let me know what SAR means? As I’m not sure what that is!

    In terms of my job I’m not currently being payed and not getting sick pay. I’ve not worked since 2022 so I’ve been waiting for them to end my contract. I was previously employed full time so my contract will need to be changed. I’ve been offered a very phased return, working from home for 1-2 hours a week to begin with and see how I get on with that as I want to try and see if I can try and keep my current job.

  • Vicky05
    Vicky05 Online Community Member Posts: 4 Listener

    @MW123 thank you for the lovely welcome and for the really helpful link 😊

  • Dav1D
    Dav1D Online Community Member Posts: 32 Contributor

    Hi, may I just ask if you are in the support group, for ESA, (as am I, LCWRA group), why do you have a work coach, and have appointments with a work coach?

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