Esa and work

Claiming ESA if you work

You might be able to work and still claim ESA. It depends on how much you’ll get paid and the hours you do.

Permitted work

If you do ‘permitted work’ it will not usually affect your ESA. It’s permitted work if both the following apply:

• you earn up to £125.50 a week
• you work less than 16 hours a week

There’s no limit on how many weeks your permitted work can last for.

Supported permitted work

You can do ‘supported permitted work’ and earn up to £125.50 a week. Supported permitted work must be one of the following:

• part of a treatment programme
• supervised by someone from a local council or voluntary organisation whose job it is to arrange work for disabled people

When you start working

Fill in form PW1 and send it to the Jobcentre Plus office that deals with your benefit.

You need to tell Jobcentre Plus if you do any volunteer work (this normally does not affect your ESA).