Understanding the journeys from work to ESA

DWP has published research which seeks to understand how people move from work to claiming Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).

Main findings

• Around one-fifth (19 per cent) of all claimants moved straight from work to claiming ESA without any period of sickness absence. A further 45 per cent did have a period of sickness absence prior to leaving work (36 per cent were paid and 9 per cent unpaid). The remainder, 36 per cent, were unemployed immediately before making their ESA claim.
• Of those who were in work immediately before making their ESA claim, 29 per cent moved straight from work to claiming ESA without any period of sickness absence. This is a much lower than the 57 per cent reported in the DWP research published in 20112.
• Those most at risk of leaving work without a period of sickness absence were: on a casual or agency contract; new to their job or part- time workers.
• Claimants with mental health conditions were more likely to report an attachment to the labour market and a greater appetite for accessing support services offered by employers. However those with mental health conditions were: less likely to have discussed their condition with their employer or to find adjustments helpful; and more likely to feel employers had not been supportive or to be unemployed immediately prior to their ESA claim.
• Only one-third of all claimants (33 percent) had access to an employer provided occupational health (OH) service. Claimants who had used this service, where it was available, were more likely to have had a period of paid sickness absence, to still be formally employed when claiming ESA and to have received workplace adjustments (compared with those who had access to OH but did not use it).

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/understanding-the-journeys-fr...