Sheltered employment

Sheltered employment, for Supported Living Payment eligibility purposes, is employment that:

• is a contracted business enterprise (formerly known as "sheltered workshops") or
• has been designed to cater for the needs of a person who is severely disabled

Sheltered employment provides an environment in which the person, who is severely disabled, can work, notwithstanding their physical or mental impairment.

Note open employment is any other employment. The need to review Supported Living Payment entitlement based on the hours of employment only applies if your client is regularly working in open employment.

Also note the meaning of open employment for employment programmes and services is different. This means a client working in sheltered employment and receiving Supported Living Payment may be eligible for open employment assistance under employment programmes and services.

For more information see:

• Open employment for employment and training services

You need to consider each client's working environment on a case by case basis to determine if they are in sheltered employment.

To decide if your client is working in sheltered employment, you will need to talk with your client and their employer. Your local Employment Co-ordinator may be the most appropriate person to talk to the employer.

Note all types of employees (e.g. full-time, self-employed, supported or contract workers) could be considered as being in sheltered employment if their employment conditions have been specifically designed to cater for the needs of a severely disabled employee.

For more information see:

• Guidelines for sheltered employment
• Process for decisions
• One-off environmental change is not sheltered employment