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What is Supported Employment?

Over recent years there has been a growing recognition that the supported employment model can provide help for people with disabilities who are at a distance from the labour market. It plays an essential role in empowering and facilitating individuals to lead ordinary lives and is a major route to social inclusion.

Definition of Supported Employment

"Supported Employment is individualised support  to secure people with disabilities, long term conditions and multiple barriers to work a sustainable, paid job in the open labour market". This is concurrent with the European Union of Supported Employment definition. Where:

  • All individuals have the right to end their reliance on welfare benefits
  • Support must be provided by a professional qualified workforce
  • The outcome sought is permanent employment of a sustainable nature with support available when required.

This contributes to the Scottish Government's Fairer, Healthier and Wealthier national outcomes, through a range of positive benefits to service users who pursue this option which include:

  • Reducing poverty and increasing spending power.
  • Combating social inclusion.
  • Improving health and wellbeing
  • Increasing in vocational and soft skills
  • Increasing Independent Living

It offers better outcomes for local and national government by:

  • Reducing the demand on local services with subsequent savings to local authority budgets.
  • Reducing dependency on state benefits, with consequential savings, to the Exchequer.
  • Expanding the pool of labour and reduces the recruitment costs for businesses and employers.
  • Building a more diverse workforce for employers as co workers become more aware of the needs of disabled people and are more responsive to these needs.
  • Reducing the role of carers and parents by giving reduction in their caring commitments.
  • Highlight employment as a key element of social inclusion which increases independence on a level which previously would have been unimaginable.

Read the Blueprint for Supported Employment

Read the Supported Employment Framework for Scotland (Scottish Government, 2010), or log into the Learning Portal to learn more about developments in supported employment in Scotland.