What work am I permitted to do on ESA?
You can do some work while you claim and still get the same amount of ESA! This is called permitted work. Any work you do will be permitted work if you earn less than £20 a week, and you can also do permitted work if you earn less than £152 a week and work less than 16 hours a week.
You can do some work while you claim and still get the same amount of ESA!
There used to be a 52-week rule for people in the work-related activity group (WRAG) that said you could only do permitted work in the WRAG for no more than 52 weeks. This rule no longer exists from 17th April 2017 so from that date, all ESA claimants can do permitted work for as long as they want!
Supported permitted work
Supported permitted work is work that is part of your treatment, or is supervised by someone who arranges work for disabled people.
This might be someone from the local authority or a voluntary organisation and as long as you don’t earn more than £152 a week, it offers the opportunity for you to carry out supported permitted work without affecting your ESA.
It’s important to note that you need to tell the DWP if you do any supported permitted work. If they think your ability to work has changed, they may ask you to do another work capability assessment.
