What is Work Assist?

Work Assist is a free service funded by the Australian Government that helps both employees and employers. We support employees experiencing challenges to maintain their employment and ensure that employers keep their experienced and qualified employees.  

I’m an employee, how can Work Assist help me? 

Our Work Assist program helps people with life challenges, injury, disability, or a health condition to continue working in their job. We work alongside and support you to maintain your employment even through challenging times. 

Work Assist can help you by: 

• Providing access to Ability Options therapy services, such as counselling, to help manage life and work stress. If we don’t have the right support service, we will direct you to one of our trusted partners 
• Redesigning your job so you can keep working 
• Helping to adjust your workplace, including workplace assessments, workplace modifications or reasonable adjustments  
• Giving you dedicated equipment to help you to keep working 

To be eligible, you need to:  

• Have worked at least eight hours per week for 13 consecutive weeks  
• Be currently employed and working at least eight hours a week 
• Not studying full-time 
• Be an Australian resident or a Temporary Protection Visa (TBV) or Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (SHEV) holder  
• Aged between 14 – 65 years old 

Achieve more with Work Assist — whether you’re an employer or employee

By enrolling in one of our Work Assist programs, employers and employees can benefit from better job performance. The program was created to help employees hone their skills through practice and to help employers who need to polish up their current staff skills or look for recruits. Work Assist allows individuals to develop creative solutions that will de-mystify any challenge that stands in their way, boosting productivity and output.

Find solutions to challenging workplace problems with Work Assist

Navigating life challenges can make it difficult for employees to stay on the job. With Ability Options Work Assist programs, that doesn’t have to be a stressful experience. From improving job productivity to developing or refining challenging solutions, Work Assist from Ability Options is designed for employers and employees who want more out of life in the workplace. Work Assist provides easy access to tailored supports and strategies so affected employees are better placed to stay in their current roles. 

The program is an all-inclusive service that benefits workers and businesses by allowing them to retain valuable team members. Whether it is increased confidence that leads you to straightened paths of success or fresh perspectives on defeating obstacles before them — join us as we rediscover new possibilities!

Work Assist — the essential program for employment improvement

Work Assist can also equip employers with instrumental resources and best practice advice on making reasonable workplace adjustments, where appropriate and providing assurance access when needed. At its heart, Work Assist focuses on giving workers the practical guidance they need to remain productive whilst fulfilling these important goals — such as providing modified work hours or taking adequate sick leave if their condition becomes extreme enough.

Contact us to get started!

Why choose us? 

We’ll keep working until we reach an outcome that meets the needs of everyone involved. As an employee, we provide you with personalised support to help you maintain your job. We also stay in touch, offering support to make sure everything is running smoothly.  

I’m an employer, how can Work Assist help me? 

Employees are the most valuable asset in any business. Our Work Assist program can help you to support your employees that may be finding it difficult to meet the needs of their job. With the right support, your employees can continue to be valuable members of your team and contribute to the success of your business. 

The program is aimed at employees experiencing challenging circumstance like injury, disability or a health condition. We work alongside you to retrain, adjust, support and retain your valuable employees.  

Why do I need to retain employees? 

There are many benefits to holding on to skilled employees. Replacing your employees creates more work, is time consuming and can put a strain on your resources. Plus, replacing an employee can cost almost as much as their annual wage!  

Building positive relationships with your employees and maintaining their talent through Work Assist is one way to help you succeed as an employer.  

How does the program work?  

1. First, our experienced job support consultants meet with you to identify the barriers preventing your staff from performing their duties and maintaining their employment. 
2. Next, we work with both you and your staff member, or just the staff member directly. Where appropriate, we include team mates and management in the process, to help build an encouraging work environment. This way, the employee’s team members can learn, understand and support each other’s needs. 
3. We then provide advice and assistance to both you and your employee, including strategies to overcome existing barriers. Additional support can then be provided for a minimum of six months. 

Supports we can provide include: 

• Physiotherapy 
• Occupational therapy 
• Pain management 
• Counselling sessions 
• Setting up workplace assessments 
• Arranging modifications to the employee’s workspace 
• Suggesting ways to redesign certain aspects of the job 
• Learning sessions for the broader team 

Why choose us? 

Ability Options is a large employment service provider in NSW with an extensive network of industry contacts and community partners, to help employers build and maintain successful teams.  

Our team is driven by our mission to support people in the community who need assistance to achieve their aspirations and inclusion in the community. This means we are focused on helping people, like your employees who need extra support, have every opportunity to be their best self at work.  

We live by our values – Trust, Inclusion, Courage, Respect and Leadership – providing our employer partners the confidence in our approach and commitment.