Before the forms
Contact your local Intreo Centre first. You and the employee must agree that the job's tasks or role have to be significantly adapted because of their disability or health condition. That is the test for the hourly payment towards a disabled employee's wages.
The employee must also meet an Employment Services Officer and be registered with the Department as a person with a disability.
What would the subsidy pay?
Put in the hours worked each week.
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The three forms, and who fills in each
| Form | Who fills it in | What it asks for |
|---|---|---|
| WSS1ER, Employer Application Form | You, the employer | Your PAYE number, email addresses for Welfare Partners, and the workplace and its line manager. You sign that the terms meet minimum wage and employment law |
| WSS1EE, Employee Application Form | The employee, one form each. You both sign it | Your details and theirs, their PPS number, the start and proposed finish dates, and agreed hours of 15 to 39 a week |
| WSS2, Work Adaptation Report | You and the employee together | Each main task of the job and how it will be adapted. You certify it and the employee signs to agree |
Two more forms apply only sometimes. The Supplier Set-up Form is a bank mandate, needed if the Department does not hold your current bank details. The Confidential Medical and Functional Capacity Report is completed by the employee's doctor, where medical evidence is needed.
All of them are on the scheme's forms list on gov.ie.
The Work Adaptation Report carries the case
The scheme pays only where the job has to be significantly adapted. WSS2 is where you show that, so it is the form that decides the application.
It is two pages. Beside each main task of the job, you write how it will be adapted, using extra pages if you need them. You certify that you need to significantly adapt the role or tasks because of the employee's reduced work capacity, and the employee signs that they agree.
The guidelines give no list of what counts as significant. Go task by task and say plainly what changes, so an officer who has never seen the job can follow it.
The report matters again later. At each annual review an Employment Services Officer completes a fresh WSS2 with you both and reassesses the adaptations agreed at the start. If fewer or no significant adaptations are needed, the subsidy can stop.
The other papers to attach
- A signed contract of employment for at least six months and at least 15 hours a week. It must show the hours, the gross wage, the length of the contract, and annual, sick, maternity and paternity leave.
- A job description, and a person specification if you have one.
- Tax clearance: a current certificate, or your tax clearance access number with the result of your tax clearance application.
- The bank mandate, if needed.
- Medical evidence, if needed. None is needed if the employee gets Disability Allowance, Blind Pension, Partial Capacity Benefit, or Disablement Benefit at 20% or more for life. Otherwise send a recent specialist's report or doctor's letter, and the confidential report from their doctor.
You can also apply for State money for assistive equipment and changes to the workplace, but the monthly grant for hiring from the Live Register cannot go to the same job.
Where to send it, and the date that counts
Send everything to your local Intreo Centre, or to the Employment Services Officer dealing with the case. The officer checks the forms and the contract and tells you if anything needs to change.
The subsidy is only paid from the date the Department receives your application. If the employee has already started, the weeks before that date are not covered. Send the forms before the start date if you can.
If it is approved, you and the employee each get a letter. Yours gives your employer registration number, the start date and the agreed weekly hours.
If it is refused, you can write within 21 days asking for a review by another officer. There is no appeal to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.
Any later change to the contract, job description or hours needs the Department's written approval at least four weeks beforehand.
What it pays in 2026
The base rate rose in April 2026 from €6.30 to €7.50 an hour, paid on 15 to 39 hours a week. At €7.50:
| Hours a week | Per week | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | €112.50 | €5,850 |
| 20 | €150.00 | €7,800 |
| 30 | €225.00 | €11,700 |
| 39 | €292.50 | €15,210 |
The rate is €8.50 with 7 to 16 employees on the scheme and €10 with 17 or more. With 25 or more, you can apply on form WSS4 for €30,000 a year towards an Employment Assistance Officer.
You can price the subsidy for the weekly hours you are offering.
How you claim every four weeks
- Register for Welfare Partners, the Department's online service for employers. Each person who needs access gets a Revenue DSP sub-certificate through ROS.
- Every four weeks the Department issues a Wage Subsidy Request for each workplace and emails the workplace contact.
- Enter the hours worked each week and the total gross wage for the four weeks. You can pre-fill it with the contracted hours. Explain any difference from those in the comments. If no hours were worked, send a nil return.
- Submit it within 12 weeks of the date it was issued, or the subsidy may not be paid.
- Payment goes to your bank account, with a remittance by email.
Paid annual leave and public holidays count as hours worked. Unpaid leave does not. Keep the records while the subsidy is paid and for six years after, because the Department can inspect them.
Common questions
Where do I get the Wage Subsidy Scheme application form?
On the Wage Subsidy Scheme page on gov.ie, or at an Intreo Centre. The current editions of WSS1ER, WSS1EE and WSS2 are dated February 2025, so an older copy found elsewhere may be out of date.
Can I apply after the employee has started?
Generally yes, if they have been in the job for less than 12 months. But the subsidy is only paid from the date the Department receives the application, so the weeks before that are not covered.
Who signs the Work Adaptation Report?
Both of you. The employer certifies that the role or tasks need significant adaptation, and the employee signs to say they agree. At each annual review an Employment Services Officer completes a new one with you both.
Does the employee need a medical report?
Not if they get Disability Allowance, Blind Pension, Partial Capacity Benefit, or Disablement Benefit at 20% or more for life. Otherwise their doctor completes the Confidential Medical and Functional Capacity Report, backed by a recent specialist's report or doctor's letter.
Keep reading
- a yearly employer payment for apprentices on the newer programmes
- the 2026 list of grants for a business that is already trading
- grants trade by trade, from pubs and salons to builders
Where this comes from
- gov.ie, Wage Subsidy Scheme
- gov.ie, Operational Guidelines: Wage Subsidy Scheme (updated 22 May 2026)
- gov.ie, Employer Application Form WSS1ER (February 2025)
- gov.ie, Employee Application Form WSS1EE (February 2025)
- gov.ie, Work Adaptation Report form WSS2 (February 2025)
- gov.ie, Confidential Medical and Functional Capacity Report (WSS DCMA)
- gov.ie, Supplier Set-up Form (V07-2025)
- Houses of the Oireachtas, written answer of 10 June 2026 on employer disability supports
- gov.ie, Work and Access
Checked on 3 October 2026. We are an independent guide, not a government service. Rules change, so confirm the detail on the official page before you apply.