Employed Persons Allowance

At its sitting on 17 January 2012 Tynwald approved a new social security benefit to be introduced from 31 January 2012. Employed Person’s Allowance (EPA) will replace two existing benefits called Family Income Supplement (FIS) and Disability Working Allowance (DWA). The introduction of EPA has several benefits: it will simplify the process for eligible people who are in work but on low incomes such that they need financial assistance, it will achieve efficiency savings for the Department of Social Care, and it will reduce the amount of legislation Tynwald needs to consider each year. Employed Person’s Allowance is an income-related benefit available to certain people who work and have a relatively low income. The rates of allowance are the same as currently available for FIS and DWA. The rates of allowance will not change, so recipients will continue to receive the same levels of support. The Department will shortly be contacting all existing FIS and DWA recipients to advise them of the change.