Employment Injury Assistance (EIA) delivery – next steps: Scottish Government response - easy read

Equality Issues

Feedback

People and groups said that the rules of the current benefit does not include many injuries and diseases which are more common for women.

Some people gave examples of diseases that are not covered by the scheme, such as Long Covid.

Some people also said that Employment Injury Assistance should consider the experiences of ethnic minority groups better.

Scottish Government Response

We know there are big challenges with the current scheme and that many people do not think it works for the people that live and work in Scotland.

We know that women are significantly underrepresented in the current scheme and people from an ethnic minority background are also underrepresented.

This is why the Scottish Government want to take time to think about longer-term changes to Employment Injury Assistance.

We will invite people who raised concerns about equality issues to be part of the new stakeholder group.

The Scottish Government will do impact assessments which will think about these issues in detail. Impact assessments help us make better decisions for everyone the decision will affect.

We will publish options about what we can do with Employment Injury Assistance by late 2025.

We will continue to engage with stakeholders and people with experience.