Jobseeker Supports Ennis Local Office October Tracie Williams

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Rodney Taylor
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1 Jobseeker Supports Ennis Local Office October 2012 Tracie Williams

2 Jobseekers in Ennis LO Currently over 16,600 customers have active claims in Ennis LO The breakdown by main scheme is : Local - October 2012 Jobseekers Benefit Jobseekers Allowance 2,333 (963casual, 1370 fully) 7,842 (1,051 casual, 6791 fully) Back to Work Scheme 336 Back to Education 454

3 DSP also incorporates the following functions: The Back to Education Programmes The Back to Work Schemes, CE & Tús, Rural Social Scheme JobBridge, the National Internship Scheme, WPP National Employment Action Plan Employer Job (PRSI) Incentive scheme Activation & Family Support Programme Technical Assistance and Training Allowance (TAT s)

4 Back to Education Programme Second chance education opportunities to help unemployed people, lone parents and people on disabilities on a social welfare payment improve their skills and qualifications. Back to Education allowance scheme Part time education courses Education, Training & Development courses 4

5 Back to Education Allowance Scheme (BTEA) First introduced 1990 BTEA is an educational opportunities scheme for persons in receipt of certain social welfare payments who wish to pursue an approved second or third level course of education. There are 2 strands to the scheme: Second Level Allowance Third Level Allowance 25,700 nationwide at end of 2011 Over 85 % were previously on a Jobseekers payment

6 Qualifying Conditions Full-time day course of Study (academic year) Recognised qualification under NFQ Must be progressing in education Over 21 or out of formal education 2 years Over 24 for post graduate study Aged 18 for people on illness payment SLO 3 months in receipt of qualifying payment TLO 9 months in receipt of qualifying payment Immediate access for statutory redundancy if on a DSP payment & progressing in education 6

7 Part-Time Education Option Participants may continue to receive their existing social welfare entitlements provided they continue to satisfy all the existing terms and conditions of their jobseeker scheme. A person may be of any age and may be unemployed for any length of time before commencing a part-time course of education but approval to undertake a course must be obtained in advance from the local social welfare office. 7

8 Education, Training & Development Courses Generally short term courses such as personal development courses, literacy classes or general training courses. Be approved by a departmental Facilitator, and be wholly or partially approved by a state agency or area partnership or a voluntary or community group. The person is deemed to be available for employment for the duration of the course. To qualify, a person must be over 21 years and getting a jobseekers payment for at least six months or aged 18 to 20 years if out of formal education for at least two years. a person in receipt of a jobseeker s payment may continue to receive the jobseeker payment while attending certain courses. 8

9 All courses lead to qualifications in enterprise sectors which are growing and need skilled personnel, including information and communications technology (ICT); the medical devices sector; bio-pharma pharmachem; green energy; international financial services; and the food and beverage sector. Qualifications are also available in cross-enterprise skills such as Six Sigma; Lean and Quality Systems; sales; business-start up and entrepreneurship. All courses are part-time, enabling you to keep social protection supports Contain an element of work experience 9

10 The Back to Work Schemes the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance scheme (you can keep a percentage of your social welfare payment for up to 2 years. The Back to Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA) scheme encourages people getting certain social welfare payments to become self-employed. A new Back to Work Scheme called the Short-Term Enterprise Allowance started in May There is no qualifying period for the Short-Term Enterprise Allowance. You can get immediate access to the allowance if you meet the qualifying conditions. Conditions in receipt of qualifying payment/business plan approved. 10

11 Community Employment (CE) Schemes CE is an employment and training programme primarily aimed at the long-term unemployed and other disadvantaged groups. CE helps people to re-enter the active workforce by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to work routine. CE offers participants an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a temporary, fixed-term basis. Eligibility is based on age and length of time in receipt of various social welfare payments. In general, the Part-time Integration Option is for people of 25 + who are receiving social welfare payments for 1 year or more. The Part-time Job Option is for people who are 35+ and in receipt of social welfare payments for 3 years or longer. 11

12 CE Schemes DSP gives financial support in the form of Allowances and Funding to assist with the Community Employment programme, for example participant wages, supervisor grants, materials grants, and specific skills training grants. There are 31 Community Employment Schemes in the County, 4 Job Initiative Programmes, a Supported Employment Project, a Traveller Project and a Jobs Club. There are 534 people employed on the Community Employment Projects and 48 on the Job Initiative. These projects provide invaluable work and service to the County including maintaining tidy towns and villages to a very high standard, maintaining of monuments / heritage facilities, childcare / elderly care etc 12

13 Tús This is an activation initiative for those who are unemployed and on the Live Register. It will support the work readiness of those who participate. The initiative will provide short-term quality and suitable working opportunities for people who are unemployed while at the same time carrying out beneficial work within communities, and It will contribute to the management of the Live Register and act as a disincentive to those not eligible for welfare benefits. Participation selected randomly by DSP Approx 90 places in Clare 13

14 RSS The Rural Social Scheme (RSS) is aimed at low-income farmers and fishermen/women. To qualify for the RSS you must be getting a social welfare payment. In return, people participating in the RSS provide services that benefit rural communities. At present there are a total of 2,600 Participant and 130 Supervisor places throughout the country. However, this is subject to ongoing review. While responsibility for the operation of the RSS rests with the Department of Social Protection, it is managed at a local level, on behalf of the Department, by the Local Development Companies (LDCs) 14

15 The aim of the National Internship Scheme is to provide those seeking employment with the opportunity to gain valuable work experience, maintain close links with the labour market and to enhance their skills and competencies through a quality internship opportunity. internship opportunities of 6 or 9 months for unemployed individuals in organisations in the private, public and community & voluntary sectors. Participants on the National Internship Scheme will receive, through the Department of Social Protection, a single allowance consisting of 50 per week on top of their equivalent existing social welfare entitlements. No employer top up contributions will be allowed. 15

16 Eligibility -The National Internship Scheme is limited to individuals who are on the Live Register and have been in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance/Benefit or signing on for credits for at least 3 of the previous 6 months. Company must also satisfy criteria eg No displacement allowed Over 52% of interns who have finished their placements are in paid employment. 16

17 PRSI Incentive Scheme The Employer Job (PRSI) Incentive Scheme exempts employers from liability to pay their share of PRSI for certain employees. The scheme is open to employers who create new and additional jobs. Exemption from employer's PRSI for a maximum of 18 months from the date you were approved for the scheme (for jobs created after 1 January 2012). The purpose of the scheme is to support job creation and counter the drift of people into long-term unemployment and welfare dependency.

18 PRSI Incentive Scheme The person you employ must have been getting a qualifying social welfare payment for a period of at least 6 months The job must be a new and additional post/job employers are not allowed to substitute existing employees to avail of the scheme Be for at least 30 hours per week and last for at least 6 months. If the employment ends within 6 months of getting the exemption, you may be liable to pay the employer s PRSI contributions for that employee. Limit is 5% of your existing workforce or, for smaller companies, a maximum of 5 new jobs.

19 National Employment Action Plan Group engagement of unemployed customers under the National Employment Action Plan has been introduced and is operating successfully in Ennis. Under the scheme, groups of job seekers are referred by the Local Office to an information and support briefing by Employment Service Officers. One to one meetings with job seekers are then arranged and individual employment support /training action plans are agreed Since the start of the year 504 jobseekers were called to attended Group Engagement sessions in Ennis and 319 were referred for one to one sessions with Employment Services Officers.. Since the beginning of this year 37 jobseekers in Ennis who failed to engage fully in the activation process have had penalty rates (reductions) applied to their jobseekers weekly payments. 19

20 Part time Job Incentive The Part-Time Job Incentive (PTJI) Scheme, run by the Department of Social Protection, is intended as a stepping stone to full-time work. It allows certain long-term unemployed people to take up part-time work and get a special weekly allowance instead of their jobseeker s payment. Recipients of the Part-Time Job Incentive Scheme must be available for and seeking full-time work while getting the payment. 20

21 How do you link all these schemes and supports Many of which have been run by different agencies/departments? 21

22 Designed to provide a more streamlined approach, A single point of contact for Employers and Unemployed. Intreo offers practical, tailored employment services and supports for jobseekers and employers alike. Case management will be a feature. It will be followed by the roll out of the new service to additional locations during the course of 2012 and

24 Where can I get more information and application froms for DSP schemes? Local Social Welfare Office/myself Department s Information Unit Citizens Information centres 24

Employment Services & Financial Incentives

Employment Services & Financial Incentives Edward Kavanagh Employer Engagement Team Intreo/Employment Services Department of Social Protection Waterford Aim of presentation Explanation of the Department