Some Information on Schemes

A number of schemes exist to support unemployed people, and those in receipt of certain other Social Welfare payments, to return to work:

• Community Employment (CE)

• Work Placement Experience Programme (WPEP)

• Tús – Community Workplace Initiative

Community Employment (CE): Community Employment (CE) projects are typically sponsored by groups wishing to benefit the local community, namely voluntary and community organisations and to a lesser extent, public bodies involved in not-for-profit activities. CE projects provide a valuable service to local communities. While providing invaluable supports to the local community, Community Employment provides training and educational opportunities to jobseekers in order to support their progression into employment. Those on CE work for an average of 19.5 hours per week (or 39 hours per fortnight) for a 12 month period, with some exceptions.

You can apply for a CE position through your local DSP Employment Services office / Intreo Centre, LAES or Jobs Club.

To qualify for CE, you must satisfy a number of conditions, including age, and be in receipt of a qualifying social welfare payment for a specific period Participants on CE move from their existing qualifying Social Welfare payment to a CE participant wage, they do not receive their original Social Welfare payment and a CE payment. Participant CE wage rates are determined by their underlying social welfare entitlement. On completion of participation on a CE scheme, you may be able to reapply for the payment which allowed you to engage with Community Employment.

The minimum weekly payment for new participants based on 19.5 hours worked is €259.50. In addition, you may be eligible, where appropriate, for payments in respect of and qualified dependent adult and children. If the Social Welfare Payment you were in receipt of before starting a CE scheme is more than €232 per week, you will receive the same amount as your Social Welfare Payment plus €27.50 per week. If the Social Welfare Payment you were in receipt of before starting a CE scheme is less than or equal to €232 per week, you will receive a payment of €259.50 per week.

You may qualify to participate on a Community Employment scheme if the following applies to you:

Persons aged 21 years of age or over who are currently in receipt (i.e. payment received within the 7 days preceding CE commencement) of any combination of the following payments for 12 months or more (Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA), Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB),Jobseeker’s Allowance Transition (JST), One-Parent Family Payment (OPFP), Widow’s / Widower’s or Surviving Partner’s Contributory Pension, Widow’s / Widower’s or Surviving Partner’s Non-Contributory Pension, Deserted Wife’s Benefit (DWB), Farm Assist (FA). Time spent in receipt of Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) can also count towards the 12-month period provided the claimant is currently in receipt of one of the above listed payments (i.e. no breaks between payments), e.g. 2 months on JB followed immediately by 10 months on JA.

Applications for CE vacancies can be made up to 12 weeks in advance of the Tús finish date to allow for CE positions that require Garda vetting. As Tús participants are selected by the Department from the long-term unemployed, they already meet the standard eligibility requirements for CE. Ex-Tús participants who sign back on the Live Register can have their previous time on the Live Register combined with their current claim and qualify as Jobseeker clients for CE in the normal way (Tús participation is disregarded). Time spent on Part-Time Education Option (PTEO) can count towards the CE qualifying period.

Under the Service Support Stream, participants aged 60 years and over who meet the CE eligibility requirements may remain continuously on CE up to the State pension age. This is subject to a suitable placement being available and the agreement of the sponsoring organisation.

In general, all placements on Community Employment are for 12 months only, however if a CE participant is undertaking training to achieve a major QQI award, the participant's time can be extended by up to two years to allow him or her to complete the training which will enhance his or her overall employment prospects. This is not an underlying entitlement on CE, and is subject to the approval of the Department of Social Protection on an individual case-by-case basis.

In general, participants on Community Employment (CE) schemes are not able to claim another Social Welfare payment at the same time as their participation on a Community Employment Scheme. Some exceptions exist and participants are advised to speak to a member of staff in their local Intreo Office before making an application for another Social Welfare payment.

You must hold a medical card prior to taking up Community Employment in order to keep your medical card when you go on CE. If you do not have it going on to CE, you may not qualify for a medical card on Community Employment. On CE you will keep your medical card no matter how much you earn.

Each Community Employment project currently has a training and development budget for Community Employment participants. This budget will be used to pay for costs and expenses directly related to the participant’s engagement on the Community Employment project in addition to their direct training and development. Expenditure on costs may vary from project to project, as such the amount available for direct training and development of CE participants may vary from scheme to scheme. Please contact your CE scheme supervisor for more information on funding available for training. Job-related training includes training and development of the participant’s skills to enable them to carry out their work on the CE scheme. Specific skills training provides for training which will enable participants to improve existing skills or learn additional skills necessary to progress into employment. The CE Supervisor will identify the development and training needs of each participant on the project.

Community Employment participants are encouraged to seek other work, or engage in any other activity which would enhance their work options, while on their time off the project, without any fear of losing their Community Employment income for any part of the full 52-week period.

You may have a number of options open to you on completion of your engagement with Community Employment in support of your efforts to seek employment, further education or training. You can discuss your options with your CE Supervisor as part of your exit interview / exit process.

A participant engaged for the full duration of a 52-week CE scheme is entitled to 10.5 full days (81 hrs) holidays per project year or on a pro-rata basis 8% of time worked. Where a lesser period is worked holidays should be calculated on a pro rata basis.

Work Placement Experience Programme (WPEP): This helps people to re-train and gain experience in another type of employment. It helps people to build new skills and gain work experience. The Work Placement Experience Programme (WPEP) is a 6-month, 30 hour per week voluntary work experience and training programme. The programme is for jobseekers that are currently getting a qualifying social welfare payment and who have been unemployed for six months (156 days) or more. Participation on the WPEP is voluntary. If you have been in receipt of one of the following payments for 6 months you may qualify to apply for a WPEP place:

• Jobseeker's Benefit

• Jobseeker's Allowance

• Jobseeker's Transitional payment

• One-Parent Family Payment

• Disability Allowance

• Blind Person’s Pension

• Farm Assist

• Jobseeker's Benefit for the Self-Employed (JBSE)

If you are getting the One-Parent Family, Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment, Disability Allowance or Blind Pension, you will automatically qualify for WPEP. If you have been on one of the following schemes, time spent on the scheme can count towards 6-month qualification period:

• Community Employment Scheme (CE)

• Tús

• Rural Social Scheme (RSS)

• Back to Education Allowance

• Youthreach / VTOS

• Springboard

• SOLAS Training Programmes

The WPEP scheme lasts for 6 months and there is no option to extend the placement. While on the WPEP you can qualify to do 2 placements in total. This can be for up to a maximum period of 12 months (52 weeks). Each of the two placements must be with a different host organisation, and must have at least a 4-week gap in between each placement. You will work 30 hours a week over 4 or 5 days each week. The 30 hours includes time spent on training. While participating on the WPEP you are entitled to all the standard public holidays and a total of 11 days annual leave on your 6-month placement. You can do part-time work during the WPEP placement as long as it does not interfere with the required hours of the placement. Part-time work will not affect the rate of WPEP paid. You are not allowed to work part-time with the WPEP host. The weekly amount paid to you while on WPEP is €335. You cannot take a placement where you already have built up experience in the role. Contact your local Intreo Centre or Social Welfare Branch Office for more information about WPEP or e-mail: wpep@welfare.ie. The number to call is 0818 111 112. You can register online for WPEP on the www.jobsireland.ie website. After you have registered with JobsIreland, you can apply for suitable WPEP vacancies as advertised.

Tús – Community Work Placement Initiative: Tús is a community work placement initiative providing short-term working opportunities for people who are long-term unemployed. The work opportunities are to benefit the community, and are provided by the not-for-profit community and voluntary organisations in both urban and rural areas. Tús is managed by a number of Implementing bodies (formally known as local development companies) and Údarás na Gaeltachta in the Gaeltacht areas, for the Department of Social Protection, which has overall responsibility for the scheme.

Participants will be randomly selected from the live register and contacted by their local Intreo centre / branch office / activation unit and offered the opportunity to participate on the scheme. If a Jobseeker who is selected to participate on Tús fails to co-operate or fails to take up the offer, they will be referred for further action and investigation. It may be possible to seek a placement on a Tús project as a self-selected participant. This is called an ‘assisted referral’, and if you are interested in this option, please speak to your local Intreo Personal Employment Advisor for more information.

Participants will work for 19 and a half hours a week and the placement will last 12 months. If the participant has not secured employment after their work placement ceases, and if they are available for and actively seeking work, they should sign on again at their local Intreo centre(or apply online). A person cannot be selected to engage on Tús again for 3 years. To be eligible to participate on Tús you must be:

• fully unemployed and in receipt of a jobseeker’s payment continuously for at least 12 months (a break of up to 30 days in the past 12 months may be permitted) and

• must be currently in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance payment, or

• must be in receipt of jobseeker’s transitional payment,or

• be 18 years of age or over, fully unemployed and in receipt of Disability Allowance (no qualifying period applies, applications by self-referral only)

• be a person with refugee status aged 18 years old, confirmed by the Department of Justice (valid Stamp 4) and in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance payment (no qualifying period applies).

The rates of payment on Tús are linked to your existing Jobseeker’s Allowance, with a minimum payment of €259.50. If the actual Jobseeker’s Allowance you were getting (including increases for dependants) was €232 a week or less, then you will get the minimum Tús payment of €259.50 per week, (that is €232 plus €27.50). If your actual weekly Jobseeker’s Allowance (including any increases for dependants) was €232.01 or more, then you will get the equivalent rate plus €27.50 (there are some exceptions to this). Participants will retain any extra benefits and the medical card, provided they are still eligible. All Tús payments will be made directly into your bank, post office or credit union, by electronic fund transfer. You may keep any secondary benefits you had before you took up the Tús placement scheme, subject to income levels.

Any person in receipt of a long-term Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) payment continuously for 312 days is required to take up work opportunities such as the offer of a Tús placement. If you refuse a work opportunity without just cause or good reason, you may have your social welfare payment reduced, suspended or terminated. If, following a refusal of a placement, your JA payment is reduced, suspended or terminated you may appeal this decision to the Social Welfare Appeals Office within 21 days.

Participants on Tús can take up other employment provided it does not interfere with the work and times of their Tús placement.

Tús participants aged 21 or over who have completed their 52 weeks placement may progress directly on to the community employment scheme where it is considered appropriate within the context of an agreed progression plan mediated by their local Intreo office / Employment Personal Advisor.