04 December 2007 – National employers sign up to help long term benefit claimants back into work
Today, seven major employers signed up to a Local Employment Partnership (LEP) to help get long term benefit claimants back into work, announced Peter Hain, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
The companies – Aramark Ltd, Randstad Inhouse Services, Reliance Security Services Ltd, Rullion All Trades, Skanska Group Ltd, Spirit Group and Starwood Hotel and Resort Worldwide Inc – join 266 organisations that have already committed to LEPs, working with Jobcentre Plus to support some of the hardest to help off benefits and into work.
LEPs are a deal between government and employers, a step change in approach, where the Government gets disadvantaged people ready for work, through training and skills programmes, and employers with vacancies give them a fair shot at the job. Each LEP agreement is tailored to the individual needs of the employer.
Speaking at the signing Peter Hain said:
“In the last decade we have helped cut the number of people claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance in half. Since its establishment in 2001, Jobcentre Plus has built up a genuinely world class track record of getting people off benefits and into work. But we want to go further and help those people who in the past have been left behind.
“Today’s signing shows the commitment of another seven companies to work with us in a Local Employment Partnership, supporting people back into work where they can work for themselves and their families.
“All across the country employers big and small are working in partnership with the government, showing the faith they have in British workers’ ability to get the job done and fill some of the 667,000 vacancies available across the UK.”
Among the employers who have already signed up to an LEP is Uniqlo.
Speaking about the partnership, Nick Bartlett, Uniqlo HR Manager said,
“The key to recruiting a large volume of experienced, enthusiastic and motivated workforce was working in partnership with Jobcentre Plus. Our Account Management relationship was built on communication, professionalism and experience which ensured that the process exceeded all expectations.”
Today’s signing took place at Canary Wharf in London.
Notes to Editors
- LEPs are a ‘deal’ between Government and employers - a step
change in approach with Government taking responsibility by preparing people
for work and working with employers in a new, more collaborative way, the deal
is:
- The Government, through Jobcentre Plus and its partners such as the Learning and Skills Council, gets disadvantaged people ready for work, and
- Employers with vacancies give them a fair shot at the job – through their recruitment processes, interviews, work placements, work trials, mentoring etc.
- Each LEP agreement is different, tailored to the needs of the individual
employer. The agreement builds upon the employers existing approach to recruitment
and retention, through a range of specific measures that will help to support
benefit claimants into work.
These measures may include:
- Giving jobseekers an option of a work trial, a chance to try out a job for a period of time, whilst not affecting their benefits
- Establishing a target of New Deal claimants being put forward for work opportunities
- Developing pre-employment training programmes to prepare jobseekers for work
- Providing support so that existing employees can mentor people who want to return to work and to help them settle into work
- Supporting employers to review their recruitment process to ensure they provide opportunity for all applicants to be considered
- Providing greater support and flexibility for lone parents who are looking and ready for work
- Establish a named contact to manage the agreement at national and local level
- Develop effective pre-employment training to meet the needs of the business
- Help develop in-work training to support the retention and development of new recruits
- So far 266 (Nov 2007) employers, across all the major sectors, have signed up and committed to LEPs and Jobcentre Plus account managers are working every day to sign up more employers to this deal with government to give more people the chance to get back into work.
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