Overview
Job Focus is a free recruitment and
on-site training service for businesses to employ people with disabilities. By carefully
matching people to jobs, and then working with each new worker for a while, we are able to
supplement your support and training so that you can include workers who would otherwise
not get a go in the workforce.
By identifying what people can and
can’t do, and by agreeing on what a job requires, we match job seekers to jobs in
such a way that their disability does not affect their ability to do their job. If a
worker's productivity is lower than usual, we can arrange for you to pay them a
productivity based wage.
We support you through the whole
process, saving you time and money on recruitment and training. Because we work alongside
each new worker until they are doing the job properly, and have settled in to the
workplace, you can be assured of a competent, reliable, cooperative and enthusiastic
worker.
Successfully employing a person with a
disability can be very rewarding in other ways too because it is ‘opening a
door’ for someone - who would otherwise not get a go in the workforce - to enter not
only the workforce but also the wider community.
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The Recruitment Procedure
- Job Focus doesn't work like other
recruitment agencies: before we recommend a job seeker to you, we visit your workplace and
get to know the job first hand. This takes between 15 minutes and a whole day.
- Because we know all of our job seekers
well, we can then determine who is best suited to the job. Some employers like to make a
final selection between 2 or 3 job seekers, others prefer that we recommend the best
person for the job.
- Once we - or you - have selected your
new worker, we assist you to induct, train and support them so that they become a valuable
and reliable contributor to your business. Usually one of our experienced staff works
alongside the new worker until they are performing to your expectations. This may take
from as little as a day or two to 3 months.
- We also advise about any modifications
that need to be made to the workplace, and arrange for a government payment to meet any
costs.
- To encourage the new worker to become as
independent of us as possible, we gradually leave them on their own more and more until
they able to work alone. Then we keep in touch to make sure both you and your worker are
satisfied.
- Jobs often change, and all people have
their ups and downs; we are always available to assist again, whether by retraining or by
supporting people through difficult times.
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What kinds of jobs are our clients
looking for?
People with disabilities are not able
to do some of the things that we normally expect people to be able to do. This is what
having a disability means. Actually, all of us are better at some things than others and
none of us does everything well.
Our clients are capable and skilled
people aged 16 to 60, some prefer to work part time, some full time, and some have a car
or motor bike licence. They possess a variety of skills and interests, and in some cases
have tertiary or trade qualifications.
People with disabilities have all kinds
of different skills and abilities and can do many different types of jobs. Over the past
ten years we have successfully placed workers in such jobs as factory hand, administrative
officer, cleaner, wood worker, car detailer, courier, customer service officer, kitchen
hand, library technician, information officer, waiter and farm hand.
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Financial Incentives
Job Focus can subsidize the wages of
our clients who start jobs that are reasonably permanent and more than 8 hours per week.
Up to $1,000 is available, according to the Department of Health and Family Services Wage
Subsidy Guidelines which are available from our office on request. Wage subsidies are paid
after 3 months of continuous employment if there are good prospects for ongoing
employment.
If modifications need to be made to
allow a disabled worker to perform their job properly, the cost of these is reimbursed by
the Department. For example, if a person with a vision impairment is required to use a
computer screen for their job, the additional cost of a large screen or text reader would
be reimbursed.
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Supported Wage System
Whilst many people with a disability
can reliably produce high quality work, some are unable to work at the same rate as other
people. The Supported Wage System - developed by government, employers and trade unions -
allows legal payment of a wage that corresponds to a disabled person's rate of
productivity.
For example, if a person with a
physical disability can only work at 60% of the usual rate because of their disability,
under the Supported Wage System they are paid 60% of the usual pay rate and the Government
contributes some extra to their income.
Employment under the system starts with
a training period of up to 12 weeks. During this time the employer pays the worker $45 per
week. At the end of the training period a government accredited assessor measures the
worker's productivity and the wage level is set accordingly.
After the assessment, a payment of
$1,000 is made to the employer to offset the cost of participating in the System. The
costs of any modifications made to the job or the workplace are also reimbursed, and Job
Focus may be able to subsidise the worker's wages for the first three months.
The Supported Wage System gives
employers a unique opportunity to hire people whose disability reduces their work rate,
but not the quality of their work, and because wages are based on productivity, it is fair
to both the worker and the employer.
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