ADAPT: Career transition and single point of contact for public sector employers and employees

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1 ADAPT: Career transition and single point of contact for public sector employers and employees from Careers Wales, Welsh Government, Jobcentre Plus and Wales TUC

2 Background Public sector spending in Wales will fall quickly over four fiscal years from to and it is very likely that there will be a significant number of people leaving public sector employment during this period. In order to prepare for this and reduce the potential impact on the Welsh economy, Welsh Ministers have asked the key support organisations in Wales to work together to ensure that public sector employers and their employees are aware of the support available and how to access it. Grouped under the collective name ADAPT, the support provided by the organisations shown below can be accessed through a First Point of Contact Centre which has been set up to ensure that all enquiries are dealt with promptly and efficiently. The First Point of Contact Centre can be contacted on ADAPT ACAS Employment legislation Careers Wales Advice and guidance Jobcentre Plus Help finding work Wales TUC Support and guidance Welsh Government ReAct II First Point of Contact Centre The support offered for redundancies will vary and will aim to meet the specific needs of each individual situation, but could include: an initial meeting with an employer normally in partnership with Careers Wales, Jobcentre Plus, Welsh Government and Trade Unions, as appropriate, to discuss support available; decide when and how this could be delivered. This would also include the support the employer could provide, i.e. premises, telephones, PCs, release of employees to attend support activity redundancy talks to workers (joint event(s) with Careers Wales/Welsh Government) this would include job search advice, benefits and the ReAct II (training) programme one-to-one advice from Jobcentre Plus and Careers Wales staff on employers premises or at another suitable location jobs fairs, advice days or similar event(s) either at employers premises or at another local venue further recruitment events if known employers are recruiting an offer of support for self-employment an offer of support to retrain or upskill access to CV/interviewing techniques agreement on appropriate system to take Jobseekers Allowance claims for those affected by the redundancy. Redundant workers are entitled to early entry to Jobcentre Plus provisions.

3 Support for individuals CVs One-to-one advice ACAS HMRC Employment Legislation Advice Benefits Looking for work Recruitment and vacancies (inc. Europe) Careers advice Careers Wales Jobcentre Plus Wales TUC Cymru WG Tax Credits Selfemployment ReAct II (training) Training Support for employers ACAS Tax Training Recruitment Advertising vacancies HMRC Careers Wales Jobcentre Plus Employment Legislation (inc. training) Workforce development ReAct II WG

4 Careers Wales Careers Wales services are delivered by six companies across Wales. They provide independent and impartial information, advice and guidance to individuals of all ages on issues relating to learning, employment and career opportunities. What we can do for individuals Offer an appropriate varied menu of support, by telephone, face-to-face and online, designed to assist with making informed choices about the future and the development of planning skills to support transition into future employment. One-to-one guidance interviews to allow exploration of new employment and career ideas, taking account of individual interests, skills and personal circumstances and the opportunities available in the relevant geographical area. Individual skills and interest analysis to assist with decision making on skills development needs. Information to support decision making details of occupations, skills and educational entry requirements, training opportunities and funding support available. Provide written action plans to outline the agreed next steps process for individuals where appropriate. Support and advice on job seeking skills, CV preparation and interview techniques. Signposting to relevant services for childcare support, self-employment advice, job search skills assistance, ReAct II and other training provision. Further information on the support that Careers Wales can provide for individuals can be found at Careers Wales contact details Careers Wales has a network of high street premises open to the public. Contact details can be found at Careers Wales manages the Learning and Careers Advice telephone helpline in Wales. For further information or advice call (free of charge) or if calling from a mobile. Links to ReAct II programme Careers Wales staff provide a support role for the programme offering: presentations detailing all aspects of the ReAct II package to groups of workers facing redundancy individual action plans to support applications for discretionary vocational training awards.

5 Welsh Government ReAct II support This programme is available to train/upskill an individual who has been made redundant. It is administered in partnership with Careers Wales and includes: training costs to acquire new skills (to a maximum of 1,500) to help improve an individual s chances of returning to work a wage subsidy of 3,000, paid in four instalments over a 12-month period, can be paid to an employer from the private sector, if they employ a redundant worker from the public or private sector* reimbursement of up to 50 per cent of the cost of eligible training (to a maximum of 1,000) needed for the employee to carry out their new job advice and guidance on self-employment. Individuals need to have their training needs assessed by Careers Wales further information on ReAct II can be obtained by: calling the ReAct II team on or ing ReAct.Team@wales.gsi.gov.uk Individuals and employers should call the Careers Advice line on , or if calling from a mobile. Workforce development Free one-to-one support from a skills adviser to ensure all staff development and training meets its objectives, and identify training and development requirements to beat the recession by investing in skills. Employers can access: funding for basic skills training sector-specific training programmes, e.g. leadership and management skills Apprenticeships Skill Build aimed at those who lack confidence, have poor basic skills and need encouragement to improve. Call the Business Skills hotline on or go to * European funding rules prevent a wage subsidy being given to those going to work in the public sector, but individuals who move to the private sector as a result of ReAct II support do qualify.

6 Jobcentre Plus Jobcentre Plus is a government agency supporting people of working age from welfare into work, and helping employers to fill their vacancies. The most up-to-date information on services and support available can be found via the Directgov website at What we can do for individuals Ensure the correct financial help is received while they are looking for work. Help find alternative employment. Help people retrain. Help to access our partner organisation support. Jobcentre Plus administers a range of benefits and services for people of working age. Benefit entitlement is a very complex area and depends on an individual s personal circumstances. The main ones are as follows. Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) Paid to individuals who are available for and actively seeking work. Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) This helps people with an illness or disability to move into work. For new customers it has replaced Incapacity Benefit and Income Support. (Employment and Support Allowance Leaflet DWP 1001 applies). To obtain detailed advice on benefit entitlement and rates etc., and to make a claim: Tel: (English-medium) (Welsh-medium) Text phone: (English-medium) (Welsh-medium) Looking for work/advertising vacancies Individual help from personal advisers. Directgov website provides information and vacancy search facility. Jobseeker Direct call centre for job vacancies Tel: (English-medium) (Welsh-medium) Text phone: (English-medium) (Welsh-medium) Employers can advertise vacancies on the Jobcentre Plus website and in local job centres. Tel: employerdirect-vacancies@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk Jobcentre Plus Programmes Help with job interviews (travel to interview scheme). Work trials a period when both the jobseeker and employer can decide whether they are right for each other. Customer support training modules to suit individual customer needs. European Employment Services (Eures) the service provides information and advice to jobseekers and employers interested in either working in, or recruiting from, other European countries. Contact Naomi Sinharay, Eures Adviser Tel: naomi.sinharay@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk

7 ACAS ACAS Wales operates a free telephone helpline service which provides information and guidance on the human resource aspects of potential redundancy or employee-restructuring scenarios. Questions about redundancy pay, rights to notice and other legal entitlements such as paid time off to look for work or to arrange training can be answered by the helpline team. They can also answer queries about the right to consultation and the right to be treated fairly and reasonably. This service is available to both individuals and employers. Helpline number: Additionally, ACAS has a team of advisers who can provide more in-depth guidance and advice regarding redundancy handling, including consultation requirements and how to establish objective criteria for redundancy selection. We can arrange a confidential face-to-face discussion with an experienced adviser to talk through the implications of varying contracts, lay-offs, short-time working and tightening up on your procedures in order to reduce or avoid the need to make redundancies. This service is free of charge. If you need to make efficiency savings we can help you work through what these might be, involving your employees and their representatives at all stages to minimise difficulties later on. We can talk through examples of work we have done elsewhere to help organisations identify and implement savings, for example by changing shift patterns, overtime arrangements or eliminating inefficient working methods. We can work with you to improve productivity, for example by managing attendance more effectively, managing performance and managing change. We can work with employees in order to identify efficiencies. To access these advisory services please call Mary Bate on

8 Wales TUC Cymru Recognised Trades Unions have a statutory right to notification of and consultation on threatened redundancies within a workplace. They are often best placed to ameliorate the effects of threatened redundancy and to provide support and advice to members faced with job losses. In view of the current economic climate, Wales TUC is refocussing its resources to ensure that a rapid and coordinated response to redundancy situations is available to its affiliates. In addition, Wales TUC has a small bespoke team of Learning Services staff who have considerable experience of working with unions in redundancy situations. Wales TUC Learning Services offer support and advice regarding training and skills development opportunities to recognised Trades Unions at workplaces which are threatened with redundancy or closure. In workplaces where there are Union Learning Representatives (ULRs), workers threatened with redundancy will benefit from the peer support and advice which trained ULRs can provide, including signposting and brokering provision of training from a range of providers. We recognise that vocational training opportunities need to be backed by sufficient provision of basic skills support and confidence building, particularly for those employees who have not engaged in learning for some time. There is therefore a clear need to co-ordinate support services as quickly as possible to ensure that appropriate information and guidance is provided to meet redundant workers learning needs. We can assist unions by: providing advice concerning the ReAct II programme of redundancy support in Wales liaising with agencies including Jobcentre Plus, Careers Wales and Welsh Government to assess the training needs of workers seeking retraining or upskilling in order to enhance their prospects of securing new employment working with employers to find appropriate training provision negotiating appropriate release for training to take place signposting workers to further and higher education opportunities. Where there is a Trade Union Representative within a company they would liaise with Wales TUC Cymru to discuss the support available. For further information, visit: Wales TUC website Wales TUC Learning Services A redundancy toolkit is available to Trade Union members to download from the Wales TUC Learning Services website.

9 HM Revenue and Customs HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is a government department that collects the bulk of UK tax revenue and also helps to support families and workers through the benefits and credits system. The Directgov website explains more and gives further information on services and support available. Particular information for individuals facing redundancy include the following. Tax Credits If you are responsible for at least one child or young person who normally lives with you, you may qualify for Child Tax Credit. If you work, but earn low wages, you may qualify for Working Tax Credit. Child Tax Credit is a regular payment made to support families with children, including those with 16 to 19-year-olds still in full-time education or approved training. Extra money is available if any of your children is disabled. The amount you receive is based on your income and you can receive help whether you are in work or not. If you work more than 16 hours a week you could get Working Tax Credit as well. Further information is available regarding: what are tax credits and who qualifies find out what tax credits are and check if you re likely to get them how much are you entitled to find out how much you are likely to get, how tax credits can affect other benefits and other help you might qualify for claiming tax credits how and when to claim tax credits and help with the claim form tax credit payments checking your payments, reasons why your tax credits might have stopped or gone down and what to do next changes at home and work keep your tax credits up-to-date; changes that can affect your payments and how and when to report them renewing your tax credits claim deadlines, paperwork and help with the renewal pack. For complete details go online or contact the Tax Credit helpline on Claiming a tax refund when you stop work If you ve just stopped working, you may be able to claim back some of the Income Tax you ve paid. To find out more visit Becoming self-employed Our UK-wide network of specially trained advice teams provide help and support to understand tax responsibilities. They run workshops and presentations on a variety of subjects, they are free of charge and are designed especially for new businesses or new employers. We can also give help over the telephone. The workshop Newly self-employed The basics explains how to register to pay tax and national insurance and what records you need to keep. To book onto a workshop or presentation telephone or visit and follow the instructions.

10 Summary of contacts ACAS Gareth Petty, Director ACAS Wales Tel: or Jobcentre Plus Employer Direct Tel: Jobseeker Direct Tel: (English-medium) (Welsh-medium) Text phone: (English-medium) (Welsh-medium) To claim benefits Tel: (English-medium) (Welsh-medium) Text phone: (English-medium) (Welsh-medium) European Employment Services (Eures) Naomi Sinharay Tel: This link provides details of local Jobcentre Plus offices by inputting a postcode: Wales TUC Cymru Redundancy Siân Cartwright, Wales TUC Head of Learning Services Tel: scartwright@tuc.org.uk Deri Bevan, Development Officer (Cardiff and South Wales) Tel: dbevan@tuc.org.uk Kevin Williams, Development Officer (South Wales and the Valleys) Tel: kwilliams@tuc.org.uk Barbara Hale, Development Officer (North Wales) Tel: bhale@tuc.org.uk Mark Rees, Development Officer (Mid and West Wales) Tel: mrees@tuc.org.uk Roger Jones, Development Officer (West Wales) Tel: rjones@tuc.org.uk Careers Wales Careers Wales has a network of high street premises open to the public. For a list of careers offices and opening times, visit Careers Wales manages the Learning and Careers Advice telephone helpline in Wales. Call (free of charge) or if calling from a mobile. Welsh Government To access information and support for business from the Welsh Government, call and/or visit ISBN: Crown copyright 2012 WG14316