Supporting New Zealanders to get into or stay in work

Having a job is key to providing for yourself and your family. In these tough economic times we're working hard to help people stay in work, or get a job if they are not already in work. For those who can't find work, we will be here to help, but our first priority will always be to get people back into work as soon as possible.

The number of jobseekers and beneficiaries grew dramatically during the year and the Unemployment Benefit numbers increased by 187 per cent. There were also significant increases in the Sickness, Invalids and Domestic Purposes Benefit numbers. In the first six months of 2009, approximately 1.15 million people attended appointments and seminars and we handled 3.4 million phone calls asking for advice or for our help.

However, even in this tough environment we are still able to help people into work. Of those who attended Work for You seminars in March 2009, 36 per cent did not need a benefit within 28 days of attending the seminar. In the period from January to March 2009, exits from the Unemployment Benefit were 66 per cent of new grants, with the actual numbers exiting often above the pre-recession exit numbers. International comparisons show New Zealand was more successful than other OECD countries in placing people into and holding people in work, particularly people from vulnerable groups (long-term unemployed, low skilled, youth and people with disabilities).

To meet the increased demand and maintain our bottom line performance we needed to adapt our services and to improve our productivity. During the year we introduced Voice Enabled Technology (VET) in our contact centres. VET provides faster client identification and offers them a direct link to staff specialising in their needs. This technology will help us to introduce a number of self service transactions services for people later in the year, and an Employers Online tool.

Online self services available will include:

• online applications
• income declarations
• checking balances owed
• information on the local labour market
• advertised employment vacancies
• Trade Me vacancies by region.

Job Search Service

The Job Search Service helps people to make a quick return to work, often without the need to go onto a benefit. All applicants for an Unemployment Benefit attend a Work for You seminar. During the year we made changes to help us to assess people's work-readiness at first contact. We capture all relevant information within three days of meeting a client so we can match them on the Jobz4u job matching system. Jobz4u is a software application tool we use to match jobseeker skills with employer needs. Self-directed jobseekers are given the support they need to get on with finding work.

In May 2009, we entered into an agreement with Trade Me to better connect jobseekers with advertised jobs. Jobseekers now receive daily lists via email of Trade Me vacancies in their area.

We have industry partnership agreements with these employers and industries:

• Hospitality
• Retail
• Horticulture
• Electrical
• Building
• Construction
• Bus and coach
• McDonald's
• The Warehouse
• Rydges Hotel.

Industry Partnerships/Straight 2 Work

Industry partnerships allow us to work closely with employers and industries. By working directly with employers and industries we can tailor recruitment, training and support programmes to meet employers' needs. Programmes such as Straight 2 Work provide additional support to help people get settled into jobs, and into ongoing training and development. This helps jobseekers to build a career and to become valued employees. Supporting staff to develop workforce skills meets both individual and long-term workforce needs.

We currently have 80 partnership agreements: 50 are with industry associations, 30 are with major employers.

Tailored recruitment strategies have been established with Telecom New Zealand and The Warehouse. The Telecom strategy focuses on developing a recruitment channel to refer skilled jobseekers to selected Telecom vacancies.

The partnership with The Warehouse Group services 85 stores around the country and provides an estimated 2,700 jobs a year to jobseekers.

3,300 jobseekers took part in Industry Partnership programmes, of which 832 jobseekers moved into employment as a result of their participation.

ReStart and Job Support

We launched the ReStart and Job Support schemes in response to the economic downturn. ReStart gives temporary financial help and job-search assistance to people immediately after they have been made redundant. The Job Support Scheme will help to reduce the number of employees facing redundancy. The scheme pays an allowance for workers who have agreed to work reduced hours and is available to employers with 50 or more staff.

3,448 people have been granted ReStart assistance. As at the end of June 2009 we had contracts with 21 employers for the Job Support Scheme, saving 347 jobs.

Redundancy Support

Redundancy Support is a service that responds to business closures in the regions. We work alongside an employer to help get affected staff into alternative jobs or training.

In August 2008, Cadbury Schweppes announced that 145 jobs would be lost from their Dunedin plant over the next two and a half years, due to a multi-million dollar investment in technology. In November 2008, Cadbury Schweppes invited their staff to apply for voluntary redundancy, in an effort to reduce their workforce by 80 workers by March 2009.

We worked closely with Cadbury Schweppes, the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union, and the Service and Food Workers Union to support the affected workers. We held seminars in conjunction with The Donnington Group, a private Human Resources consultancy firm contracted by Cadbury to provide support to affected staff. We discussed the labour market, job-search activities and financial assistance, and we provided an information pack for each staff member. These packs included a joint 'frequently-asked questions' sheet, with information from both Work and Income and Inland Revenue. We also provided a work broker on-site who met with individual staff members to discuss job-search activities.

Approximately a third of these staff members were planning to retire. We provided a superannuation case manager on-site to talk to these employees, and we tested their eligibility for New Zealand Superannuation.

As well as referring staff to jobs with local employers we facilitated appointments with staff and support agencies, in particular Career Services for staff who were looking at re-training, a literacy and numeracy support agency for staff who needed help, and local employment agencies.

During the year, 725 employers and 11,759 employees received Redundancy Support Services.

StudyLink

The tighter labour market also resulted in an increased demand for Student Loans and Allowances, as people who might have gone into work chose to stay in tertiary education.

To manage the increase in demand StudyLink has improved its online services. The internet is both an efficient and effective way of delivering services to students.

In 2008/2009, 97 per cent of Student Allowance applications and 91 per cent of Student Loan applications were submitted online. In both cases the percentage of online applications has increased compared with the 2007/2008 year, by 3 per cent and 6 per cent respectively.

MyStudyLink, an online self-help tool, enables students to check and update their personal details, to view payment dates and to track the status of applications through their personal online accounts. Since December 2008 they have been able to apply online for course-related costs. The uptake has exceeded expectations, with 89 per cent of all course-related costs claims received online.

From August 2009 students will have access to a full end-to-end online service. They will be able to apply for loans, allowances, scholarships and supplementary benefits, assess their eligibility and apply for assistance, in one seamless process. Self help online systems will ensure more students get their correct entitlements while freeing up our resources to cope with the increased demand for our services.

OSCAR Extended Services

Out of School Care and Recreation (OSCAR) Extended Services gives parents and caregivers options to balance their work and family commitments by providing quality childcare outside school hours and during school holidays.

The first four OSCAR Extended Services in schools were established in February 2008. By February 2009 another four opened in:

• Morewa School, Morewa, Northland
• Riverina School, Pakuranga, Auckland
• Kreative Kidz, Selwyn, Rotorua
• Waltham Out of School Hours (WOOSH), Waltham, Christchurch.

Another four will start operating from February 2010. All of these programmes will be monitored and the information gained about this model will inform the development of further OSCAR policy.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The Office for Disability Issues completed a major review across government of the likely impact of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. As a result of this work, and following minor changes in legislation via the Disability (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) Act 2008, the Government was able to ratify the UN Convention on 28 September 2008. The Office is now working on how to implement the Convention so people with disabilities are able to live ordinary lives and have the necessary supports to work and participate fully in society.