Moving into paid work involves a lot of change for families and for the person we’re supporting. Here are some answers to common questions parents and carers have about the support we offer and the effect on your family.
If you have any further questions, please speak to your local Employability Coach or email us: work.option@hft.org.uk.
Does my loved one have to pay for your support?
No, this is funded through the education partner and Access to Work whilst on the programme. When in paid employment, it’s funded by Access to Work.
What is Access to Work?
Access to Work funding is a employment support programme led by the Government. It helps disabled people to start and keep paid work. We help graduates to apply for Access to Work funding to fund our follow-on Employability Coach support. Graduates don’t pay for this support.
Funding is often agreed for a set time frame of between six and 12 months. You have to reapply for it on an ongoing basis.
It’s important for graduates to tell Hft about any contact they’ve had with Access to Work so we can make sure the funding is processed.
Access to Work does not affect earnings or the benefits a person receives.
Will my loved one still be able to claim benefits?
Any benefits your loved one receives are unlikely to change until they start paid work. We can signpost you to a benefits advisor who can give you specific advice about your situation.
Once they start paid employment, any benefits your loved one receives may change. This depends on the type of benefit they receive, the number of hours they work and the amount of money they earn.
Your loved one might be entitled to a different benefit once they start working, or they might get less benefit support. How much benefit they get often depends on how much they’re earning.
What will the impact on our family be of moving away from benefits, and is it worth it?
There are lots of advantages to being in paid work. For example, being enrolled in an employer pension scheme, receiving national insurance contributions, and access to other schemes from an employer. Some employers also offer staff members discounts with some shops and brands.
We can signpost you to some specialist benefits support if you need it. For example, if your relative being in paid employment could impact the benefits of other people in the same household.
What will happen when they get a job?
When a graduate finds a job, we offer follow-on Employability Coach support. This could mean 1:1 support at the beginning to help the graduate learn the role and settle in. Then, we can keep offering support as needed. For example, with training or with learning new tasks.
We understand the importance of not only finding a paid job, but keeping it. That’s why we will still be here to offer support when needed.
What if my loved one doesn’t get a job?
Our programmes offer useful work experience and have high success rates, but we can’t guarantee paid work. We keep on helping graduates to search for and find paid work for nine months after graduation.
In some areas, we also offer a Job Club after graduation. Job Club normally runs once per week. Support is also provided to prepare for and attend job interviews. We have a leaflet about Job Club which explains more about what this support involves.
What if my loved one loses their job?
Our follow-on support helps graduates to deal with any challenges or problems they might have in their new job.
Jobs can end for many reasons. Often it’s due to short-term contracts. Most people would prefer to have permanent paid work. But sometimes the route into a job might be a fixed-term contract.
Graduates who:
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are coming to the end of a contract,
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who’s place of employment is closing,
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or who are keen to move into a new role
can receive support from Job Club to search for new opportunities.
My loved one wants a job at specific times, on specific days, or in a specific place. How can you help?
We don’t have access to lots of job opportunities upfront. The types of roles we can find will depend on the job market. As a result, finding the right job for an intern/graduate can happen quickly, or take some time.
You’re not guaranteed to find a job after finishing our programme (although we do have very good success rates). So we urge our interns and graduates to be as flexible as possible, whilst also being mindful of what they want.
We understand that an intern or graduate might prefer to work 9-5, but if the role they want is in catering, for example, that may involve some evening work. If the intern or graduate is able to do the work safely, we would urge them to think about options such as this as it widens the number of suitable opportunities for them.
Every person is different and we take this into account when we support graduates. For example, there may be some locations which are not suitable or safe because travelling there would be difficult. We would not urge an intern or graduate to apply for a vacancy if this was the case.
Why am I being asked to attend regular “Job Development Meetings”?
We hold Job Development Meetings six times per academic year. They’re set up to help everyone who is supporting an intern to work together.
The first meetings focus on growing skills that align with the work market. Later, the focus shifts more onto the specifics of finding paid work. This can involve support with selecting the right types of vacancies with the right types of employers.
Sometimes an intern will have challenges whilst on the programme. It’s important to discuss these challenges in the Job Development Meetings, so that the intern has as many people supporting them as possible.
By attending Job Development Meetings, you’ll also learn what type of support we offer with finding a job, and how this can be extended to home as well.
We know that many families are balancing supporting their relative with other duties. We’ll aim to arrange these meetings at a time which works well for all, and can arrange meetings via video call or phone if needed. Whilst our wish is for parents and carers to attend all the Job Development Meetings, we understand if you have to miss a few.
How will my loved one stay safe whilst travelling to work, and whilst at work?
Each intern or graduate’s situation is unique. Our follow-on Employability Coaches can support graduates to travel safely to their workplace until they can do this on their own. Please speak to your local team about what support is available for travelling to work, college or training.
Interns and graduates will be supported to complete health and safety training in the workplace. Risk assessments will also be completed.