Managing and Monitoring Job Search

Managing and Monitoring Job Search Guideline

Document change history

Version / Start date / Effective date / End date / Change and location /
2.0 / 23 03 16 / 23 03 16 / Addition to Relevant References (p.2)
Amendment to reference to AJS to JobSearch Website and addition of the Job Seeker App (p. 3, 6, 7, 10, 11)
Removal of Hours of Operation information of the JobSearch website and Job Seeker App due to 24/7 availability (p. 3)
1.0 / 01 07 15 / 01 07 15 / 22 03 16 / Original version of document

Explanatory Note

All capitalised terms have the same meaning as in the Disability Employment Services Deed (the Deed). In this document, ‘must’ means that compliance is mandatory and ‘should’ means that compliance represents best practice and that compliance is discretionary.

The term ‘Participant’ in this Guideline means any Participant with Mutual Obligation Requirements.

Disclaimer

This document is not a stand-alone document and does not contain the entirety of Disability Employment Services Programme Providers' obligations. It must be read in conjunction with the Disability Employment Services Deed and any relevant Guidelines or reference material issued by the Department of Social Services under or in connection with the Disability Employment Services Deed.

Summary

This Guideline provides information on the policy and process for managing and monitoring Job Search and, in particular, the monthly Job Search Requirement for Participants. It outlines what action should be taken when an Employment Provider (Provider) considers that a Participant has failed to meet their monthly Job Search Requirements satisfactorily.

Participants are generally required to complete a number of Job Searches per Job Search Period (JSP), based on their capacity. The JSP is the individual’s month calculated using their initial date registered as unemployed. This applies to all activity-tested Participants, including Principal Carer Parents and those with an assessed Partial Capacity to Work. Participants cannot be required to undertake more than 20 Job Searches per month.

Some flexibility is available in the setting of Job Search Requirements to take into account the local labour market and individual Participant circumstances. When setting a Participant’s Job Search Requirement, Providers should refer to the Mutual Obligation Requirements Guideline and Job Plans Guideline.

Participants must report their regular Job Search to their Provider. Providers are required to ensure that the volume and quality of Job Searches per JSP are appropriate and actively monitor Participants to ensure they are meeting any other Mutual Obligation Requirements. If a Provider assesses that a Participant’s compliance with their Job Search Requirement is unsatisfactory (that is, poor, insufficient or incomplete), they will need to consider what is the most appropriate action to take for the individual to help them understand and meet their Mutual Obligation Requirements in the future.

Where Providers decide to use the job seeker compliance framework, they will need to submit a Participation Report (PR) to the Department of Human Services (DHS) for investigation.

Participants without Mutual Obligation Requirements (including Volunteers) may receive assistance in looking for work, and have job search included in their Job Plans, however, the procedures for assessing and reporting on Job Search set out in this Guideline do not apply.

What is a Job Search?

A Job Search is an instance where a Participant actively contacts a potential Employer to apply for a paid job. A Job Search may include contact by phone, in person, by submitting a written or online application or by attending a job interview.

Relevant job vacancies do not need to have been publicly advertised for a Participant’s application to count as a Job Search. However, looking for job vacancies in newspapers or online does not count as a Job Search unless contact is made with the relevant potential Employer, usually via an application.

Policy Intent

Ongoing and active Job Search is a key part of a Participant’s Mutual Obligation Requirements and an expectation on other Participants in DES. It is a necessary prerequisite to Participants being able to secure paid employment and reduce their reliance on taxpayer-funded income support. Job Search is also important for Participants without Mutual Obligation Requirements who are participating in DES to improve their employment prospects.

Providers are responsible for ensuring that Participants are set an appropriate level of Job Search Requirements and for monitoring the satisfactory completion of Job Search on a monthly basis.

Where a provider determines that a Participant has not completed their Job Search satisfactorily, they must make a decision on the best strategy to ensure that the Participant is genuinely applying for the number of jobs required and doing so using a range of appropriate methods. For Participants with Mutual Obligation Requirements, this may include using the job seeker compliance framework and reporting non-compliance to DHS. Providers have flexibility to choose when they report non-compliance and when to use discretion and other strategies to positively influence the Participant’s behaviour. The aim is to ensure that Participants remain actively engaged in looking for work in order to reduce their reliance on income support.

Relevant Deed clause/s

Clause 87 - Appointments with Participants

Clause 88 – Contacts Services

Clause 96 – General requirements for an Employment Pathway Plan

Clause 97 – Failure and Reporting

Relevant references

Reference documents relevant to this Guideline include:

·  Learning Centre website

·  Mutual Obligation Requirements Guideline

·  Job Plans Guideline

·  Job Seeker Compliance Framework Guideline

·  Social Security Act 1991

·  Social Security (Administration) Act 1999

·  Guide to Social Security Law

·  Employment and Community Services Network (ECSN) - Reports – Compliance

o  CPL02 DES Job Seeker Compliance

o  CLP07d DES Job Search Assessment Outcomes

Job Seeker Compliance Framework Guideline

Effective Date: 23 March 2016

TRIM ID: D16/266543 1

Monitoring and reviewing Job Search

Process

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Details

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Step 1

Provider processes for monitoring and recording Job Search efforts

/ Providers must actively monitor and determine whether a Participant is appropriately meeting their Job Search Requirement at the end of their Job Search Period (JSP). It is not necessary for the Participant to be present when the Provider is monitoring their Job Search efforts. However, Providers may choose to discuss Participants’ Job Search efforts with them during their Appointments.
Providers must only require Participants to provide them with evidence of their Job Search efforts on a Business Day. Where the end of Participant’s JSP falls on a weekend or public holiday, evidence of their Job Search efforts will need to be reported by the last Business Day before that date. This includes recording applications through the JobSearch website, Job Seeker App or lodging efforts with Providers’ offices in the method agreed.
A Participant can report their Job Search efforts to their Provider in a number of ways:
·  If the Participant applies for jobs through the JobSearch website or the Job Seeker App, the details of the applications will be automatically populated for Providers to view in the Department’s IT Systems
·  The Participant may also record Job Searches through the JobSearch website or the Job Seeker App and these will also be automatically populated for Providers to view in the Department’s IT Systems.
The Participant can present their Provider with a list of applications by email where this is agreed or provide a hard copy of Job Searches undertaken over the JSP. Providers can help Participants to keep hard copy records of their Job Search efforts by supplying Participants with the Job Search record at Attachment A. The Job Search form is not compulsory for Participants and can be used to assist those with Mutual Obligation Requirements. Providers should record the number of reported Job Searches in each JSP into the Department’s IT Systems.
Attachment B is a Job Search record that can be used by other Participants without Mutual Obligation Requirements.
Providers may also record other details, such as the type of Job Searches undertaken (such as by written application or by telephone), the industries searched (such as the building industry or the hospitality industry) and types of jobs (such as waiter or factory hand).
Note: Participants are required to sign in to the JobSearch website or Job Seeker App to manually record Job Searches and directly apply for jobs.

Step 2

Provider assessment of Job Search Requirements

/ When reviewing Participants’ Job Search efforts to see if they have met their Job Search Requirement recorded in their Job Plan, Providers should consider the adequacy of the Job Search efforts. Providers should consider:
·  the Participant’s skills and the type of jobs they have applied for
·  the types of jobs applied for in relation to the local job market
·  whether the Participant applied for jobs using a range of methods
·  whether the Participant followed up on any specific job referrals made by their Provider.
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In addition to the adequacy of Job Search efforts, Providers should consider any other factors affecting the Participant’s circumstances and whether at any time during the JSP:
·  the Participant’s income support payment was suspended
·  the Participant was working or started any other relevant activity
·  the Participant had an Exemption from meeting their requirements (for example, due to temporary illness) and was therefore Suspended on the caseload
·  the Participant had been recently referred for or was awaiting an Employment Services Assessment
·  the Participant had a vulnerability indicator.
Depending on the circumstances, for example, if the Participant had an Exemption for two weeks of the JSP (therefore half the period), the Provider should consider the appropriate level of Job Search Requirements expected. In this example, it would be reasonable to expect the Participant to complete half (that is, 10 rather than 20) of their usual Job Search Requirements during that period.
See the Mutual Obligation Requirements Guideline and the Job Plans Guideline for more information.
The following are descriptions of Job Search Requirement assessments that a Provider may make:
·  Satisfactory: Where the Provider considers that the Participant’s Job Search effort was satisfactory, Providers should record this in the Department’s IT Systems in each JSP, continue to service their Participant as normal and review their Job Search efforts the following JSP
·  Unsatisfactory-Discretion: Where the Provider considers that the Participant’s Job Search effort was unsatisfactory, but that using the job seeker compliance framework is not the best way to help the Participant to improve their Job Search efforts at that time, Providers should record their use of discretion in the Department’s IT Systems. Providers should advise Participant’s that their Job Search efforts have been assessed as unsatisfactory and let them know what they need to do to satisfactorily complete their requirement in the future. Providers should continue to service their Participant as normal and review their Job Search efforts the following JSP. Prior use of discretion should be taken into account for future assessments of unsatisfactory Job Search efforts
·  Unsatisfactory: Where the Provider considers that the Participant’s Job Search effort was unsatisfactory (that is, poor, inadequate or incomplete) and that using the job seeker compliance framework is the best way to encourage the Participant to improve their Job Search efforts, Providers must record unsatisfactory Job Search in the Department’s IT Systems and the reason that the effort was unsatisfactory. Providers have up to 10 Business Days following the end of the Participant’s JSP to make the Job Search efforts assessment and record an unsatisfactory result in the Department’s IT Systems.

Step 3

Provider submits a Participation Report to DHS

/ On the same Business Day as the Provider has considered and recorded the Participant’s Job Search effort as unsatisfactory, the Provider must submit a Connection Failure—Failure to comply with Job Search Requirement (CFJR) PR to DHS if the Participant has Mutual Obligation Requirements. The PR must contain information as to why the Participant’s efforts were found to be unsatisfactory and any other relevant considerations so that DHS can investigate the failure.
When DHS receives the PR, they will notify the Participant that they are required to make contact to discuss the PR before the Participant can complete their regular lodgement process or receive their next income support payment.
Once the Participant makes contact with DHS, DHS will investigate the PR. DHS will consider the information recorded by the Provider in the PR and establish whether the Participant had a Reasonable Excuse; based on this, they will apply or reject the PR.
Applied:
Any applied CFJR PRs will contribute towards the trigger for a Comprehensive Compliance Assessment, which has the potential penalty of eight weeks without income support where DHS determines the Participant has been deliberately and persistently non-compliant.
Rejected: If the PR is rejected, Providers will be made aware through the Department’s IT System that the PR has been rejected and must continue to actively monitor and consider whether a Participant is appropriately meeting their Job Search Requirement the following JSP.

Attachment A: Job Search record

You should use this form to keep a record of your Job Search efforts for the period shown below, unless you are recording this information on the JobSearch website or Job Seeker App instead. If you need extra space, you can start a new Job Search record or record the details on a separate sheet.

If the Department of Human Services (DHS) has given you an Exemption from meeting your Mutual Obligation Requirements, you do not need to record any Job Search efforts for the days that you had an Exemption. If you have declared paid work to DHS at any time during this period, the number of Job Search efforts you need to complete may be reduced—please talk to your Employment Services Provider about this.

Note: This page to be completed by the DES Provider.

Full name: ………………………………………………………………………………..

Job seeker ID number: …………………………………………………………....

DES Provider: ………………………………………………………………

DES contact: (Name)………………………………………………… (Phone)(….)……………………..

Job Search Period: From: ………/………../………. To: ………/………../……….

You are required to apply for …….. jobs

Your next appointment is on ……../……../……. at ….……… AM/PM at ………………………(location)

You should bring this completed record of your Job Search efforts with you to this Appointment.