Guideline: Managing and Monitoring Job Search

Guideline:
Managing and Monitoring Job Search

Ongoing and active Job Search is a key part of a job seeker’s Mutual Obligation Requirements and an expectation on job seekers without Mutual Obligation Requirements in Employment Provider Services. In order to receive Income Support Payments, job seekers must be able to demonstrate that they are actively seeking to secure paid employment and reduce their reliance on taxpayer-funded income support. Job Search is also important for job seekers without Mutual Obligation Requirements who are participating in Employment Provider Services in order to improve their employment prospects.Job Search Requirements are the number of Job Search efforts a job seeker must complete, generally 20 Job Searches per Job Search Period, as recorded in their Job Plan.Where ajobactive Provider(Provider) determines that a job seeker has not completed their Job Search satisfactorily, they must make a decision on the best strategy to ensure that the job seeker is genuinely applying for the number of jobs required and doing so using a range of appropriate methods. For job seekers with Mutual Obligation Requirements, this may include using the job seeker compliance framework and reporting non-compliance to the Department of Human Services (DHS). Providers have flexibility to choose when they report non-compliance and when to use discretion and other strategies to positively influence the job seeker’s behaviour. The aim is to ensure that job seekers remain actively engaged in looking for work in order to reduce their reliance on income support.

Version:3.0

Published on:1 June 2017

Effective from: 1 July 2017

Changes from the previous version (Version 1.3)

Policy changes:

Nil

Wording changes:

Re-written into new template

Document Change History

A full document history is available at the Provider Portal

1.Monitoring and recording Job Search efforts

A job seeker’s Job Search Requirements are developed with their Provider and set out in their Job Plan. Providers are responsible for ensuring that job seekers are set an appropriate level of Job Search Requirements and for monitoring the satisfactory completion of Job Search on a monthly basis.

See Managing and Monitoring Mutual Obligation Requirements and Job Plan Guideline for more information on setting Job Search Requirements.

Providers must actively monitor job seekers’ Job Search Requirements each month and make an assessment as to whether a job seeker is appropriately meeting their Requirements within 10 Business Days of the end of their Job Search Period.

The widget ‘Job Search Period Overview’ on the Dashboard in ESS Web tellsProviders when a job seeker’s Job Search Period has ended and an assessment is required.

Providers can discuss Job Search efforts with job seekers at Provider Appointments.

For Stronger Participation Incentive (SPI) Participants, Providers must deliver at least one Contact Appointment in each Job Search Period to discuss the jobs SPI Participants looked for, or applied for, in the last Job Search Period.

Providers can also refer job seekers to suitable jobs. If the job seeker follows up on the referral, it counts towards their Job Search efforts. If the job seeker does not follow up on a referral, Providers take this into consideration when assessing if the job seeker has satisfactorily met their Job Search Requirement. Providers may assess the efforts as unsatisfactory if a referral has not been followed up and use the compliance framework to report the non-compliance.

The job seeker does not have to be present when the Provider decides if their Job Search efforts are acceptable.

Seethe Managing and Monitoring Mutual Obligation Requirements and Job Plan Guidelinefor further information.

Reporting of Job Searchesby job seekers to Providers

Job seekers are responsible for reporting their Job Search efforts toProviders before the end of each Job Search Period.

Job seekers can report their Job Search efforts to their Provider by:

using the jobactive website or Job Seeker App to apply for jobs or record Job Searches. The details of those applications will be automatically populated for the Provider to view on the Department’s IT System
email, if both Provider and job seeker agree, or
filling outa Job Search record and giving it to the Provider (see the List of Attachments for Job Search forms that can be given to job seekers).

Job seekers can report their Job Search efforts up to the last Business Day of their Job Search Period.If the last day of a job seeker’s Job Search Periodfalls on a weekend or a public holiday, Job Search efforts need to bereported on the last Business Day before the weekend or public holiday, including ifJob Searches are reported in an electronic form.

Recording and keeping evidence of Job Searches

If the job seeker reports their Job Searches using the jobactive website or Job Seeker App, their Job Searches will be recorded in the Department’s IT System.

System Step:If the job seeker reports their Job Searches via email or a manual Job Search, Providers mustrecord the number of searches in the Department’s IT System at the end of the Job Search Period.

Providers may use the Department’s IT System to record any other information about a job seeker’s Job Search efforts which might help the job seeker get a job. This can include information like:

the industries the job seeker is applying for jobs in (like hospitality or building)
the jobs the job seeker is applying for (like retail customer service or fruit-picking), and
any other relevant information about Job Searches.

Documentary Evidence: If the job seeker chooses to report their Job Search efforts by providing manual Job Search records (hardcopies), this evidence mustbe retained by the Provider and provided to the Department on request.

Providers can ask job seekers to provide evidence of their Job Search efforts, such as emails sent to prospective employers.

2.Assessing Job Search efforts

Providers are required toconsider the number and quality of Job Searches the job seeker has completed,along with the job seeker’s circumstances, when assessing Job Search efforts.

Considering number and quality of Job Search efforts

Providers need tolook at the number of searches undertaken, but also think about how usefuleach search was to improve the job seeker’s chances of getting a job.Providers can consider:

the job seeker’s skills and type of jobs they have applied for
if the types of jobs applied for are reasonable given the jobs available in the local area
the different ways the job seekerapplied for jobs
ifjob referrals were followed up and how this was done.

Considering the job seeker’s circumstances

Providersalso have toconsider any factors which have affected the job seeker’s circumstances during the Job Search Period, including:

if the job seeker’s Income Support Payment was suspended
if the job seeker was working or started another relevant Activity
if the job seeker had an exemption from meeting their requirements for part or all of the Job Search Period (for example, exemption due to temporary illness) and was suspended from the caseload as a result
if the job seeker was referred to or waiting for an Employment Services Assessment
if the job seeker had a Vulnerability Indicator.

If the job seeker’s circumstances have been impacted, the Providershould consider how that might have affected the job seeker’s ability to do their Job Searches and what their appropriate Job Search would have been.

For example,if the job seeker had an exemption for half of their Job Search Period, it could be reasonable to expect them to only complete half of the required Job Searches for that Job Search Period.

Seethe Managing and Monitoring Mutual Obligation Requirements and Job Plan Guidelinefor further information.

Deciding if a job seeker has met their Job Search Requirement

Providers decide if the job seeker has met their Job Search Requirementafter considering all the necessary information.Providers have up to 10Business Days after the end of the job seeker’s Job Search Period to assess Job Search efforts and record the decision in the Department’s IT System.

Job seeker’s Job Search efforts are assessed as either:

satisfactory
unsatisfactory, using discretion, or
unsatisfactory.

Deciding the Job Search Requirements assessment is satisfactory

If Job Search efforts were satisfactory,Providers can record a satisfactory assessment in the Department’s IT System, but it is not compulsory to do so.Providers can record asatisfactory assessment before the end of the job seeker’s Job Search Period if the Provider considers that the job seeker has already satisfactorily met their Job Search Requirement.

After making a satisfactory assessment, Providers continue to service the job seeker as usual.

System Step: Providers can record a Satisfactory Job Search assessment by navigating to the Job Search Reporting page in the Department’s IT System and selecting ‘Satisfactory’ from the assessment options.

Deciding the Job Search Requirements assessment is unsatisfactory, but using discretion

If the job seeker did not do the appropriate number of searches, or they were not of a good quality, Providers can use discretion if the job seeker compliance framework is not the best way to improve Job Search efforts. Providers must recordUnsatisfactory-Discretion in the Department’s IT System.Providersthen:

advise the job seeker that their Job Search efforts wereunsatisfactory
advise the job seeker what is required to satisfactorily complete their JobSearches in the future
continue to service the job seeker as usual, and
consider if using discretion helped improvethe job seeker’s Job Search efforts when assessing future Job Search efforts.

System Step:Navigate to the Job Search Reporting page in the Department’s IT System and select ‘Unsatisfactory-Discretion’ from the assessment options and the reason for the assessment.

Deciding the Job Search Requirements assessment is unsatisfactory

If the job seeker did not do the appropriate number of searches, or they were not of a good quality, Providers can decide to use the compliance framework if they consider it the best way to encourage satisfactory Job Search efforts in the future. Providers must record the Unsatisfactoryassessment, and the reasons for the decision, in the Department’s IT System.

System Step:Navigate to the Job Search Reporting page in the Department’s IT System and select ‘Unsatisfactory’ from the assessment options.

3.Submitting Participation Reports to DHS

If the job seeker has Mutual Obligation Requirements that include undertaking Job Search, and the Provider decides to use the compliance framework for an unsatisfactory assessment, they mustsubmit a Failure to Comply with Job Search Requirement Participation Report (CFJR) to DHS. This must be done on the same Business Day that the Providerdecided and recorded the unsatisfactory assessment.The Failure to Comply with Job Search Requirement Participation Reportmust include all the information considered by the Providerand the reasons the Provider decided the job seeker’s Job Search efforts were unsatisfactory.

DHS will assess all information and evidence given by the Provider in the Participation Report,talk with the job seeker, and establish whether or not the job seeker had a Reasonable Excuse before deciding to apply or reject the Participation Report.

Submitting Participation Reports for Principal Carer Parents and job seekers with a Partial Capacity to Work

Job seekers who are Principal Carer Parents or job seekers who have been assessed as having a Partial Capacity to Work are also required to do Job Search. If the Provider is not satisfied with their Job Search efforts, they can include a compulsory Job Search activity in their Job Plan. For Principal Carer Parents, the compulsory Job Search activity isundertaken during school hours. If the Principal Carer Parent or job seeker who has been assessed as having a Partial Capacity to Work does not attend and participate in the Job Search activity, the Providercan submit a Failure to Attend an Activity Participation Report (NFAA).

Job seekers will not be able to complete their regular lodgement to DHSor receive their next Income Support Payment until they have discussed the Participation Report withDHS.

See the Job Seeker Compliance Framework Guidelinefor further information on Participation Reports.

Job seekerdoes not have a Reasonable Excuse (CFJR Participation Report Failure applied)

If DHS decides that the job seeker did not have a Reasonable Excuse for not completing their Job Search, the CFJR Participation Report will be applied.

If the CFJR Participation Report is applied, DHS may require the job seeker to complete a job seeker diary for up to 12 weeks. Providers will be alerted to the job seeker being issued a job seeker diary through the Department’s IT System.

During the 12 week period, job seekers must report their Job Search efforts to their Provider in addition to filling out the job seeker diary. The Provider must still assess the job seeker’s Job Search efforts at the end of each Job Search Period. The Provider must ensure the job seeker is aware that they need to return the completed job seeker diary to DHS at the end of the 12 week period for DHS to assess.

If DHS decides the job seeker diary is Satisfactory at the end of the 12 week period, no further action will be taken.

If DHS decides that the job seeker diary is not satisfactory or it is not completed, the job seeker may be given a further Reconnection Requirement.

Note: Principal Carer Parents and job seekers with an assessed Partial Capacity to Work will not get a 12 week job seeker diary to complete.These job seekers will continue to report their monthly Job Searches to Providers, who will monitor them as usual.

All applied CFJR Participation Reports will count towards the trigger for a Comprehensive Compliance Assessment which could result in a penalty period of eight weeks.See theComprehensive Compliance Assessments and Compliance Activities Guideline for further information.

DHS rejects the CFJR Participation Report

If DHS decides that the job seeker did have a reasonable excuse or there are administrative issues which mean the failure could not be applied, DHS will reject the CFJR Participation Report and no further action will be taken.Providersare told about rejected CFJR Participation Reports through the Department’s IT System.

DHS will reject a CFJR Participation Report if, after speaking to the job seeker, they determine that the job seeker had a good reason for not complying. If a CFJR Participation Report is rejected by DHS, Providers muststillkeep monitoring the job seeker’s Job Search efforts and make an assessment at the end of each Job Search Period.

4.Summary of required Documentary Evidence

Recording an Unsatisfactory, or an Unsatisfactory but using Discretion, Job Search Assessment

Each month, Providers must review the Job Search efforts of each job seeker. These can be reported by the job seeker on a hard copy form, by email, using the jobactive website or Job Seeker App (or a combination) to assess whether the job seeker has appropriately met their Job Search Requirement for that Job Search Period.