This month’s Shared Solutions is all about work experiences--not to be confused with Trial Work Experiences! You may have seen the September 2017, webinar focusing on Trial Work Experiences and…this is not that! Work experiences and Trial Work Experiences are very different activities meant for very different outcomes. Employment specialists, job seekers, and Vocational Rehabilitation counselors can use work experiences throughout the Discovery process. Are you confused yet? Read on for more information about the use and benefit of work experiences.
Nuts and Bolts
Work experiences, which are often underused, offer your job seekers the opportunity to explore varying interests through first-hand learning and real work exposure in an integrated, competitive, community-based employment setting. They can be invaluable for those job seekers who have little to no work history as a means to honing in on preferences, skills and support strategies for success. As vocational themes emerge during Discovery, work experiences can help refine employment interests and guide future job development. In fact, a work experience can often result in a formal offer of employment or pave the ground for the development of a customized position.Keep in mind, a work experience:
- is completed individually with a 1:1 employment specialist to job seeker ratio
- may last for as long as 12 weeks in total
- may be developed across a variety of businesses during those 12 weeks
- may be paid or unpaid, depending upon agency decision making
- requires the provider to be onsite 75% of the time over the course of the work experience
A work experience can be a win-win proposition for all parties, including the business community. Leveraged with attention to job seeker strengths, a work experience is a way to introduce job seeker contributions, discern needed support strategies, and build business relationships. In other words, it can be used as a positive introduction for the job seeker who might otherwise struggle with competition among other applicants.
VR offers flexibility by offering three work experience levels:
Unpaid Work Experiences, Volunteering, and Internships: What's Allowed a fact sheet from the State Employment Leadership Network, updated in February 2017.
Get your work experience groove on and get out there!
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The Center on Community Living and Careers (CCLC) is now offering customized technical assistance and training to address the specific needs of your employment program or agency.
This is not a one-size-fits-all training approach. Training and consultation, delivered by CCLC’s Technical Assistance & Training Team, can include guided practice, field-based mentoring, hands-on skills practice, virtual technology, and one-to-one support--you name it! We’ll work with you to develop the right training plan for your agency.
Find more information in our Employment Training & Consultation flyer. Call us! We look forward to hearing from you!
- Work Experience A (1-5 hours work per week) reimburses the provider at a rate of $200 per week
- Work Experience B (6-10 hours work per week) reimburses the provider at a rate of $325 per week
- Work Experience C (11 + hours work per week) reimburses the provider at a rate of $450 per week
'Liability?' You Ask
Proposing a work experience with local employers can become tricky when those employers begin expressing concerns about liability issues. Employment specialists, armed with the appropriate information, can easily allay these concerns.
When VR has authorized a work experience (A, B or C) and both you and your job seeker have a clear vocational interest area in mind, the work experience can provide additional guidance and valuable learning. When you talk to an employer, you'll propose a "work assessment" or "work try out," a condition that does not represent a hiring relationship. work experiences occur while Discovery is still ongoing. As such (not a hiring relationship), the employer faces no more liability than they would otherwise face when any visitor is at their worksite. (Note that this is the same situation for students involved with Pre-Employment Transition Services.)
Community rehabilitation providers can also side-step the issue of employer liability by offering to pay the wages of your job seeker during a work experience. The job seeker in this instance may be covered by the provider's workers compensation and general/catastrophic liability coverage. If, however, the provider decides not to pay the job seeker during a work experience, the job seeker may still be covered under the provider's general liability insurance. Consult your agency's human resources department for guidance. They may also be able to provide you with proof of insurance coverage, which you can, in turn, show to the potential employer willing to host a work experience. For more information on liability, see the article from the State Employment Leadership Network, listed below under "Resources."
When VR has authorized a work experience (A, B or C) and both you and your job seeker have a clear vocational interest area in mind, the work experience can provide additional guidance and valuable learning. When you talk to an employer, you'll propose a "work assessment" or "work try out," a condition that does not represent a hiring relationship. work experiences occur while Discovery is still ongoing. As such (not a hiring relationship), the employer faces no more liability than they would otherwise face when any visitor is at their worksite. (Note that this is the same situation for students involved with Pre-Employment Transition Services.)
Community rehabilitation providers can also side-step the issue of employer liability by offering to pay the wages of your job seeker during a work experience. The job seeker in this instance may be covered by the provider's workers compensation and general/catastrophic liability coverage. If, however, the provider decides not to pay the job seeker during a work experience, the job seeker may still be covered under the provider's general liability insurance. Consult your agency's human resources department for guidance. They may also be able to provide you with proof of insurance coverage, which you can, in turn, show to the potential employer willing to host a work experience. For more information on liability, see the article from the State Employment Leadership Network, listed below under "Resources."
The Benefits of Work Experiences
Work experiences can be an additional, effective tool in your toolkit. It is another option during Discovery and before jumping into formal job development. Immersing your job seeker in these opportunities provides an abundance of benefits including:- a way to “try out” vocational themes and related work skills
- a lens into support and teaching strategies likely to help your job seeker succeed
- business relationships across a wide variety of community stakeholders
- self-confidence
Resources
The Manual of Employment Services from Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services. (Find the entry for Work Experiences on p. 8.)Unpaid Work Experiences, Volunteering, and Internships: What's Allowed a fact sheet from the State Employment Leadership Network, updated in February 2017.
Get your work experience groove on and get out there!
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Meeting Your Employment Training & Technical Assistance Needs
Effective September 1, 2017, Indiana community rehabilitation providers and agencies can obtain customized, programmatic training and technical assistance as part of the VR Establishment grant training plan. Or, providers—in Indiana or out of state—can pay for technical assistance with private funding.The Center on Community Living and Careers (CCLC) is now offering customized technical assistance and training to address the specific needs of your employment program or agency.
This is not a one-size-fits-all training approach. Training and consultation, delivered by CCLC’s Technical Assistance & Training Team, can include guided practice, field-based mentoring, hands-on skills practice, virtual technology, and one-to-one support--you name it! We’ll work with you to develop the right training plan for your agency. Find more information in our Employment Training & Consultation flyer. Call us! We look forward to hearing from you!
