Information for State service employers
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Benefits for employers
Using Mainstream enables employers to:
- hire someone on a generous subsidy
- create a new role to get necessary, but non-priority, tasks done
- free up existing staff to focus on tasks that required greater experience
- discover the benefits of employing people with disabilities
- learn how to accommodate disabled clients and customers
- increase the supervision skills of existing staff as they learn to work with a disabled person
- build a workforce reflecting the make-up of the people they serve
- make a positive contribution to their community.
Mainstream can help when…
Business is good, but everyone's flat out. You're tired of doing all that overtime, and you're missing deadlines because no one is free to help.
What you need is another staff member!
Who can employ a Mainstream participant
Mainstream is available to be used in most State service organisations, as long as they are large enough to provide a reasonable breadth of work experience, and to have suitable staff support systems.
Eligibility Criteria for Schools
Since 2003, many schools have been able to have Mainstream workers. Placements can be made:
- in schools with a roll of 400 or higher
- in non-teaching positions (participants cannot work in teacher or teacher aide positions).
To find out if a school is eligible, contact the Mainstream Employment Programme.
Note: Candidates for Mainstream should not approach State service employers themselves. It works best if someone skilled in setting up placements does this.
For a list of placement specialists and supported employment agencies, go to the website of the Association for Supported Employment in New Zealand.
How to get a Mainstream participant in your team
Mainstream positions are created, and are outside of the staffing allocation. A custom-made employment position will make best use of the participant's abilities. It also allows participants to build job skills, free of undue pressure and stress.
A created position gives participants the best chance for success: it's a win-win situation for them and their employers.
To start the process of getting a Mainstream participant to work for you:
- download the guide to creating a Mainstream Employment Programme position. It will guide you through the process of developing a job description for a created position.
- download the Job Proposal form. You can use this to note the tasks of the new position.
- contact a placement specialist near you to talk about possible candidates.
- contact a Mainstream Casework Advisor to talk about the process.
Mainstream's four-way partnership
Mainstream is a four-way partnership among:
- employers
- participants
- placement specialists
- the programme itself.
The role of the employer is to:
- Complete all Mainstream Employment Programme documentation. This includes the Mainstream Memorandum of Agreement and six-monthly Placement Progress Reviews.
- Provide the Mainstream participant with an Employment Agreement that sets out their terms and conditions of employment in accordance with the Employment Relations Act 2000.
- Comply with the requirements of the Employment Agreement and act as a good employer.
- Provide accurate salary subsidy claims to the Mainstream Employment Programme.
- Send the participant and at least one staff member on Mainstream’s one-day induction training.
- Provide on-the-job training to the Mainstream participant, over and above the usual amount, and support opportunities for the participant to up-skill.
- Plan for the eventual tenure of the Mainstream participant, if at all possible.
Support provided by Mainstream
Mainstream provides support above and beyond the salary subsidy. Other benefits include:
- Induction training for the participant and their supervisor
- External training allowance for the participant and their supervisor (see below for more details)
- Help with the cost of equipment and services to make the participant’s workplace more accessible
- On-going monitoring and placement reviews by placement specialists
- Telephone and on-site assistance from Mainstream casework advisors.
Mainstream Induction training for supervisors
Working with a person with a disability might be a new experience for your staff, even if they have some supervisory experience. A successful Mainstream placement often depends on the ability of the supervisor to be a coach and a mentor.
That’s why we insist that supervisors of Mainstream supervisors attend our one-day induction course. Actual and reasonable costs are met by Mainstream.
Here is an outline of the course:
- Overview of Mainstream
- What is Supported Employment?
- Roles and Responsibilities of the people involved
- Impact of disability on employment
- How can you help to make the placement a success?
- Setting and communicating performance expectations
- Equipping people to meet performance expectations
- Identifying and responding to employees’ training and development needs
- Providing coaching and feedback
- Overcoming barriers in the workplace for people with disabilities
- Useful resources and contacts in the community
- Employment Dream Action Plan
The supervisor of the new participant should have received an invitation to the Supervisor Induction training in their Welcome pack, but if not, please contact Mainstream.
Training allowance for supervisors
A training allowance of $3,000 (including GST) is provided for direct supervisors of Mainstream participants.
Training must be related to either disability equity or performance management that:
- is likely to enhance the Mainstream participant's employment prospects
- will increase a supervisor's awareness of the capabilities of people with disabilities
- covers issues related to staff supervision.
This is a great opportunity for staff to gain skills in coaching, mentoring and performance management.
Cost of equipment allowance for participants
Participants on the Programme may be eligible for an allowance to purchase adaptive equipment or services over and above what an employer would normally fund for any employee.
Download the form below to find out what can be funded by Mainstream.
