Community Employment provides eligible unemployed and disabled people and
other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage in useful work within
their communities on a temporary basis.
It helps them to re-enter the active workforce by breaking their experience
of unemployment through a return to a work routine and to assist them to
enhance/develop both their technical and personal skills.
Community Employment has two categories of participants, each with its own
set of qualifying conditions, namely:
A person can qualify for Community Employment - Part-time integration option,
for a maximum of one year, if he/she is:
25 years of age or over, unemployed, and in receipt of Unemployment
Benefit, Unemployment Assistance or Lone Parents Allowance for one year or
longer, or
A Traveller of any age, unemployed, and in receipt of Unemployment Benefit
or Unemployment Assistance for any period or on Lone Parents Allowance for
one year or longer, or
A disabled person aged 18 years or over who is in receipt of one of the
following payments from the department of Social and Family Affairs:
Disability Allowance
Invalidity Pension
Blind Persons Pension
Disability Benefit for 6 months, who have approval from the Department
of Social and Family Affairs, to engage in employment of a
rehabilitative nature
or
A Programme Refugee, 18 year of age or over, who has been granted the
right to stay in the country and who has been on the Live Register for any
period of time.
An adult dependant aged 25 years or over of eligible participant from the
Live Register.
A qualified adult dependant aged 25 years and over of eligible long term
unemployed persons.
A person aged 25 years or over in receipt of Widows/Widowers Contributory
or Non-Contributory Pension for 12 months or more.
A person aged 18 to 24 years, referred through the Employment Action Plan
who is eighteen months unemployed.
An ex-offender aged 18 years or over referred by the Probation Service.
To make-up the qualifying requirements, a person can combine a
period in receipt of the above payments with a period on a recognised training
or employment programme. In the case of travellers under 18 years of age, a
minimum of 12 months spent in a Travellers Training Centre will suffice for
eligibility.
Local organisations/groups (the sponsor) who plan and manage Community
Employment projects will provide the participant with work opportunities. The
participant will be provided with work for one year for an average of 39 hours
per fortnight. The sponsor will arrange hours in consultation with FAS. Some
participants will be re-engaged for a further year by sponsors, with FÁS
agreement.
The participant will be paid weekly by the sponsor. The payment will include
a personal allowance and a child/adult dependant allowance if applicable. The
participant may also be able to retain certain secondary benefits and should
check with local Social Welfare, Health Board and/or Local Authority for further
details.
Community Employment income will be assessable for tax (PAYE), although many
individual participants have little or no actual tax liability. The amount of
tax will depend on your individual circumstances and allowances. The participant
will pay Class A rate PRSI on all income above the PRSI free allowance of £80
per week.
The participant can engage in other part-time work or activities outside the
time spent working on the project.
Community Employment is a programme designed to increase the chance of
finding a full-time job by giving the participant real work experience and some
training/development opportunities by his/her sponsor within a participant
development plan. This plan will also give the participant some funding to
pursue an agreed training/development course of his/her own choice in his/her
own time.
To qualify for the Part-time Job Option in Community Employment, for a
maximum of three years, a person must be:
35 years of age or over and in receipt of Unemployment Benefit or
Unemployment Assistance for any period or Lone Parents Allowance for three
years or longer, or
A Traveller of any age and in receipt of Unemployment Benefit,
Unemployment Assistance or on Lone Parents Allowance for 1 year,
or longer, or
A person with disabilities aged 18 years or over who is in receipt of one
of the following payments from the department of Social and Family Affairs:
Disability Allowance
Invalidity Pension
Blind Persons Pension
Disability Benefit for 6 months, who has approval from the Department
of Social and Family Affairs, to engage in employment of a
rehabilitative nature
or
A refugee as authenticated by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law
Reform, 21 years of age or over, without the requisite number of weeks in
receipt of payments from the Department of Social Community and Family
Affairs.
An adult dependant of eligible participants from the Live Register. This
involves the person and their adult dependant exchanging places, the
dependant inheriting the age/entitlements of the person, and ensuring that
no losses are incurred in their relative entitlements as a result of this
exchange.
A qualified adult dependant aged 35 or over of eligible long term
unemployed persons.
Person aged 35 or over in receipt of Widows/Widowers Contributory of
Non-Contributory pension for 3 years of more.
An ex-ofender aged 35 years or overreferred by the Probation Service.
To make-up the qualifying requirements, a person can combine a
period in receipt of the above payments with a period on a recognised training
or employment programme. In the case of travellers less than 18 years of age, a
minimum of 12 months spent in a Travellers Training Centre will suffice for
eligibility.
Essentially the participant can work for up to 3 years. The 3 year option
recognises the need to provide access to a part-time job for extended periods
for older persons who have been unable to secure regular employment for some
time.
In other respects, this option has all the features of Community Employment
regarding payment, taxation and pursuit of other work. The participant will also
be able to opt into the training and development opportunities provided under
Community Employment.
