Transitional employment services - phase 2: evaluation

4. Employer experiences

4.1 Key findings

• Most of the employers interviewed, whilst not recognising the WFS and WAS services specifically, had long standing relationships with the Providers and valued their understanding of their support needs.
• Employers valued and drew upon a range of pre-employment support offered by Providers including interview preparation, job matching, background checks, health and safety training and advice on managing health conditions.
• A significant minority of employers did not feel that they needed to draw on Providers for post-employment support. Those that did, often sought advice on supporting client needs, for example with childcare or travel.
• Case study employers were impressed with the positive attitude and motivation to work exhibited by WFS and WAS customers compared to recruits from other sources. Customers from both WFS and WAS were reported as settling into work in the first 6-8 weeks and then continued to sustain their employment.
• There was some evidence of improved employment conditions, although this was typically in terms of a move towards permanent contracts and increased hours rather than increased wages. Pay rates tended to vary between the National Minimum Wage (£7.83 per hour for over 25s) with a number paying above these rates (£8.75). In a minority of the case studies, recruits had progressed to supervisory positions with an associated increase in pay.

4.2 Employer views of recruitment and retention of WFS/WAS customers

Introduction

A key finding in Phase 1 of the evaluation was that the vast majority of customers of both WFS and WAS do not want Providers to contact their employers. Case studies with employers in Phase 2 have been undertaken with 17 employers using contact details sourced from Providers. We believe that these employers are among those who have closer working relationships with Providers and so the results of the discussions should be read with this in mind.

We have not presented the results of these discussions separately for WFS and WAS. Partly because there are too few case studies to make this credible but mainly because the comments from employers are very similar. Full details of our approach are included in Appendix 2.

Employer engagement with WFS/ WAS Providers

Employers report that they first came into contact with the WFS/ WAS Providers through a range of routes:

• Personal and professional contacts – these included networking events and previous contact with Providers including those who had been employed by Providers in the past.
• A minority of employers had sought out provider support to help them diversify their recruitment practices and employ more people with a disability or health condition. They felt that employing people with a disability or long-term health condition made them a better place to work for all employees and provided an opportunity for staff and managers to work differently.
• Although the research has highlighted that many WFS and WAS customers do not want their provider to contact their (prospective) employer a significant minority of case study employers were first alerted to the presence of Providers by suggestions from the customers during their interviews. This was most often through suggestions made by the candidate to secure additional support e.g. funding for security industry assessment or travel to work. None of this group reported that they had been contacted directly by Providers, through cold-calling etc although this could be because of how this group of employer contacts were sourced.
• Some employers remained wholly unaware that their employees were WFS and WAS customers and did not have any direct contact with the Providers.

Employer 6 is a small convenience shop. The manager was unaware of WFS and WAS, and had not officially met a provider.

The employer often has vacancies for part time shop assistants. In early 2018, the manager recruited an employee who had been unemployed for some time with a long-term health condition. There was only one applicant at that time, who walked into the shop with a CV. The manager discussed the health condition with the applicant and was reassured that the GP had confirmed she was fit for work. The manager was happy to recruit the applicant, who is still employed in the shop. The employee is on a 16-hour permanent contract.

Training was provided at the start; the same as for any employee. The manager was positive about recruiting someone recovering from a health condition - a view re-inforced as a result of this experience. They would definitely consider similar candidates in future.

Although the manager was not aware that the candidate was being supported by a provider, she recalled that someone visited the new employee soon after she started work in the shop. The visitor asked the manager how the new recruit was getting on. The manager did not know who the visitor was. Based on this telephone discussion, she now assumes that it was the provider.

Whatever the initial point of contact reported by employers, the majority identified that the motivation and preparedness of customers at interview impressed them. This was generally reported to be better than other sources of recruits and ensured that employers were happy to continue working with Providers and develop their relationships.

In a small number of cases, employers did point to issues where they would not have progressed candidates:

• A couple of employers were concerned that in some job roles candidates could not use the machinery if they were under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
• Other constraints – physically demanding work meant that candidates should not be put forward if their conditions would prevent them from undertaking the job roles even after appropriate adjustments had been carried out.

Employers' views on pre-employment support from WFS/ WAS Providers

Employers identified a number of areas where they had drawn on support from Providers prior to recruitment:

• Working closely with Providers pre-recruitment to ensure that customers are well-prepared for interview and work more generally, a focus on life skills and what is expected in a working environment were highlighted by employers as being key to customers starting employment well.
• Ensuring that customers had relevant skills and matched the person specification for the job role was mentioned less often by employers but are a consideration for some. This is perhaps less of a consideration given the type of occupations involved and the general difficulties in securing motivated candidates who are confident dealing with the general public that a number of employers reported.
• Some Providers undertake background checks where these are required by the employer/ sector and establish their right to work in the UK. In some instances, the provider also gave customers health and safety training to aid their placement with employers in retail and hospitality.
• Others mentioned the need to consider how job roles fit with different customer disabilities or health conditions. In some cases, job roles involved significant physical activity and so ensuring that this was suitable work for each individual's health condition was more of an issue.

While the potential problems of disclosing an existing long-term health condition to an employer are widely reported, the case study employers responded positively to individuals telling them about their condition at interview. Employers commented that:

• This is something that they believe exists across their workforce/ recruitment pool. One employer undertakes an occupational health assessment for all employees so that any workplace adjustments can be carried out whether or not individuals see their health as a 'condition'.
• They are aware that all Providers recommend that customers disclose their condition and help customers prepare to practice ways in which this should be done in a positive manner. This is appreciated as all employers would prefer disclosure.
• One employer reported that they were happy that the potential recruit disclosed their condition at the interview stage. However, they were concerned that, had they known this pre-interview, they would not have progressed the applicant to an interview based on their preconceptions of what might have been involved in employing them.

Employers' views on post-employment support from WFS/ WAS Providers

Fewer than half of the employers interviewed did not feel that they needed to draw on Providers for post-employment support. Those that did, offered a range of reasons for doing so:

• To obtain advice and support from Providers in general on how to better support specific client needs. Access to affordable childcare was referred to as a barrier for some candidates (in common with recruits through other channels).
• Access to financial support with travel in the first weeks of employment was noted as being very helpful in supporting new recruits through the transition from benefits into employment by a number of employers. In one case the employer had contacted the provider when their new recruit was struggling to cope financially in the first few weeks of employment.
• In a small number of cases, employers had sought Providers' advice on how best to support existing employees who had health conditions.

Employer 9 is part of a national food retail business, based in the Highlands and Islands. The store manager has been involved with 2 or 3 Providers since he started at this store two years ago.

The provider got in touch with him originally, and they have built up a good working relationship.

The manager has recruited 3 employees via this route during this period, one of whom had been unemployed for several years. Employees are provided with a permanent contract, for 16-30 hours pw (with potential to increase hours), with pay rate slightly above the minimum.

He comments that the provider are always on call and are able to provide advice over the phone or at the store. The provider offers pre-employment support to clients, including interview preparation and health & safety training. The provider has a good understanding of the employers' needs, and typically proposes just one candidate for a vacancy, or asks the employer if they have a vacancy for a job ready client.

The manager has attended events promoted by the provider. He works closely with the provider, who know that he wants to recruit staff who are available and are seeking long term employment, not work experience. The employees recruited via the provider are treated the same as other employees in terms of pay rate, training and potential for progression.

Other employees are recruited through online applications to the corporate website, or in conjunction with the Jobcentre. Applicants from the provider have similar characteristics to any other applicants. The employer feels that the candidates from the provider have good motivation and attitude to work. He feels that is partly due to the good rapport which has built up with the Providers.

When asked whether other recruitment incentives would increase the number of people with a disability or health condition they employ, most employers felt it was more important that any available resources were invested in alleviating customers' barriers to employment than in providing employers with incentives to recruit people with a disability or health condition. Communications between employers and Providers have strengthened over time and this has enabled Providers to develop a better understanding of employers' induction and training procedures, so that they can prepare customers. A number of employers reported that they had undertaken repeated rounds of recruitment with Providers and pointed to the process improving in each iteration.

In some cases employers had themselves become more involved in Providers' support to customers including:

• Undertaking mock interviews with customers to help build their interview skills
• Being more open to accepting a customer for interview on the recommendation of employer engagement staff. More than one employer had recruited individuals even though they had not been seeking to fill any posts because they felt the individuals presented had specific skills that would be useful to their business.

Impact on employers' attitudes to recruiting people with a disability or long-term health condition

Case study employers consistently remarked on the positive attitude and motivation to work exhibited by WFS and WAS customers. This has led them to return repeatedly for new candidates when a new vacancy arises.

Most employers stress that they aim to treat all customers as they would any other recruits in terms of rate of pay, training and potential for progression.

Staff turnover is a fact of life with employees leaving to secure better rates of pay or more convenient shift pattern or working hours that better suit them.

Most employers were very positive about their experience of working with people with long-term health conditions or disabilities and, apart from small amount of those who had issues with alcohol or drug use, no employer reported that they had had to terminate any customers' employment for on-going health reasons.

Employer 11 is a national charity with a number of high street stores. The case study relates to one store which has 53 volunteers.

The manager has been involved with Jobcentre in offering work experience placements. Through this, he became aware of the service delivered by [recruitment provider] He felt this was a good opportunity to help people develop skills, build a CV to aid their entry/re-entry to employment, by working as volunteers. Existing volunteers cover a wide age range (15-92), with varying skills and experience, some of whom are disabled or have long term health conditions.

The manager joined the charity three years ago from a commercial retail background. In his current job he has not turned down any potential volunteer at their initial interview. His approach is to ascertain what the charity can do for the volunteer, and to jointly identify their needs. This could include health needs, taking account of confidentiality, or their job ambitions.

The manager has accepted two applicants referred by [recruitment provider]. The first of these has stopped volunteering due to deterioration in her health condition. A second applicant started to volunteer a few weeks ago. This person lacks confidence and job experience. The manager agrees tasks with him, which are set to help him progress from back office to interacting with customers and till work. The aim is to develop a CV and be able to provide references for future job applications.

There are regular communications with [recruitment provider], particularly by phone. The manager wants to ensure that volunteers are not at risk of losing their benefits by working in the store.

All volunteers are encouraged to develop skills so that they can work independently and know what is expected of them. For example, a volunteer who prefers administrative work has learnt to use the computer to sell goods online. This helps the individual to develop their skills, and when the goods are sold, the personal achievement is motivational.

Sustainability of employment for WFS/WAS customers

For the most part customers from both WFS and WAS who settle into work in the first 6-8 weeks sustain this employment.

A number of employers provided hours of employment to suit the circumstances of their employees' conditions and benefit position. In some cases, this could be flexible to need so individuals could work as many hours as they felt able to. In other cases employees had made it clear to employers that they could not work more than 16 hours without being worse off because of their benefit situation.^[13]

Employers expect all candidates to demonstrate their suitability to the job and often build in progression stages towards permanent contracts and increased hours. One major employer in the hospitality industry starts all new recruits on a three week probationary period before moving to a zero hours contract. After three months employees are given a contract with minimum hours, typically 30 hours per week at 70p above the minimum wage rate. All recruits from the service have progressed to the minimum hours contract.

Even those who have moved on to work experience have subsequently progressed into permanent employment, with one trainee now employed as a team leader within the project.

Pay rates vary, ranging from the National Minimum Wage (£7.83 per hour for over 25s) to slightly higher, with a number paying above these rates (£8.75). The Living wage is currently £9.00 per hour.

Areas that employers highlighted could improve the effectiveness of the recruitment process included:

• More information and advice from Providers on issues facing customers with mental health issues
• Pre-employment training specific to the job opportunities available