Community Employment scheme

Information

The Community Employment (CE) programme is operated by FÁS, Ireland's training and employment authority. It is designed to help people who are long-term unemployed and other disadvantaged people to get back to work by offering part-time and temporary placements in jobs based within local communities. It is possible for participants to seek other part-time work during their placement. After the placement, participants are encouraged to seek permanent part-time and full-time jobs elsewhere based on the experience and new skills they have gained while in the Community Employment scheme.

There are a limited number of Community Employment places available. You can get details on current vacancies from your local FÁS office.

Rules

There are 2 different categories of Community Employment, each with its own set of eligibility requirements. These are the Part-time Integration Option and the Part-time Job Option. You can participate in either of these options but not in both at the same time.

CE Part-time Integration Option

The Part-time Integration Option allows you to work under the Community Employment scheme for a maximum of 1 year. The sponsor of the programme - the local organisation or group that manages the scheme - will plan and manage your placement. The sponsor may also offer you training or skills development opportunities that you can take up during your placement. The average number of working hours for placements is 39 hours per fortnight. Participants are paid weekly by their sponsor and tax and social insurance (PRSI) may be deducted from their pay if applicable.

It may be possible to have your one-year placement extended by another year depending on your individual needs, to do this the sponsor must apply in writing to FÁS at least 2 months before the end of your placement. Generally participants complete their one-year placement and then seek a permanent full-time or part-time job elsewhere based on the experience gained in the placement, the good reputation developed with local employers and any new skills learnt over the course of the placement.

You may qualify for participation in the CE Part-time Integration Option if you are:

• Aged 25 years or older, unemployed and receiving Jobseeker's Benefit (JB), Jobseeker's Allowance (JA), One-Parent Family Payment (OFP), Widow's/Widower's Non-Contributory Pension, Widow's/Widower's Contributory Pension or Farm Assist for at least 1 year. (If you were receiving Carer's Allowance this can also count towards the one-year eligibility period, but your caring responsibilities must have ceased and you must currently be receiving either JB, JA or OFP)
• A member of the Traveller community, aged 18 years of age or over, unemployed and receiving Jobseeker's Benefit or Jobseeker's Allowance for any period or One-Parent Family Payment for at least 1 year.
• Aged 18 years or older and is receiving Disability Allowance or Blind Person's Pension.
• Aged 18 years or older and receiving Invalidity Pension or aged 18 years or older and getting Illness Benefit for at least 6 months. In both cases you must have approval from the Department of Social Protection to engage in employment of a rehabilitative nature.
• A refugee aged 18 years or older, authenticated by the Department of Justice and Law Reform (Garda Registration Certificate with Stamp 4) and getting a social welfare payment.
• An adult dependant aged 25 years or older who is dependent on someone who has been receiving Jobseeker's Benefit, Jobseeker's Allowance, or Farm Assist for at least 1 year - see 'Spousal swap' below.
• An ex-offender aged 18 years or older who has been referred by the Probation Service or an ex-offender aged 18 or over not referred by the Probation Service who has been getting JA or JB for 12 months.
• Aged 18 years or over referred by the Drugs Task Force.
• Aged 18 years or over and living on one of the offshore islands.

Where applicable, it is possible for applicants to meet the eligibility requirements by adding time spent on a recognised training or employment programme to the time spent receiving allowances.

Part-Time Job Option

This CE Part-Time Job Option provides participants with part-time work placements of up to 6 years for participants over 55 and up to 3 years for participants under 55. This option is designed to give extended access to employment to older people who may have been unable to secure regular employment for some time. The hours of work, pay, tax and social insurance (PRSI) arrangements are the same as those offered under the Part-Time Integration Option and participants are also free to pursue other job opportunities.

From 26 September 2006 the participation limits for people on 1 of the specified disability payments (see below) have been increased to 7 years for those aged 55 to 65 and 4 years for those aged 35 to 54. This is provided for in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation's Disability Sectoral Plan.

You may qualify for participation in the CE Part-Time Job Option if you are:

• Aged 35 years or older and have been receiving Jobseeker's Benefit,  Jobseeker's Allowance, One-Parent Family Payment (OFP), Widow's/Widower's Contributory Pension, Widow's/Widower's Non-Contributory Pension or Farm Assist for at least 3 years. (If you were receiving Carer's Allowance this can also count towards the three-year eligibility period, but your caring responsibilities must have ceased and you must currently be receiving either JA, JB or OFP)
• A member of the Traveller community, 18 years of age or over and have been receiving Jobseeker's Benefit, Jobseeker's Allowance or One-Parent Family Payment for at least 1 year
• Aged 35 years or older and in receipt of Disability Allowance or Blind Person's Pension
• Aged 35 years or older, in receipt of Invalidity Pension or aged 35 years or older, in receipt of Illness Benefit for at least 6 months. In both cases you must have approval from the Department of Social Protection to engage in employment of a rehabilitative nature
• A refugee aged 18 years or older, authenticated by the Department of Justice and Law Reform (Garda Registration Certificate with Stamp 4) and getting a social welfare payment.
• An adult dependant of someone who is in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance, Jobseeker's Benefit or Farm Assist for 3 years or more - see 'Spousal swap' below.
• An ex-offender aged 35 years or older who has been referred by the Probation Service or an ex-offender aged 35 years or over not referred by the Probation Service who has been getting JA or JB for 3 years.
• Aged 18 years or over referred by the Drugs Task Force.
• Aged 18 years or older and living on one of the offshore islands

Where applicable, it is possible for applicants to meet the eligibility requirements by adding time spent on a recognised training or employment programme to the time spent receiving allowances.

Spousal swap

If you are getting JB, JA or Farm Assist and qualify for CE, you may transfer your eligibility to your adult dependant aged over 25. People who avail of this spousal swap will not lose out on any allowances as they will exchange circumstances with each other, meaning that the allowances the Community Employment applicant would have received will be transferred to their adult dependant. It is important for the adult dependant to sign on for credits at the local social welfare office to protect any future pension entitlements.

Social welfare payments

If you are getting One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) you may be able to keep some of your OFP - see our worksheet on OFP and Community Employment. If you are getting a disability payment you may be able to keep some or all of it, depending on the payment. If you are getting a Non-Contributory Widow/Widower's Pension you may be able to keep some of your payment. However if you are getting a Widow/Widower's Contributory Pension you will keep all of your payment. You should check your particular situation with your Social Welfare Local Office.

Secondary benefits

You will retain your medical card.

Provided your total income is below €317.43 per week you will retain all the secondary benefits you were receiving immediately before going onto Community Employment that is, Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance, Fuel Allowance etc.

Rent supplement: The amount of Rent Supplement which you get may be reduced.

Rates

Participants under both options of Community Employment are paid weekly by their sponsors.

FÁS offers grants to community employers towards the cost of hiring people under the scheme. The level of this grant depends on whether participants have child or adult dependants. FÁS does not provide funding for CE workers aged over 65.

The weekly rate for a CE worker based on 19.5 hours worked is as follows: 

*The amount of the increase for the adult dependant is assessed by the Department of Social Protection. This means that the rate for a participant with an adult dependant may be reduced if the adult dependant has income, for example, from part-time employment.

How to apply

If you want to participate in a Community Employment scheme contact your local FÁS employment services office for information about Community Employment job opportunities. FÁS's job listings are also available online.

If your organisation or group is interested in hiring someone under the scheme, you should contact the FÁS head office at the address below for more information.

Where to apply