Work Placement Programme

Information

The Work Placement Programme (WPP) provides 9 months’ work experience in the private, public, community and voluntary sectors for graduates and other unemployed people. The placements are for a minimum of 25 hours per week.

The programme is available to people getting most social welfare payments, including Jobseeker's Allowance and Jobseeker's Benefit. If you are getting a social welfare payment for at least 3 months, you may be able to keep it while on the programme - see 'Keeping your social welfare payment' below.

People who are not getting a social welfare payment, or who are on a payment for less than 3 months, are eligible to take part, but will not be get a social welfare payment while on the programme.

There are 2 streams in the Work Placement Programme (WPP). Stream 1 offers places for graduates and Stream 2 offers places for unemployed people, with a number of these places reserved for those aged under 34. If you are an unemployed graduate, you can apply for place in either stream. Placements are allocated to a region according to the number of people on the Live Register in that region and are allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis - see ‘How to apply’ below.

Stream 1

To be eligible for Stream 1 of the Work Placement Programme you must:

• Have been awarded a qualification at level 7 or higher on the National Framework of Qualifications.
• Be unemployed. You do not have to be getting a social welfare payment.

Stream 2

To be eligible for Stream 2 of the Work Placement Programme you must be unemployed. You do not have to be getting a social welfare payment.

You do not have to be a graduate, but graduates can apply.

Keeping your social welfare payment

If you are getting a qualifying social welfare payment for at least 3 months, you may be able to keep your payment while on the Work Placement Programme, subject to the approval of the Department of Social Protection (DSP). You must notify the Department that you are starting a placement, as this changes your status. Arrangements have been made to allow participants on the Work Placement Programme to sign on by post if they are claiming jobseeker's payments. As WPP is a voluntary work placement no payment from the employer is permitted.

The qualifying payments are:

• Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Jobseeker’s Benefit
• Disability Allowance
• Blind Pension
• Invalidity Pension
• Illness Benefit
• One-Parent Family Payment
• Deserted Wife's Benefit
• Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's Pension
• Supplementary Welfare Allowance

If you are getting Disability Allowance, Blind Pension, Invalidity Pension or Illness Benefit you must apply to the Department of Social Protection for an exemption to start a placement on the Work Placement Programme.

If you are on Illness Benefit you must be getting a social welfare payment for 6 months before you can apply for the programme.

Leaving a placement to take up a job

If you get a job during the placement you are under no obligation to stay. You should give the placement provider and the Department one week's notice that you are leaving.

In addition, if your new job qualifies under the Employer Job (PRSI) Incentive Scheme, and if you have completed 3 months on the Work Placement Programme, you may qualify as an ‘eligible worker’ under this scheme. This means that your new employer will not have to pay employer’s PRSI in respect of your employment for 18 months from the date you are employed. Find out more about the Employer Job (PRSI) Incentive Scheme.

Employers

Employers in the public, private and voluntary sectors are all eligible to participate in the Work Placement Programme.

The requirements for employers providing the work placements include:

• They must register with the DSP as a provider
• The maximum number of placements for each employer is 10 or 10% of the workforce, whichever is the lower
• The placement must be for a minimum of 25 hours
• The placement offered must not be in an area of work where there is an existing vacancy

In general, employers will be able to participate if they had no redundancies in the previous 3 months. However, employers who have made people redundant in the last 3 months will still be able to participate if the number of redundancies in that period is less than 5% of the workforce.

You can read detailed eligibility criteria for employers here.

Information for employers

Number of placements: The maximum number of placements that an employer can offer depends on the number of full-time employee as follows: