FAQs

Depending on the placement, the young person will either be supported by a dedicated project worker from the Give and Take Scheme or an employability worker if it is through the Trust's Employability Service.

The young person’s personal adviser or social worker will also provide support during the placement. They will accompany the young person on day one and make sure they are settling in.

Staff will visit each week and telephone or email regularly to ensure everything is going well. Each month they will complete a placement review to make sure the experience is mutually beneficial for all.

In addition, prior to the placement beginning, our staff can deliver mentoring training to better prepare your staff to support younger new starts. Our staff will also go through a booklet called ‘Guidelines for Placement Providers’, which has lots of valuable information that employers can refer to along the placement journey.

The employer will be provided will all relevant information and contact details.

All young people are 16 – 21 years old.

We work around what best suits your business, customer and staffing needs, as well as the needs of the young person; and offer a range of possibilities for getting involved.

Days, hours and duration of placements are completely flexible, from one-off tours or taster days to more in-depth or longer term work placement possibilities. We operate all year round and are not bound by academic terms. We can trial an arrangement and increase or decrease weekly hours or alter days depending on changing needs.

We take pride in our professional approach with employers. We listen to them and understand that a ‘positive attitude’ is their most often cited requirement.

All young people go through a rigorous assessment process to be deemed ready for work placement. They will have had to prove their motivation and reliability with our staff prior to a work placement being set up.

That said, they are still inexperienced young adults and their self confidence will often be low. This can sometimes seem like they are unmotivated if they act very quiet or withdrawn; but they often need encouragement and time to grow in confidence to feel comfortable in new surroundings and part of the team.

Sometimes a young person may realize that their placement is not the right career choice for them- that is okay and is a positive step in career exploration, which is why we start with a taster and trial period first. Workplace tours also help young people with these decisions.

Young people going out on work placement are no different than other new starts within your organisation, except they may be more inexperienced of workplace cultures and norms.

Just like everyone, their personalities and interests will vary. The more an employer can do to properly induct and welcome a young person, as is best practice for integrating any new staff members, the quicker the young person will fit in. Our staff will be able to advise and guide on how this is best achieved.

Fears around young people ‘causing trouble’ tend to be based on negative media stereotyping as opposed to the reality of work experiences. Time and time again our young people make a positive impact within their host employer and they strive to make the most from the opportunity on offer. Check out the experiences of both young people and our employers, who can tell you a little more about it.

The conditions of the voluntary work placement is that the volunteer does not receive formal payment for the period of their work placement; therefore they will not be entitled to the industrial benefits of the Social Security Act 1975 if they are involved in an accident during their period of work experience.

However, it is the duty of the placement provider to indemnify the young person on work experience in respect of accidents, damage and loss for which the employer is responsible, as they would for any regular employee.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI), the British Insurance and Investment Brokers Association and Lloyd’s of London have agreed that as a matter of convention students on work experience placements should be treated as employees for the purposes of insurance against personal injury (that is, they will be covered by the Employers’ Liability policy).

Therefore our young people only go on placements with employers who have current Employer Liability and Public Liability, and have notified their insurers of the fact that the young person is on work experience.

If an Access NI check is needed for the type of work the young person may be doing then we can arrange for a check to be completed prior to placement beginning; if we haven’t already got one.

For jobs that have contact with vulnerable children or adults, for example, in a care setting, some employers do not request an Access NI check to be completed if the work experiences are for short periods of time of less than two weeks, as the young person would just be job shadowing and would not be working unaccompanied. This is the employer’s decision and we will support as required.

Many of the young people we work with may be care experienced, and have had a disruptive family life; therefore there is a slightly higher chance that the young person may have had some level of contact with the youth justice system.

We have found that many of the experiences are for petty demeanors; such as minor criminal damage (breaking a tea cup in a care home) and that had the same situation occurred in a normal family environment, it would not have resulted in police intervention.

It is our responsibility to disclose relevant information to employers that relates to the young person’s capability and suitability for a particular work environment.

It is also our responsibility to choose work placements that are suitable for the young person and a good match for both parties in the first instance. If needed, we liaise with expert advice agencies such as NIACRO.

Employers can benefit from working with Include Youth in a number of ways:

• Access support from well prepared, supported, matched and highly motivated volunteers at no cost
• Improve productivity and save money through additional free help
• Develop own employees skills of mentoring, training and guiding others
• Accredited mentor skills training available to staff
• Improve overall workforce commitment and morale
• Low risk, no cost recruitment solution, backed by the Equality Commission
• A completely flexible approach with menu of options to suit operational capacity- we are not bound by term dates
• A small group of young people and Include Youth staff can complete a one-day hands on project or activity, for free
• Improve diversity, equality and Corporate Social Responsibility outcomes
• Improve corporate reputation and raise profile as a socially responsible company through positive publicity opportunities
• Feel the reward of changing lives

Young people are expected to engage in the process of assessment and action planning prior to work experiences being sought.

All young people engage in work preparation training, which includes: information on dress code; personal presentation; communication skills; workplace norms; appropriate and inappropriate behavior; and ‘what if…’ scenarios.

No, there is no formal ‘tie-in’ and although a general idea of duration of placement is agreed at the beginning this is reviewed monthly, as we fully appreciate that circumstances can quickly change both in the employer’s situation and in the young person’s life.

The arrangements can be terminated immediately by either party.

This of course is entirely your decision which we will be delighted to discuss and support.

We work closely with the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland who endorse our work and who would encourage all employers to properly apply positive discrimination mechanisms towards this group of young people to level the playing field.

We are happy to advise, guide and support the transition.

There is no direct financial cost to employers yet they can benefit in lots of ways by simply opening their doors and providing opportunities and mentoring support.