WorkBC Employment Services Center

Based on WorkBC.ca Website

Girish Chandra Ananthanarayanawww.CDPResources.com

9th Feb 2014

Agenda

• Brief overview of the WorkBC / EPBC programs

• Who should visit a WorkBC Services Center

• Services Offered

• Centers around BC

EPBC - History

• As of April 2, 2012, the Employment Program of British Columbia (EPBC) is the ministry’s one-stop employment program

• EPBC replaced Labour Market Development Agreement (LMDA) employment programs and services, and provincial employment programs for BC Employment Assistance (BCEA) recipients

• British Columbia Employment Program (BCEP)• Community Assistance Program (CAP)• Bridging Employment Programs (BEP) and • Employment Program for Persons with Disabilities (EPPD)

• The EPBC integrates services from these former programs into a single, comprehensive employment program.

History

• WorkBC is the provincial strategy for addressing B.C.’s labour and skills shortages while preparing for continued long term economic growth and success

• To address labour and skills shortages WorkBC employs 5 main strategies:• Keep the workforce we have in B.C.• Develop the skills of our existing workers• Increase the labour market success for • Aboriginal people• Attract and recruit new workers• Address regional skills shortages

EPBC Services

• http://www.sdsi.gov.bc.ca/programs/epbc/index.htm• Services and supports are delivered by community based

employment service providers at WorkBC Employment Services Centres through 73 contracts administered in communities across B.C.

• A network of 85 WorkBC Employment Services Centres are in place to ensure that everyone in B.C., regardless of who they are or where they live, get the supports they need to help them find and maintain employment.

WorkBC Employment Services Center (ESC)

• Located throughout the province, ESCs offer individualized, in-person help to British Columbians looking for work• Support British Columbians in getting a job as quickly as possible — and

keeping it

• ESCs are Accessible, inclusive, and staffed with supportive, knowledgeable people who understand employment needs

Who should visit a WorkBC Center

• The Employment Program of British Columbia (EPBC) is available to all unemployed British Columbians who are seeking employment and are legally eligible to work in British Columbia

• The program offers a range of services that support job seekers to find and maintain employment and to improve employment readiness.

• People in all regions and of all ages and backgrounds have access to the same high-quality supports and services

What do you get at EPBC?

• Self Serve self-serve resource area of WorkBC Employment Services

• EPBC services for the eligible

Services in Employment Services Centers

At each WorkBC Employment Services Centre, you’ll find:

• Job search resources• computer workstations, internet access, public telephones, fax machines, photocopy services, informational

materials

• Personal employment planning• help with resume writing and developing a job-search strategy

• Skills and training• workshops to help with building skills by identifying which workshops and training that will be most useful

• Work experience placements

• Specialized resources• services for those who live in remote areas, for those with disabilities, for those who face language or cultural

barriers, for those who require specialized help for other reasons

Who should visit a WorkBC Center

• Self-serve resource areas at EPBC are open to any B.C. job seeker or employer• No eligibility criteria or formal screening required to use the resource area

• However, to access any other EPBC Services, you must:• Meet basic eligibility criteria for the program – be unemployed and legally

eligible to work in B.C., OR• Qualify as an allowable exception to program eligibility requirements• for most services, be assessed as needing the service to successfully attach

to the labour market or community• Some services have additional eligibility criteria

WorkBC Services - Requirement

1. Meet the program definition of “unemployed,”• “Unemployed” means you are not a full-time student, and you:• are not working• are working an average of fewer than twenty (20) hours per week, AND

• are actively seeking full-time employment• are unable to work full-time because of a disability and are seeking to work more hours• are in receipt of a notice of imminent layoff• must leave your current occupation due to a medical reason• are at significant risk of losing your employment because of a disability

2. Provide a Social Insurance Number (SIN) to demonstrate that you are legally eligible to work in B.C.

3. For more information on eligibility visit WorkBC site: http://www.workbc.ca/WorkBC-Centres/Who-should-visit-us.aspx

Services

• EPBC services are delivered through WorkBC Centres (ESC)

• Services fall into two categories: General services and Supplemental services

• Clients may also be eligible for financial supports• Assist eligible clients in financial need with the costs of basic expenses

required for Program participation, job search or starting jobs. • In some cases, employed individuals at significant risk of losing

employment due to a disability, may be eligible for financial supports to enable employment retention

Services

The two service categories are:1. General services:

• Delivered at the storefront• self-serve services, apprentice services, case management, and case

managed services

2. Supplemental services:• may be delivered at storefront ESC, through other qualified service

providers at other locations or training institutes, depending on type of service

• Training services, Self-Employment services, and specialized assessment services

Services

General services Supplemental services

Self-Serve ServicesApprentice ServicesCase Management

Case Managed ServicesSelf-Employment Orientation

and Assessment Services

Training ServicesSelf-Employment ServicesSpecialized Assessment

Services

Financial Supports

Services – Self Serve Service

• Self-serve services is for ALL BC job seekers. It provides • job search tools, information, equipment, services and supports that

can be accessed independently or with minimal support

• Every WorkBC ESC storefront location in British Columbia will provide the following self-serve services:• A staffed self-serve resource area• Self-serve job search and job search workshops for unemployed

clients• Job search and job start financial supports for eligible clients

Services – Apprentice Services

• Apprentice - registered in an Industry Training Authority (ITA) approved training program

• Apprentices who meet Employment Insurance (EI) client eligibility requirements are eligible for financial supports while in the apprenticeship classroom • Most apprentices have an employer sponsor• Clients without a sponsor and those who have lost their employer sponsorship due to lay-off, may be

considered for case management services - to assess their need and eligibility for services and to help them establish an employer relationship

• Apprentices can be case managed or non-case managed and are served through the Apprentice On-Line Portal (AOP)

• Approximately 80% of apprentices applying for financial supports have not required case management services

• For more information, please visit our Apprenticeship page

Services – Case Management – 1/2

• Case management (CM) - collaborative process between a case manager and a client to support client in achieving highest level of labour market participation possible

• CM - provided to EPBC clients who are assessed to require more intensive services and support than self-serve services

• Potential CM clients may be identified • at reception during their initial visit to the WorkBC ESC, or • while accessing the self-serve resource area, and are offered formal needs assessments to

determine their employment needs and

• BC Employment and Assistance (BCEA) clients with employment obligations, formally referred to the program by the ministry’s regional services division are also provided with a formal needs assessment for CM

Services – Case Management – 2/2

• The case management process involves:• Assessing a client’s employment readiness and employment-related needs• Assisting the client to identify a realistic and achievable employment objective(s)• Developing mutually agreed action plan to support the client to achieve employment

objectives• Providing employment counselling, services, and financial supports (via financial

needs assessment) to assist the client to achieve labour market attachment• Assessment that considers the needs of individuals with specialized employment • Supporting and monitoring client in completing the action plan, until the client has

successfully achieved and maintained a labour market or community attachment outcome

• Job coaching and job maintenance/retention services during the followup period

Services - Case Managed

• Case managed services are services provided to or for case managed clients. These include Employment Support Services and Self-Employment Orientation and Assessment

• Employment Support Services• Group-based workshops and/or individual employment counselling sessions

around preparing for, finding, obtaining and maintaining employment• Group workshops and individual sessions generally focused on job search

and employment, or to improve employment readiness or certificate training courses required for entry level jobs in an occupation or industry

Services – Self Employment (SE) Orientation and Assessment Services

• For clients unable to obtain sustainable employment and potentially suitable for SE services through a formal needs assessment.• Designed to provide information on SE Services, create awareness about

entrepreneurship, and confirm client suitability and self-employment readiness as well as business concept eligibility for Program support.

• SE orientation and assessment services must be completed before a client is approved to participate in the program’s SE services.

• For clients with disabilities, participation requirements can be more flexible to accommodate disability-related needs

Service – Training Services - 1/3

• Assist eligible case-managed clients to access a range of different types of training to help them prepare for the labour market

• Three types of training in the EPBC• Essential skills training• Short-Term Orientation and Certificate training, and • Skills training.

• For clients with disabilities, participation requirements can be more flexible to accommodate disability-related needs

• Essential skills training• Variety of topics intended to improve basic employment readiness. • Taught as stand-alone courses or combined with other forms of skills training

(e.g., literacy and/or numeracy could be combined with other skills training topics)

• Training may vary from a few days to sometimes several weeks or months, depending on the topic and whether or not topics are combined.

• Short-Term Orientation and Certificate training (STOC) • Support clients to meet minimum entry requirements for a job or an industry. • Not more than a few days and often part of a group-based job search

workshop.

Service – Training Services - 2/3

• Skills training• Enable clients to develop skills for labour market; viz. occupational skills

training, academic prerequisites for skills training/employment, and language skills training.

• Language courses normally do not exceed a few months• Academic upgrading as a prerequisite for occupational skills training can

be as brief as a month or two or take up to a few years to complete. • Occupational skills training normally does not exceed one year in length,

but can sometimes be longer.

Service – Training Services - 3/3

Services – Self Employment Services – 1/2

• To help eligible case-managed clients, who have successfully completed Self-Employment orientation and assessment services and had their business concept accepted, to create jobs for themselves by starting a business.

• Clients in SE services are expected to become self-sufficient and independent through self-employment upon completion

• For clients with disabilities, participation requirements can be more flexible to accommodate disability-related needs

Services – Self Employment Services – 2/2

• Three distinct components of Self-Employment services• Business plan development• Entrepreneurial workshops• Business launch and implementation

• Coaching and mentoring by service providers with specialized expertise in self-employment business knowledge is provided throughout Self-Employment services.

Services - Specialized Assessment Services

• Employment-related assessments conducted by qualified assessors• • To effectively assist case-managed clients who have significant and

complex employment-related assessment needs to achieve the highest level of labour market participation possible

• A range of different types of specialized assessments available • to determine a client’s employment-related abilities, strengths, and employment

service needs when they are not evident through the multi-dimensional needs assessment, client interviews, employment counseling, other assessment resources or through existing information that may be available from the client.

EPBC – Service Targets

Labor Market

Participation and Target Groups

Aboriginal People

Women

Immigrants

People with

Disabilities /

Multiple Barriers

Youth

Older Workers

Everyone Else

Targeted Initiative for Older Workers (TIOW)Business Entrepreneurship Skills Training (BEST)

Aboriginal Training and Employment Program (ATEP)

Women’s Mentorship ProgramWomen in Trades Training

Immigrants in Trades TrainingSkills Connect for Immigrants

BladeRunners

• Job Options BC• Labour Market Sector Solutions

• Employment Skills Access Initiative• Targeted Skills Shortage Pilot Program• Skilled Trades Employment Program

(STEP)• Skilled Trades Employment Program

(STEP) – Job Match Services

Job Options BC - Urban Older WorkersTargeted Initiative for Older Workers (TIOW)

Youth Skills BC - Workplace ProgramYouth Skills BC – Entrepreneurship – Youth Mean Business

Program

EPBC – Programs

• Aboriginals • Aboriginal Business Entrepreneurship Skills Training (BEST)• Aboriginal Training and Employment Program (ATEP)• Trades Training for Aboriginal People

• Immigrants • Immigrants in Trades Training• Skills Connect for Immigrants

• Older Workers• Targeted Initiative for Older Workers (TIOW)• Job Options BC - Urban Older Workers

• Women• Women in Trades Training

• Women’s Mentorship Program

• Youth• Youth Skills BC - Workplace Program

• Youth Skills BC – Entrepreneurship – Youth Mean Business Program

• BladeRunners – youth at risk / multibarrier Job Options BC

• General • Employment Skills Access Initiative

• Labour Market Sector Solutions

• Skilled Trades Employment Program (STEP)

• Skilled Trades Employment Program (STEP) – Job Match Services

• Targeted Skills Shortage Pilot Program

• Multi-Barrier Clients / Persons with Disabilities• BladeRunners

Services are delivered through programs for the target audience

Want More Details?

Google WorkBC Employment Programs