Employer Information
How can Employers Support Youth? How Does this Support employers?
Our programming works to support entry level employees to obtain experience and the necessary skills to be successful long term in the labour market.
Employers can support this by participating in the Work Experience Program, hosting workplace tours, providing guest speakers or finding other creative opportunities to share with youth the importance of YOUR work.
Continue reading to learn more about the Work Experience Program or to complete employer feedback which provides valuable insight into how we may work together!
Work Experience Program
What is it?
The Youth Employability Program (YEP) offers a variety of employment interventions and placement opportunities for our clients. The Work Experience Program (WEP) is designed to be a positive and meaningful employment experience opportunity for young people who may not have worked before. To ensure success during the placement YEP staff will provide employment support which includes regular coaching, reflection and debriefing opportunities to clients and employers.
YEP has a variety of placement opportunities which will assist youth in developing employability skills. The program ranges from 24 hour per month work experience training placements to full-time employment placements, with SEED contributing up to 100% of the wage.
What do you mean by “youth”?
The YEP Work Experience Program provides supportive work placements for youth who are between 15 and 24 years of age inclusive, and who fall into at least one of the following categories:
Are in receipt of social assistance
Are a dependent of a social assistance recipient
Are a youth in care of the Department of Community Services/Children’s Aid Society
Live in government subsidized housing
At risk of becoming connected to the department of community services
How can I host a work experience placement?
Contact the Youth Employability Program at (902)209-3576 if you would like to host a work placement. They will ask you for a job description. The job description must include 1) expected tasks and responsibilities and 2) total hours per week that the youth will work and 3) location of work site. YEP program officers will work to find an appropriate candidate for the placement.
If you know eligible youth that you would like to hire, contact YEP with their name(s) and contact information.
What is the Hiring Process?
In many situations, YEP staff will have a participant in mind, and as a host employer, you will interview the candidate to determine whether or not they are a good fit for your organization. If you have deemed the candidate acceptable to fill the position, you will complete and sign an agreement with YEP before you put forward an offer of employment.
In other situations, you may have a particular candidate in mind. You may connect YEP with the young person and YEP will determine their eligibility to participate in the Work Experience Program. If they are eligible and you have deemed them acceptable candidates to fill a position, you will complete and sign an agreement with YEP before you put forward an offer of employment.
How does payroll work?
SEED will pay the trainee directly. The host employer must submit a timesheet every other week to the designated YEP staff.
Additional Information?
The host employer will be considered the supervisor and source of direction for the trainee. YEP staff will check in once a week with the employee and the employer and are there to provide any support needed. The host employer and the trainee will particpate in performance evaluations midway through the placement and again at the end of the placement. The employer is encouraged to provide a reference for the youth at the end of the placement, and if possible, hire the trainee as an unsubsidized employee.