In the lead up to the Christmas rush, many small to medium businesses will be looking for additional short-term labour to meet the extra demands placed on them. Now, with the launch of an innovative new employment program for people with disabilities, they can improve their bottom line while making a difference to someone deserving.
LabourIn is Australia’s first national labour hire offering that specialises in short-term labour for people with disabilities. The program will enable companies to hire people with disability without a long-term commitment but at a fraction of the cost due to government funded wage subsidies. The intention is for participants is to get multiple job placements and experience over time.
LabourIn’s program encompasses people with all types of disabilities, including people with intellectual disabilities, autism and down syndrome, who face additional challenges with securing any employment at all. The program will also include the training of participants to ensure that anyone placed is ready and able to fulfil the requirements of their position immediately.
LabourIn is one of a number of innovative programs run by AimBig Disability Employment Services. AimBig Founder and CEO Marcella Romero says this new program creates a win-win situation for the community.
“Small and medium businesses can face a lot of stress needing to hire people for short-term work at the last minute and often don’t budget for additional head count. Thanks to subsidies, this program enables them to hire qualified people at an extremely affordable rate. A typical labour hire company will generally charge $35 or more per hour, whereas our rate can be less than 50% of this, while paying the employee the standard hourly rate, at a minimum,” says Ms Romero.
“The subsidised funding is for a 6 month period per individual, which makes a huge difference to the bottom line for small to medium sized businesses.”
“LabourIn also enables businesses to employ people living with a disability with minimal risk. They may have considered doing so but have been unable to commit to something long-term. They may also be worried about a placement not working out and fear having to terminate the employment of a person with disability.
“LabourIn enables them to give it a go for the short-term. They also don’t need to worry about paper work linked to hiring a person, we take care of all that. We also have the flexibility to incorporate specific training requirements for individual businesses,” continued Ms Romero. “We are initially concentrating on employment in retail, hospitality or businesses with warehouse requirements for roles such as retail sales or back office, warehouse packing, office admin, cleaning and hospitality.”
“For people living with a disability, having a labour hire firm that specifically understands their challenges, and can support them with training, can really be the difference required in a successful job placement. Short-term placements also enable our candidates to experience a range of different positions and discover what they like and their strengths – all while getting paid a standard hourly rate. You will not get more enthusiastic, loyal or passionate employees!”
The employment figures for people living with disability are stark. Almost half of people with a disability are unemployed. For those with autism, the rate of unemployment skyrockets to three times the rate of people with disability and almost six times the rate of people without disability.
“We want to change that by challenging community attitudes towards hiring people with a disability and encouraging businesses to support the employment prospects of this under-represented group with their hiring decisions. It can help meet diversity targets and contribute to a positive and inclusive work culture. Surely that’s in the Christmas spirit?!” finished Ms Romero.
For more information on LabourIn program visit: https://www.aimbigemployment.com.au/labourinjobs/
