An event has been held in Ballymena aiming to help local people on Employment and Support Allowance get back into work. The event was hosted by PeoplePlus NI and held in The Braid. Working with the Department for Communities and other partner organisations, PeoplePlus NI manages the Steps 2 Success programme across the Northern region and provides tailored support and mentoring for those who want to rebuild confidence or improve their skills before applying for work. Attendees heard that more than 13,000 people have been helped back to work through Steps 2 Success, representing around 650 people in the Ballymena area. Positive Steps is part of the Steps 2 Success programme and is specifically aimed at ESA claimants. It is entirely voluntary for ESA claimants and does not affect their benefits. The aim of the Positive Steps programme is to build confidence, motivation and skills, whilst reducing isolation, helping participants who are considering employment that is suitable and which … [Read more...] about Taking Positive Steps to get back into employment
Employment
West London employers who hired illegal workers named and shamed
Employers in west London owe nearly half a million in fines to the Home Office for hiring illegal workers in a three-month period. Businesses listed include Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, "one of the largest NHS trusts in England" and several restaurants, all of whom were found to have hired illegal workers. 21 west London employers from Westminster to Southall currently have been fined £465,000 between July and September 2017, which have not been paid. Businesses who hire employees who do not have the right to work in the UK can be fined up to £20,000 per employee by the Home Office's Immigration Enforcement Team. Read More The latest headlines The list also contains companies which have been served with a second, or further penalty, regardless of whether payments have been made. The Home Office has revealed the employers on the list. Employer Address Fine Food World Express A1 Foods Limited, 71 Abbey Road, St John's Wood £10,000.00 … [Read more...] about West London employers who hired illegal workers named and shamed
U.K. Employers Concerned About Brexit Migration Restrictions
British employers have become reliant on European Union workers and are concerned about restrictions after Britain leaves the bloc next year, according to a government-commissioned study published Tuesday.“Employers were fearful about what the future migration system might be,” the Migration Advisory Committee said in an interim report. “Many employers in lower-skilled sectors have built a business model in which the ready availability of EEA migrant labor played an important, sometimes vital, role.”The U.K. has seen net migration from other EU countries plunge by more than a half since the 2016 Brexit referendum, with the decline most acute among citizens of the eight eastern countries, including Poland, that joined the bloc in 2004. Reports suggest EU citizens have been deterred by the Brexit vote, a less favorable exchange rate and improved job opportunities in their home countries.“The fall in the value of the pound following the referendum result and … [Read more...] about U.K. Employers Concerned About Brexit Migration Restrictions
Opioids Actually Boost Women’s Employment: Eco Research Wrap
Opioids have earned a terrible reputation as mass pill addiction morphed into a heroin crisis that’s claiming lives across America. Economists and politicians have painted the epidemic as an outgrowth of job market despair, at least in part. Opioids: not a simple villain U.S. Employment and Opioids: Is There a Connection? NBER website Whether America’s opioid epidemic is impacting its labor market is a hard-to-quantify question, and Princeton University economists Janet Currie, Jonas Jin and Molly Schnell are taking a crack at it – with surprising results. As a reminder, Alan Krueger found a few years ago that of prime-age white men out of the labor force, nearly 50 percent report chronic pain and daily use of opioid pain medications. Many – including former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen – interpreted those and related findings to mean the opioid problem might be … [Read more...] about Opioids Actually Boost Women’s Employment: Eco Research Wrap
The Fed May Have Jumped the Gun on Full Employment
U.S. central bankers seem to feel that when it comes to employment, they’ve done about as much as they can. The Federal Reserve’s Monetary Policy Report released last week concluded that the labor market was “at or a little beyond full employment.”The Fed should approach the issue with a healthy degree of skepticism. Full employment may be more of a moving target than the central bank is willing to admit. The failure to acknowledge this could result in tighter policy than is needed. Policy makers should resist calls to speed up the pace of tightening and investors should wait to rethink their curve flattening positions.The most obvious sign of full employment is growth that is strong enough to pressure the Fed’s inflation target. For now, the labor market appears to be operating short of this benchmark.An important story is not why the unemployment rate continues to be so low -- it has been for quite a while. Instead, the surprise has been the sluggish … [Read more...] about The Fed May Have Jumped the Gun on Full Employment