Where to look
Voluntary work
Mentoring
Refugee Integration & Employment Service
Refugees (people with refugee status, humanitarian protection or discretionary leave) are entitled to access Jobcentre Plus services like any other UK citizen, although few tend to use these services. Asylum seekers with permission to work can only use the self-access (job terminals) services at Jobcentre Plus offices. Information about employment opportunities can be found through the following:
- Refugee advice agencies
- Private recruitment agencies
- Local newspapers (some jobs are advertised in community languages in the appropriate papers)
- Local radio (some stations broadcast in community languages)
- National newspapers
- Ethnic newspapers
- Internet search engines
- Notice bulletin boards at colleges, universities, advice centres and others
- Jobcentre Plus
Jobcentre Plus
Jobcentre Plus, part of the Department for Work and Pensions, is responsible for dealing with benefits and employment services. In many areas throughout the country, Jobcentre Plus pathfinder offices offer an integrated work and benefit services. For information on Jobcentre Plus services, visit their website. Asylum seekers given permission to work have no recourse to public funds and are unable to access Job Centre Plus provision other than the self-help type. All asylum seekers with permission to work can qualify for contributory Job Seekers Allowance if they meet the national insurance contributions.
Applying for a job
There are particular issues for asylum seekers and refugees to consider when applying for work. Should they mention which country they are from? Should they include details of how long they have been living in the UK in their application form? Some refugee organisations can give guidance on CVs, covering letters, application forms and interview techniques.
Job-search courses
To help those new to the job market (and anyone who is finding it hard to get work), colleges and agencies offer job-search courses. These cover all aspects of job-hunting, and some are specifically aimed at refugees and asylum seekers. Some colleges and training organisations include basic job-search skills as part of other courses they offer.
Voluntary work is a good way to gain experience of British working practices, learn new skills and obtain a reference. Volunteering opportunities are not always advertised; therefore anyone interested in volunteering may have to approach the organisation that they are interested in working for directly. Volunteers can continue to claim benefits if they can demonstrate that they are still available for, and actively seeking, work. This means that their volunteering does not commit them to fixed duties and they could take up an offer of paid work within 48 hours. People on benefits should clarify this with their local Jobcentre Plus office.
Mentoring programmes provide individual support and advice to refugee job-seekers via a volunteer mentor who understands UK culture and processes. Most mentoring programmes for refugees have an employment focus and are aimed at people who have recently been granted refugee status. There is currently no national resource listing all mentoring programmes available.
What is RIES?
The Refugee Integration and Employment Service (RIES) is a new Home Office funded programme that offers services on integration, employment and training to newly recognised refugees. It was launched across the UK on 1 October 2008. The Refugee Council is providing this service as the lead contractor in the East of England, London, and the West Midlands, and as a subcontractor of Leeds City Council in Yorkshire and Humberside.
Who is eligible?
RIES is available to anyone over the age of 18 who has been granted refugee status or humanitarian protection under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)’s New Asylum Model (NAM) system. RIES takes referrals only, and directly, from UKBA case owners in regional asylum teams. Those new refugees who receive status through the Case Resolution Programme are not allowed to access RIES services.
If any agencies or individuals believe that any refugee is eligible for RIES, they should contact the Refugee Council Central RIES Referrals Team who will follow the case up with UKBA and ask them to consider making a formal referral for RIES. Their contact telephone number is 020 7346 6714.
How RIES works
Essentially, the RIES offers a 12-month service to each person granted refugee status or humanitarian protection. It has three complementary elements, namely:
- An advice and support service providing assistance with initial critical needs such as housing, education and access to benefits;
- An employment advice service to help the person enter long-term employment at the earliest opportunity, and
- A mentoring service giving the person an opportunity to be matched with a mentor from the receiving community.
Each refugee will meet an integration advisor, who will work with them on a Personal Integration Plan. The advisor will offer them early and intensive casework support with all aspects of settling into life in the UK, and assist them with things like housing, health services, education and welfare benefits. Thereafter, the advisor will work with the refugee to devise an Employment Action Plan to help them find sustainable employment. In delivering RIES services, the Refugee Council involves volunteers in a variety of innovative and interesting roles, including introducing new refugees to local facilities and providing mentoring to them.
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