New job scheme introduced

Press, 22 June 1984, Page 1

New job scheme introduced

PA Wellington A replacement employment scheme to encourage employers to hire more staff would begin on August 1, said the Minister of Labour, Mr Bolger, yesterday.

The Employment Incentive Scheme would provide wage subsidies and suspensory loans to encourage employers to recruit more workers, he said.

It would replace the Private Sector Employment Incentive Scheme (P.5.E.1.5.), which was due to expire on July 31.

Mr Bolger said the replacement scheme was approved by the Government during Budget preparations and was scheduled to be announced on Budget night. However, details were being made public now as the Budget was delayed until after the expiry date of the P.S.E.I.S. and there was a need for continuity between the schemes. The new scheme has two changes to the P.S.E.I.S. Its eligibility would be extended to employers in all

sectors, including local authorities and voluntary organisations. Unemployed job seekers would need to search for jobs for eight weeks before becoming eligible. They previously had a four-week search. The change would ensure the programme was targeted to those who might otherwise have difficulty in finding employment, Mr Bolger said.

As under the P.S.E.I.S. scheme, employers who established extra positions for registered unemployed would be eligible for a $75 subsidy a week for six months.

Alternatively, a suspensory loan option of $4OOO a job would be available for small businesses which

established such positions for two years. Half of the loan would be written off at

the end of one year if the position still existed and the balance written off after the second year. Labour’s spokesman on unemployment, Mr Peter Neilson, said the Govern-

ment’s moves were basically an attempt to reduce the amount spent on job creation.

Increasing the stand-down period from four to eight weeks was a device to re-

strict access to job subsidies, he said. “The Government has already established a six months stand-down period for the P.E.P. programme.”

He said the Government was hinting that it might abolish the P.E.P. programme, which provided fully subsidised jobs for the unemployed in the public sector.