STATE PLACEMENT SERVICE

Te Puke Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 64, 22 August 1939, Page 3

STATE PLACEMENT SERVICE

As there appears to he some misunderstanding in the minds ot a section of the public regarding the activities of the State Placement Service, the Placement Officer (Mr L. H. Armstrong), in a series of articles explains briefly the main points of misunderstanding. ' The idea that if you enrol at the State Placement office you automatically register for unemployment benefits is quite incorrect. Many men enrolled at the various Placement offices, have never been unemployed, they merely seek the aid of the Service in their search for more congenial employment or for a position in some other town or city. They know that the. Service can give them valuable help because it is specialising in the job of finding the most suitable men for the jobs available in every district. You certainly do not need to be unemployed to obtain the assistance of the State Placement Service. Only when there is no work available and the enrolee expressly states his desire to apply for unemployment benefit, is he or she-referred to the Department affording that class of assistance.

Some people think that a person on enrolling at the Placement office suffers a kind of “stand-down” period before lie can obtain work. The truth is that if work is available, the worker is sent to it within a few minutes of.''enrolling. The “stand-down” period refers to the procedure covering the payment of unemployed benefits, and has nothing to do whatever with the State Placement Service. Some people believe that the Placement officer brings pressure to bear on enrolees to accept positions which they dont want to accept. This too is wrong. The enrolee is free to accept or refuse any position offered to him or her by the Placement officer, but, of course, the Department administering unemployment benefits will not grant assistance to persons who refuse work without sufficient reason. That is the law of the country, but that law is not administered by the Placement Service.Further articles will appear in later issues.