Hire for fully funded 6-month job placements, to help tackle youth unemployment and get young people into work.

What is the Kickstart Scheme?

Kickstart, a scheme providing fully funded work placements, has been launched by the government to help young people at risk of long term unemployment to get into work.

The scheme provides funding to create new job placements for 16-24 year olds on Universal Credit who are at risk of long term unemployment. 

Key requirements and benefits of the Kickstart scheme are:

  • Participating businesses can employ 16-24 year olds who are ready to make an impact on the business
  • The placements are fully funded: 100% of the relevant National Minimum Wage pay is funded, for 25 hours of work a week, for full the 6 month placement
  • ​Further funding is available for the set-up, on-boarding and training & support of each Kickstarter employee at the business

For further information visit the Kickstart Scheme website.

If you are interested in taking part in the Kickstart scheme through Capital Enterprise, fill out the short survey below

To be eligible to recruit under and participate in the Kickstart scheme, your business must:

  • Have 1 year of accounts filed with Companies House
  • Have at least 3 employees
  • Confirm that the roles you are hiring for would not exist without the Kickstart funding

The job placements created and recruited for under the Kickstart scheme must:

  • Be new and previously unplanned roles
  • Not replace existing vacancies or planned vacancies 
  • Not cause existing employees or contractors to lose or reduce their employment

Capital Enterprise is a Gateway organisation for the Kickstart scheme.

Part of the Kickstart scheme is to provide employability support to your Kickstart employee. Capital Enterprise will be able to provide the required employability support on your behalf, to ensure that your employee has access to resources that will equip them with skills and knowledge they need to take them to their next steps and become more employable.

We would like to work with you and your Kickstart employee to support them through their placements. This can include access to employability courses and skills sessions, 1:1 or group mentoring, and regular check-ins. This support will be paid for from the initial grant provided by DWP for setup costs and employability support – there is no cost to your business for this support.

 

  1. How do I hire for my roles?

Kickstart will take the time to find and source candidates who are a good fit for your role/s.

You will fill out a job vacancy template to detail the role/s you are looking for. If you are looking to hire for more than one role, you will need to complete a job vacancy template for each role. 

Once completed, Capital Enterprise will submit your job vacancy template/s to DWP to be advertised to the young people. It is at this point that the hiring process starts. 

Each young person on Universal Credit will have a work coach assigned to them from Job Centre Plus. Work coaches will start referring young people to apply to your role/s, if they are a good fit.

You are then welcome to conduct your hiring process as normal. You do not have to hire any of the candidates that you interview, but please note you will only receive funding if you hire a candidate that has been referred to you by the work coach.

2. Can I source candidates myself?

Only the Job Centre and work coaches can advertise your role/s and source candidates for you – you will only receive funding if you hire a candidate that has been referred to you by the work coach.

If you hire a candidate who has not been referred to you by the work coaches, then you won’t be eligible to receive funding or for the reimbursement of wages.

 

3. When do businesses receive the Kickstart funding?

Businesses who hire a Kickstarter employee from the candidates who have been referred by the work coaches will receive the funding once the employee has started work and is signed up to the business’ payroll. 

Once your Kickstarter is on your payroll and has started their placement, you should notify us. DWP will transfer the initial grant payment (for the set-up and employability support costs) to Capital Enterprise, as soon as possible after the placement starts. Capital Enterprise will then pass the agreed amount of that initial grant funding to the business.

The funding for the 6 month placement is then paid in arrears, on confirmation that the employee has been paid through PAYE, by the business, in the previous month. 

So, the business will pay the monthly Kickstarter salary to their employee. DWP will pay Capital Enterprise the relevant monthly salary amount, in arrears, with the first payment expected to be in or around the 6th week of the job. Capital Enterprise will pass this first payment to the business as soon as possible. The second to sixth salary payments will then be paid approximately every month after the first payment, on confirmation that the employee has been paid through PAYE for the previous month.

 

ADDRESS

Capital Enterprise (UK) Ltd

IDEALONDON

69 Wilson Street

London

EC2A 2BB

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