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              E M P L O Y E R   N E W S L E T T E R   |   M A R C H   2 0 2 0    
In this Issue
Closed for a day, but open for business
Pay equity enquiries - handover to MoH
Mental Health Support Worker Grants available
Hand Hygiene/Infection Prevention resources

Welcome to your Careerforce March update
Kia ora

We are all involved in a fast-changing environment.  COVID-19 is impacting people and businesses with planning and testing for the next phase well underway for many.

We have specific business contingency plans in place, and are monitoring developments very closely. However, we are very conscious that for many of our employers and trainees, life is anything but 'business as usual' at present. While we are continuing with our regular activities at present, we completely respect any decisions that our employers may be eventually taking around minimising face to face contacts. To reduce any subsequent training disruption, we can talk to you around options to maintain training continuity in these very unusual times.


On Monday we are testing our ability to work remotely by carrying out a work from home exercise for our staff and though offices will be closed, we are very much open for business.

In other news, we place the spotlight on Mental Health Support Worker Grants, where learners could be eligible for $2,500 in assistance for their tuition costs.

Ngā mihi nui

Andrew Saunders
General Manager, Employer Services

Careerforce offices are closed on Monday
23 March -
but we're still open for business!
As part of our readiness planning for any potential Covid-19 eventualities, Careerforce is closing all offices (Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch), with all staff instead working from home for the day on Monday 23 March.
This is an important part of our business continuity planning, aimed at giving us comfort and confidence that should our staff be required to work remotely for an extended period of time, we will have as little disruption to business continuity as possible.

All staff will be working as normal, and contactable in the usual way, including via 0800 277 486, and info@careerforce.org.nz.
Qualification Equivalencies for Pay Equity:
Final assessments & handover to MoH on 1 April

From 1 April 2020, all pay equity enquiries should be directed to MoH
The Ministry of Health will host pay equity related information on their website and handle any pay equity related enquiries from 1 April 2020.  Contact details at the Ministry of Health are:
0800 855 066
customerservice@health.govt.nz


Applications for qualification equivalency assessment

We wish to remind you that no further applications for qualification equivalency assessment (for pay equity purposes) are being accepted. 

We're completing the final assessments for applications that were received before 31 December 2019, and expect to complete these before the end of March 2020.

We'll share the full and final list of qualification equivalencies with you at that time.

Remember - employees can still achieve pay equity via qualifications
They can review the extensive list of over 1000 qualifications already assessed as equivalent
(as listed here on the Careerforce website), or complete the Health & Wellbeing Level 2, 3 and 4 qualifications via a provider of their choice. Please advise your staff of their options.

Win a morning tea worth $100 for your team!
Simply complete three questions correctly to be in the draw to win. The quiz closes on
6 April 2020. To enter, follow the link below:

Congratulations to Karen Loughnan at Home Interaction Programme for Parents and Youngsters, in Auckland who won a morning tea from the last issue!
Postponement of Careerforce Youth in Health and Wellbeing Events
Regretfully, we need to advise the postponement of our Youth in Health and Wellbeing Events that were scheduled for May and June this year.

We have had to make this unfortunate decision in light of recent Covid-19 developments.

We were very excited about these events, and with the response we received from schools and employers. This is very much a postponement, not a cancellation. We are working closely with the Ministry of Education, and will be in touch again with new event dates as the situation becomes clearer.

Thank you for your understanding.
Stay safe and well.
Qualification Review Update
1. Qual Review Social and Community Services L4 – Face-to-face meetings
The survey for the Social and Community Level 4 closed on Wednesday 26 Feb and three hui’s were scheduled: Auckland 12 March, Christchurch 19 March and Wellington 25 March.

2. Qual Review Rehabilitation Support L4 – Preparing for NZQA submission
We have now gathered attestations in support of the revised qualification. We are now preparing to submit these along with other documents to NZQA.

3. Qual Review Peer Support L4 – Reviewed qualification submitted to NZQA
We have submitted the revised qualification documents to NZQA for approval. We’ll update all stakeholders when we hear back from NZQA.

4. Qual Review Addiction Studies L6 – Preparing for NZQA submission
We have now gathered attestations in support of the revised qualification. We are now preparing to submit these along with other documents to NZQA.

5. Qual Review Primary Care Practice Assistance L4 – Face-to-face meeting planning
We’ll be inviting stakeholders for a face-to-face meeting and will discuss the findings from the survey and any details that required further consultation.

6. Qual Review Public Health L5 – Preparing findings and recommendations
We have now completed all consultations and analysis. We are preparing to publish our findings and recommended changes, and seek attestations of support from stakeholders.
We've developed some hand hygiene and infection prevention learning resources and made them available on our website for everyone to access.  We encourage you and your staff to take time to work through the modules. Good hand hygiene and effective infection control are regarded as essential to preventing the spread of COVID-19.  Click on the image above or 'read more' to access the modules. 
Prospectus 2020-21 now available to download
The latest Careerforce prospectus is now available. 

It explains how we support employers and trainees, as well as providing details on the many programmes that Careerforce offers. 

We hope you find it helpful as you decide how to support your staff through the qualifications.

Click on the image (to the left) or 'read more' to download the prospectus.

Careerforce administers the Mental Health Support Worker Training Grant on behalf of the Ministry of Health. The grant is available to assist trainees who wish to get qualified in this area.  

To qualify for the grant, applicants must be enrolled in an NZQA approved and registered Certificate or Diploma where it relates to Mental Health and Addiction Support, for the following qualifications:

  • New Zealand Certificate in Health & Wellbeing (Level 4) when it relates to Mental Health and Addiction Support
  • New Zealand Certificate in Health & Wellbeing (Advanced Support) (Level 4)
  • New Zealand Certificate in Health & Wellbeing (Peer Support) (Level 4)
  • New Zealand Diploma in Health and Wellbeing (Level 5)
  • New Zealand Diploma in Business (Leadership and Management) (Level 5)
  • New Zealand Diploma in Addiction Studies (Applied) (Level 6)
  • New Zealand Diploma in Business (Leadership and Management (Level 6)

For more information about the criteria needed to qualify for the grant, and how to apply download the flyer here,
visit our website, www.careerforce.org.nz/MHSWG
or contact us if you have any questions.

"Dictate and Read Aloud" features in Microsoft Outlook help trainees with limited reading and writing skills
Microsoft Office has two features that can assist an assessor’s communication with trainees who struggle with English reading and writing.
A trainee can communicate with the assessor using Dictate.
 
This is available from the menu bar in a new blank email.

The trainee simply opens a new email, places the cursor into the message field, clicks on the Dictate icon and then talks. Earbuds or a headset with a microphone is helpful.
The trainee could complete assessment tasks orally and email them to you.  Or you might prefer that they print out the email and attach it to the paper assessment document.  If the trainee is working with Aka Toi (our online learning platform),  they could copy and paste the email content directly into their online assessment.
Dictate is also available in Microsoft Word.
Microsoft Outlook also has a feature for reading incoming emails.
This is Read Aloud.
 
The assessor could send information and learning material related to the trainee’s assessment.   The trainee simply opens the email, clicks on Read Aloud and listens.
The trainee will need access to Microsoft Outlook and have a compatible email address.  However, this could go some way to reduce the amount of face-to-face time assessors need to conduct oral assessments.
Employer access to trainee records – respecting trainee privacy
We recently reviewed our approach to the availability of trainee information via iportal, (our online tool for viewing and submitting trainee information), to ensure we are compliant with our legal privacy obligations.

As a result, changes have been  implemented within iportal which means employers no longer have access to trainee data for employees who were no longer within their employment. As there is no active training agreement in place, it is a breach of the privacy legislation for an ex-employer to be able to continue to access an ex-employee’s training record.

To also comply with privacy requirements, new employers now only have visibility of a trainee's record and unit standard achievements from the time that an active training agreement is in place with them. They no longer have visibility of any historic unit standards achieved with a prior employer.

Where a trainee has moved to a new employer, the new employer can only access or request their Record of Achievement (RoA) where an active training agreement is in place with them. If they wish to see an employee’s RoA, where no active training agreement is in place, they will need to request this from the employee. Careerforce is legally unable to supply this, unless by explicit permission from the employee.

Trainees can access their RoA via the NZQA website using their NSN (National Student Number).
Have your say:
State of the Community sector survey

Careerforce is a member of Comvoices (a national body of social services and volunteer organisations). Their work in the community and voluntary sector is needed more than ever with the pressures on individuals and whānau in our communities.
The information gathered from their biennial ComVoices State of the Sector survey tells them about the wellbeing of our community organisations, which can then be woven into conversations with politicians and other decision-makers.
Follow the link to complete the survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ComVoices2020
Your response will be anonymous, and it might be helpful to have your financial information handy before you begin. The survey is open until 5pm, 31 March 2020.

Please share the survey with organisations in your network
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact ComVoices by email at admin@comvoices.org.nz
Please use our most up-to-date forms
From time to time we update our Careerforce forms. e.g. Training Agreement, Organisation Registration Form, Standalone Unit Standard Application.

When you wish to use one of our forms, please remember to visit our website Careerforce forms.

This will help to ensure you are always using the latest forms and providing the correct information.

Popular links
Find out more about:
  • Careerforce Qualification Programmes >> More
  • Pay Equity Qualification Equivalencies >>More
  • Gateway and Vocational Pathways >>More
  • How to contact your local Careerforce Workplace Advisor >>More
 
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