Community Work Experience

If you move to red in the traffic light system, we may put you on Community Work Experience instead of reducing your benefit.

Community Work Experience means you need to get a position at a community or voluntary organisation for at least 5 hours a week, for 4 weeks. This can help you build work-related skills and confidence, as well as make valuable connections in your community.

You'll continue to get your full benefit payment until you've finished your Community Work Experience. Once you've finished and come to an appointment with a form that the organisation has signed, you'll move back to green. 

Who can do Community Work Experience

If you move to orange in the traffic light system, you need to meet with us while you're at orange. At that meeting we may decide to put you on Community Work Experience when you move to red, instead of reducing your benefit.

We may put you on Community Work Experience if:

  • you have an obligation to find work (either full-time or part-time)
  • this is the first time you haven't met your obligations without a good reason in the last year
  • you met with us while you were at orange in the traffic light system, and
  • you have dependent children or a 'dedicated case manager'.

We'll also make sure Community Work Experience is suitable for you. We may not put you on Community Work Experience if, for example:

  • you have significant work history, or
  • there are no organisations in your area where you could do Community Work Experience.

What you need to do

Community Work Experience means you need to find a position with a community or voluntary organisation for at least 5 hours a week, for 4 weeks. 

  • You have 2 weeks to find a suitable position at a community or voluntary organisation, and complete and return the 'Community Work Experience' form. 
  • Then you can start the 4 weeks Community Work Experience.
  • Once you finish, you need to get the organisation to sign the form and bring it to your appointment. 

You'll continue to get your full benefit payment until you've finished your Community Work Experience. Once you've finished and returned the signed declaration to us, you'll move back to green.

Information

Talk to us straight away if at any point you think you're not going to complete these steps.

You have up to 2 weeks to:

  • find a suitable position at a community or voluntary organisation, and
  • complete and return the 'Community Work Experience' form.

Then we'll contact you to confirm you can start the Community Work Experience.

First, find a suitable position at a community or voluntary organisation

It needs to be a suitable organisation, like a charity, club, or marae. It also needs to be a suitable position, i.e. it's not paid and you're able to complete the activities required of you.

You'll need to contact organisations to see if you can do Community Work Experience there. Make sure you can be there for at least 5 hours a week, for 4 weeks.

You can find a position at more than one community or voluntary organisation if you want to.

Second, complete and return the form

We would have given you a 'Community Work Experience' form when you met with us while you were at orange in the traffic light system.

Once you've found a community or voluntary organisation:

  • you need to complete pages 1 and 2 of the form, and
  • the organisation needs to complete pages 3 and 4 of the form.

You need to keep pages 5 and 6 of the form.

You need to drop pages 1-4 of this form into one of our offices before the 2 weeks is up. We need to confirm the position is suitable and approve the form before you start at the organisation.

Find your nearest service centre

Then we'll confirm you can start

If the position is suitable, we'll contact you straight away to let you know you can start.

We'll also book an appointment for you to come in and see us the day after you're due to finish your Community Work Experience.

You need to be at the organisation for at least 5 hours a week, for 4 weeks. You don't have to be there on weekends or public holidays, but you can if you want to.

The organisation needs to be happy that you've completed the Community Work Experience satisfactorily.

On the last day of your Community Work Experience, you need to give the organisation pages 5-6 of the form. They will complete it, sign the declaration and give it back to you. By signing it, they agree you’ve completed the Community Work Experience satisfactorily.

You need to bring pages 5-6 with you to the appointment we booked for you the day after you finish.

Once we've got the declaration, we'll move you back to green.

Contact us straight away if you think you're not going to complete any of these steps. We'll talk to you about why this is the case.

If you have a good reason for not completing the steps

If you have a good reason, or if the position isn't suitable, we'll reduce your benefit by 50% and arrange for you to do a different activity.

Once you've done the activity, you'll move back to green and get your full payment again.

If you don't have a good reason for not completing the steps

If you don't have a good reason, your benefit will either:

  • be paid at 50%, if you have dependent children, or
  • stop, if you don't have dependent children.

We'll arrange for you to do a different activity. Once you've done the activity, you'll move back to green and get your full payment again.

We'll stop or reduce your benefit from when you stopped participating with Community Work Experience. This means you may have a debt.