other operational guidelines
services over the christmas and new year holiday period
You are not required to deliver your full service on a non-working day as specified in your Contract.
However, you must ensure staff are available for any days not specified as an official public holiday during the period 24 December and 15 January each year to provide assistance:
to young people applying for YP or YPP
for urgent applications for hardship for young people receiving YP or YPP
Your hours of operation must be business as usual for those days not specified as a public holiday.
You must ensure you have advised your clients of the operating times during this period, including your expectations for clients to continue meeting their activity obligations.
young people with disabilities or medical conditions
Some clients referred to your service may have a disability or medical condition which may or may not have been diagnosed.
Where a client advises you of a diagnosed disability you must ensure the client is referred to activity obligations that are appropriate for their needs. Where a client requires assistance to address barriers related to their disability you should consult and/or seek advice from appropriate agencies.
In some cases, a client may have an undiagnosed disability or health condition or you may be unable to identify the cause of disengagement but suspect a disability or health condition may be a factor. If you are unsure, it may be appropriate to refer them to their regular registered medical practitioner for follow up.
A client’s local registered medical practitioner should be your first point of contact, however where a client may not have a registered medical practitioner, you should make contact with your local Child and Adolescent Mental Health service or local member of the New Zealand Federation of Disability Information Centres.
For more information about the New Zealand Federation of Disability Information Centres please visit the following link.
The Federation of Disability Information Centres
Please note that clients who have a disability or medical condition, may be exempt from meeting their activity obligations.
If you identify that a client has a permanent or severe disability that is likely to impact on their capacity to work for more than 2 years, they may be eligible to receive a Supported Living Payment. Please contact YSSU to discuss the matter further.
For more information about the Supported Living Payment, please refer to MAP on the Work and Income website.
business continuity
Your service is required to have a Business continuity plan that is current and understood by all staff members.
When an event occurs that causes a delay or default in the delivery of services to clients you must first assess the impact on your people, facilities and systems.
As soon as practical you should then contact the RCM and YSSU.
You will need to explain the situation and your capacity to deliver services and any expected timeframe to implement your business continuity plan. This should include:
- resource gaps and plans to cover these.
- any support you require to cover the period of emergency management.
- agreement on who is best placed to contact your clients and method of communication, i.e. website, text messages etc.
- agreement on how your clients are to be managed through the delay or emergency, i.e. you will continue to manage your clients or clients are sent to the local Work and Income service centre.
The RCM will coordinate any Ministry support for you. If it is a major event, we can apply the Civil Defence response.