1005-3        COMMUNITY (CWE) aND BUSINESS WORK EXPERIENCE (BWE)

Participants in the Alaska Temporary Assistance Program may participate in either Community Work Experience (CWE) or Business Work Experience (BWE). The differences between these options are described below. However, in general, both activities allow participants to meet their Temporary Assistance work requirement, acquire job skills, and recent work experience and network with potential employers.

Participants acquire knowledge, skills, and work ethics that employers look for when hiring new employees. Whenever possible, the work assignment includes work duties that match the participant's vocational interests and enhance their skills and ability to find paid employment. Work experience activities can be a full-time or part-time activity. It can be used to supplement the hours of paid employment, serve in place of paid employment when work is not available, or it can be used in conjunction with other work or self-sufficiency activities to ensure full-time participation. While work experience is a useful activity, paid employment is preferred. The work site supervisor and participant need to be aware that the work experience placement will end when paid employment becomes available. If the client is being retained in a CWECommunity Work Experience or BWEBusiness Work Experience and has good performance, it is appropriate to discuss progression to an OJTOn-the-Job Training, JSJob Search, unsubsidized position or obtaining a reference so the client can move forward.

A CWECommunity Work Experience / BWEBusiness Work Experience placement may be in-house with a WSPWork Services Provider. The client must be supervised by someone other than their case manager to avoid conflicts of interest.

Hours of participation are coded in the CMSCase Management System Work Activity screen as "CW" for Community Work Experience and "WX" for Business Work Experience with associated holiday and excused hours activity codes as appropriate, see MS 1003.

1005-3 A.      SITE PLACEMENT SPECIFICS

1. CWECommunity Work Experience Site Placement and Activities Requirements

All CWECommunity Work Experience placements and activities must:

• Achieve a useful public purpose,
• Contribute to the common good of the community, or
• Be monitored by a government agency, service provider, or certain types of non-profit organizations.

Community Work Experience placements may not include:

• Union or anti-union activity,
• Religious proselytism or evangelism, or
• Partisan or non-partisan political activity or campaigns.

Community Work Experience Placements:

Community Work Experience placements are limited to six specific nonprofit and government agencies by Federal and State law. Placements cannot be made in for-profit businesses.

Community Work Experience placements may be arranged for ATAPAlaska Temporary Assistance Program clients by a Work Services Provider. While a client may suggest or select their own placement, the Work Services Provider is responsible for establishing and monitoring the placement and completion of all required placement agreements.

Allowable Nonprofit Organizations:

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reviews an organization's Articles of Incorporation to determine its nonprofit status qualifications as either an IRS 501c.3 or IRS 501c.6. For consideration as an appropriate work site, the nonprofit organization must have an IRS 501c.3 status. In addition, the purpose of the 501c.3 nonprofit organization, as recognized by the IRS, is limited to the following six specific nonprofit types:

• Religious
• Charitable
• Civic
• Cemetery
• Recreational
• Educational

Court-ordered Community Work Service:

Court-ordered Community Work Service may be considered as a CWECommunity Work Experience activity that allows a Temporary Assistance client to fulfill the work requirement. The court prepares a formal agreement with the site and verifies completion of the community service hours. The formal agreement must be presented to the WSPWork Services Provider. The WSPWork Services Provider may use the same document that has been approved by the court to verify hours to verify hours of participation.

2. BWEBusiness Work Experience Site Placement Requirements

Business Work Experience is a work activity assigned by Work Services providers and approved by the Division of Public Assistance at which the clients work, without wages, at private for-profit business. Business Work Experience placements can be up to 12 weeks in length and a work site can have one client per position per business.

Business Work Experience placements may be arranged for ATAPAlaska Temporary Assistance Program clients by a Work Services provider. While a client may suggest or select their own placement, the Work Services provider is responsible for establishing and monitoring the placement and the completion of all required paperwork.

All Business Work Experience activities must:

• Provide a supervised work setting;
• Allow the client to learn new job skills or enhance existing job skills;
• Relate to the client's work experience and employment goals; and,
• Provide job experience that leads to unsubsidized employment.

Business Work Experience may not include:

• Union or anti-union activity;
• Religious proselytism or evangelism; and,
• Partisan or non-partisan political activity or campaigns.

1005-3 B.      WHEN TO ESTABLISH A CWECommunity Work Experience OR BWEBusiness Work Experience PLACEMENT

Each unemployed parent or caretaker who is not exempt from work activities must participate in community service employment if he or she has received assistance for two months and is neither engaged in work in accordance with section 407(c) of the Act nor exempt from work requirements.

The following schedule is used to introduce and assign the client to an appropriate CWECommunity Work Experience / BWEBusiness Work Experience placement:

The schedule above allows for initial contact, intake, establishing basic work related needs (childcare and transportation), and the work search transition to work experience placement within the federally required timeframe of receiving benefits for two months.

Work Services providers must clearly document efforts to secure an appropriate placement.

If a placement within the client's work interest is not available, the WSPWork Services Provider should identify a placement with similar skill set needs or a placement that allows for the development of a new skill set in an industry in which employment is available in the community.

Once assigned to a work experience placement on their FSSPFamily Self Sufficiency Plan, if the client does not participate, a work activity penalty should be requested by the WSPWork Services Provider, see MS 1007.

1005-3 C.      FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT

The Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) protects workers from unfair labor practices and exploitation. It requires that workers receive the appropriate minimum wage as compensation for work performed. The requirements of the FLSAFair Labor Standards Act apply to clients in both CWECommunity Work Experience and BWEBusiness Work Experience activities. However, exceptions to the FLSAFair Labor Standards Act include court-ordered community service work through the Department of Corrections, voluntary subsistence activities, and training activities, which meet specific Federal criteria which may also be coded as CWECommunity Work Experience. All hours count in subsistence and Department of Corrections court-ordered community service work.

The Temporary Assistance benefit payment for most single parent families is at a level high enough to meet core activity hours, that compliance with FLSAFair Labor Standards Act is not an issue. Two-parent families, however, experience a 50% seasonal benefit reduction during the months of July, August, and September when employment opportunities improve. Families serving a penalty also receive a smaller benefit due to their reduced need standard. These circumstances may affect compliance with FLSAFair Labor Standards Act if the work experience hours for these households total more than their benefit payment amount divided by the state minimum wage. Other core and work support activities can be assigned and completed to bring the family to the necessary number of hours to meet the participation rate.

Note:

To ensure compliance with the FLSAFair Labor Standards Act, the number of monthly hours a client is assigned to a work experience placement cannot exceed the recipient's benefit amount divided by the state minimum wage. Service providers may contact WSTA@alaska.gov to confirm the number of hours of participation allowed by FLSAFair Labor Standards Act.

1005-3 D.      COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS WORK EXPERIENCE FORMS

1. Community Work Experience Site Agreement (TA 25) and Business Work Experience Site Agreement (TA 34)

When an organization has agreed to host a CWECommunity Work Experience candidate, the WSPWork Services Provider will meet with the work site representative to confirm that the organization meets the requirements of the program. The site agreement establishes the roles and responsibilities of the WSPWork Services Provider and work site.

2. Work Experience Placement Agreement (TA 33)

The Work Experience Placement Agreement may be used for community or business work experience placements. The form should be tailored to a specific client and the parameters of their participation at the work site. This document establishes the start date and end date, tasks, work schedule, and any additional information that may be important for the success of the placement.

3. Work Experience Timesheet and Evaluation (TA 39)

Timesheets are collected from the site supervisor on the 16th and last business day of each month. They document time and attendance as well as performance in 5 categories: attendance and punctuality, attitude, dependability, progress, and overall. These reviews allow an opportunity for the WSPWork Services Provider to check in with the site supervisor and the client about the client's attendance and performance. Conversations may lead to problem solving discussions if there are identified challenges or if the placement is going well, it may be an opportunity to discuss the possibility of progressing to an OJTOn-the-Job Training, Job Start, or an unsubsidized paid position within the organization.

4. Site Specific Required Paperwork

As a standard practice, it is always best to inquire with each agency, business, or organization's Human Resource/Personnel department to see if they have any agency required documents outside of the CWECommunity Work Experience placement documents that must be completed for volunteer positions.

The State of Alaska specifically has three additional documents that must be completed for any CWECommunity Work Experience placement with a state agency. These documents may be site specific but the most common forms are the:

• Confidentiality Acknowledgment;
• Volunteer Service Agreement;
• Pre-employment Certification; and,
• HIPAAHealth Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Training Certificate.

For questions regarding these required documents contact your agencies' Human Resource office.