employment and skills support

Coronavirus has meant that employers had to rapidly adapt their practices to ensure business continuity and safety of their staff. Here you can find guidance and support so that your business benefits from diverse and talented workforce in Dorset. Part of this response for some businesses unfortunately might involve redundancies to maintain business viability and you can find ways to adjust your procedures below.

Managing employment and working conditions

• Manage employment and working conditions during coronavirus outbreak - Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS)
• Access free bespoke advice and support for your business from Dorset LEP
• Find tailored resources and support for tourism businesses and seaside destinations - National Coastal Tourism Academy 
• Adapt your workplace for people with disabilities and health conditions [Read more]

Recruiting, employing and developing your staff

• If you are a first-time employer - 7 steps to get you started from gov.uk and e-learning course from HM Revenue & Customs
• 5 steps to follow when hiring staff - gov.uk
• Advertise your vacancies online – job posting websites UK
• Get on the road to recovery by hiring an apprentice –explore benefits, local training providers and funding – Apprenticeships employer hub
• Recruit the next generation of talent and develop your existing staff in collaboration with Dorset’s excellent universities and colleges Bournemouth University , Arts University Bournemouth, AECC, Bournemouth and Poole College, Kingston Maurward College, Weymouth College.
• Find staff training solutions with Skills and Learning – Adult Community Education in Dorset
• Access funded tailored training courses to help your business progress - Skills support for the workforce in Dorset
• Explore more high quality online training courses and qualifications – go to the section Want to build up my confidence, retrain or gain new skills

Considering redundancies

• Manage staff redundancy - Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS)
• Help your employees get straight back into work with the Jobcentre Plus ‘Rapid Response Service’- email rrs.enquiries@dwp.gov.uk and include your contact details, town and postcode of your business and the location of the redundancies
• Contact Jobcentre Plus on matters regarding redundancy – Jobcentre Plus contacts  

Skills support for redundancy - funded support if you are facing the prospect of making hard decisions about staff redundancy - Serco Skills Support for Redundancy

To respond to the challenges of COVID-19, we all started adapting to new ways of living and working. Many have continued working from home while juggling home schooling and caring responsibilities, while workplaces have remained closed with employees on furlough or facing redundancy. The below guidance and support has been collected to help you consider you options.

• Concerned about possible redundancy – advice on your rights, benefits and mid-life MOT-Useful information from Jobcentre Plus
• Advice if you lose your job - National Careers Service Advice
• Employment benefits and support - Department for Work & Pensions
• Help with next steps after redundancy gov.uk
• Gain new skills – go to the section Want to build up my confidence, retrain or gain new skills
• Start your job search – go to the section Looking for work, apprenticeship or work experience

Whatever your situation, maintaining your work readiness and gaining new skills in line with what local employers are looking for is critical to safeguard your own future and help with the economic recovery. Start with a careers and skills self-assessment and choose from a wide range of virtual and classroom courses below.

Careers and skills self-assessment

• Complete a skills self-assessment and health check, explore careers, help make training and work choices – National Careers Service Career Tool

Develop your digital and general skills

The digital innovation seen as a result of the lockdown has been a stark example of how important even basic digital skills are to provide access to learning, remote working opportunities, and allow staying in touch and connect with others. Moreover, in our recent skills survey of Dorset employers, 56% identified at least one skills gap within their existing workforce and the most commonly reported gaps were largely in digital, technical and/or complex analytical skills. The following virtual learning resources offer a flexible opportunity to develop and demonstrate the skills and attributes local employers need.

• Access free, high-quality digital and numeracy courses from the comfort of your home with The Skills Toolkit
• Join short courses covering a spectrum of industries and subject areas from data science or programming to entrepreneurship and a broad range of cross-sector soft skills such as building resilience, communication skills as well as digital literacy – Pearson Education UK Learns
• Assess and build up your employability skills, explore careers, training and work options with a range of resources tailored to you - Virtual tools for students, teachers, parents

Take your career to the next level with a new course

Choose from hundreds of high quality courses from the excellent universities, colleges and adult training providers in Dorset. They offer world-leading expertise in areas such as health sciences, arts, design, software, tourism, environment, engineering, visual effects, computer animation, fashion, architecture, graphics and many more.

• Start a university degree with Bournemouth University ,Arts University Bournemouth or AECC university college
• Join a diverse range of college courses, focused on developing your life and work skills with Bournemouth and Poole College, Kingston Maurward College or Weymouth College.
• Develop your skills and learn with Adult Community Education in Dorset 

Get help with your digital skills and inquiries

Digital Hotline in Dorset - for any digital enquiry, wherever you are in Dorset, ring 01305 221048 and select option 2 between 10:00 and 12:00 or leave a message and your phone number and one of the 75 volunteer Digital Champions will get back to you and help with any digital enquiry you might have. 

There are hundreds of high quality job opportunities advertised in Dorset. Start by searching the current vacancies online, find out what tailored support might be available to you and consider starting an apprenticeship or becoming self-employed. 

Start your job search

• Find an updated list of vacancies in Dorset and redeployment support  - matching those recently made redundant with job openings–Regional Redeployment Service
• Top job search sites - Career Experts
• Job search ideas, latest jobs and becoming a work hero opportunities Job Help from Jobcentre Plus

Get additional employment support

• Contact the National Careers Service
• If you have disability, health conditions or disadvantages – get tailored support into work from WISE ability
• If you are between 15-24 years old and at risk of, or already out of education, training or work – get personalised support - Dorset Skills for Young People

Kick-start your new career with an apprenticeship

An apprenticeship allows you to work & earn while you learn - if you are 16+, an apprenticeship offers you a direct entry into a career. Despite the uncertainty, many companies in Dorset still offer apprenticeship opportunities.

• Get started and search vacancies - Apprenticeships.gov.uk
• Apprenticeships offers and case studies in Dorset  - Dorset & Somerset Training Providers
• Real stories, resources, live broadcasts - Amazing apprenticeships

Consider self-employment

• Information about becoming self-employed

Make your project or business idea a reality – support if you are 15+, unemployed and have the right to work in the UK from Inspire Dorset