Imagine being stuck in the Middle of Nowhere with no money....
Imagine you've been unemployed for a couple of years for reasons out of your control living off a very limited income when finally an opportunity has arisen where you are able to go back to fulltime employment. You can't find anything nearby so you decide to take on a fulltime role in the outback, 3000kms from home. As you've been unemployed you don't have money for travel and you don't want your future employer to know you have no money, so at the recommendation of your Private Recruiter you turn to your Government appointed "Job Network Provider" for travel assistance out of the Government Assistance Fund. The very agency that is 'Government Funded' to aid people to get back into the Work Force. After much deliberation between yourself, them and the remote agency you obtained the job through they decide they will assist you with travel money and pre-book your accommodation along the way but can't provide money upfront for fuel despite your recruiter confirming your employment and providing them with a contract.
It's a big risk but you decide to commence the journey as you are excited about being given the opportunity of fulltime work. You fuel up on the first day and send the receipt straight to the Job Network Provider to reimburse you so you have enough money for fuel the next day. Driving in the outback into the unknown is daunting when you haven't worked for a couple of years but you are still excited. A day passes, you arrive at your supposed pre-booked and pre-paid accommodation and they won't let you in because the "Government Job Network Agency" hasn't paid for it as promised. You check your bank account and they haven't refunded you from the fuel receipts either. Again you have to contact your Government Funded 'Job Network Provider' and go through the process all over again. Luckily for you, your recruiter knows someone from a hotel in the outback and they are able to lend you some money and deduct it from the recruiters credit card to get you to the next stop.
Each day as you arrive at your accommodation exhausted from driving all day only to find out it hasn't been paid for again as promised and your fuel hasn't been reimbursed as promised and the small amount of money you borrowed has run out.
The above story is very real and is currently being experienced from one of our own candidates this week. As their recruiter I contacted the 'Government Funded Job Network Provider' myself before the poor above candidate headed off and she gave me 100% assurance that he would be reimbursed for travel daily, accommodation would all be pre-booked and pre-paid and he would have a smooth journey. This poor guys trip has been an absolute nightmare and luckily we have been able to assist him along the way.
A call from myself to the 'Government Job Network Agency' during the week after the first episode fell on deaf ears with her excuse that their finance department have to audit receipts for reimbursing. All well and dandy but that would have been great to know BEFORE he ventured off on the promise of daily financial assistance. She said, it's ok it's all sorted now.....won't happen again....That's like saying I'll never drink coffee again....It's bullshit and we both know it!
So here I am on a Saturday morning with smoke coming out of my ears, fingers and toes crossed calling fuel stations and praying they accept my credit card over the phone so our candidate is not again stuck in the outback. Where is his "Government Appointed Job Network Provider"? Well, she's not contactable on the weekend, probably sipping her Latte, out shopping spending her Government Salary without a single thought of what this poor guy is going through....
What is the point of having 'Government Job Network Agencies' being funded Billions of Dollars of Tax Payers Money if they can't even assist those that genuinely want to work? Where is the money going and where does it leave those in Australia who genuinely want to work? Do they need to BEG & PLEAD for assistance and face constant humiliation? As if being unemployed and asking for assistance isn't humiliating enough....
If you too have experienced issues with a 'Government Job Network Provider' when asking for relocation assistance for fulltime employment please let me know. I've heard too many of these stories this year. There's now a red flag being waved at me and I'm going in like a bull to address this issue so none of our other candidates ever have to go through this again...
Unlike 'Government Job Network Agencies', we as a 'small privately owned recruitment agency' are NOT government funded, we don't receive the $10,000++ grant the 'Government Agency' Receives per placement from allocated budgets and we do everything we can to get people back into the workforce. We will assist any candidates keen to go and work in rural and remote Australia. Unfortunately the $510 fee we are paid for by the employer for this particular employee doesn't cover the cost of the candidates travel but we as an agency do pay tax and therefor are also funding these useless Government Funded Job Network providers.
If you have experienced similar issues, please send me an email Katrina@mlkarecruitment.com.au
