Information for Employers Applying for Summer Temporary Employment Programs (Step) Funding

Purpose, Scope and Key Features of STEP

The Summer Temporary Employment Program (STEP) encourages the hiring of employees across Alberta in the months of May, June, July and August because of their particular needs relating to summer employment, and because of the importance and value of career-related summer employment for students.

Students face challenges with career selection, applying learning, school to work transition, and paying for education and training. STEP encourages employers to provide students with first jobs (summer only) in their field of study. STEP jobs enhance future learning, expedite career paths, and provide earnings for further education. STEP also benefits communities by providing additional resources to public sector and nonprofit sector organizations, and by providing summer employment opportunities for students studying away from home.

Employers are key to the success of STEP. STEP recognizes that summer positions are short-term, and that employers invest human and financial resources to provide summer jobs for students related to their field of study. Employers support STEP by:

• Developing projects for students
• Recruiting, training, mentoring and supervising students
• Providing administration services associated with temporary employees (payroll, benefits for example)
• Paying wages in addition to the wage subsidy provided by STEP to reflect market conditions, and the qualifications and experience of the employee
• Adhering to STEP administrative requirements (application, claims, guidelines and procedures review and adherence)

Employers benefit from the work accomplished by the STEP employee, from the new ideas and perspectives that the STEP employee brings, and from exposure to potential future full-time employees.

STEP reimburses eligible employers for wages paid for STEP positions at set hourly rates. The Department provides direct funding to employers for approved positions through conditional grants, or provides funding to partners through block funding or conditional grants to allocate to specific positions. STEP partnerships facilitate the administration of STEP, and ensure STEP is responsive to specific needs and opportunities for summer student employment.

STEP has the following sub-components:

• STEP Nonprofit
• STEP Provincial Government
  • Provincial Government Departments
  • Quebec/Alberta Student Employment Exchange
  • Legislative Assembly
• STEP Community Public Sector (Health Authorities, School Divisions, Post-Secondary Institutions, Municipalities)
• STEP Aboriginal

STEP Goals

The program's goals are:

• To stimulate the creation of additional summer jobs available for students, thereby providing Alberta students with more work and more earnings than would be available without STEP subsidies for summer positions.
• To stimulate the creation of summer job opportunities for students in their field of study, providing Alberta students with more beneficial work opportunities than would be available without STEP subsidies for summer positions.
• To stimulate the creation of summer jobs for students studying away from home, in their home communities.
• Ultimately, to enhance students' ability to secure jobs related to their education and training (upon education/training completion), through better summer employment experiences than would have been provided without STEP.
• Ultimately, to enhance students' ability to succeed and contribute in their chosen field.
• To enhance employer awareness of the potential of students and youth to add value to their organization, ultimately increasing employer demand for and access to student/youth employees.

STEP Priorities and Criteria for Funding

Funding priorities:

• Positions that require some post-secondary education or training.
• Positions designed for students in specific courses of study (post-secondary training/education courses).
• Positions that provide significant learning opportunities for students.
• Positions that are project-based rather than operational in nature.
• Positions that allow students studying away from home to return to home communities.
• Longer term positions (providing more weeks of employment).
• Projects that demonstrate benefit to the community at large.
• Employers with demonstrated success in providing service to the community.

Funding Criteria

Applications will be assessed according to the following four criteria:

• Potential of the proposed STEP position to enhance the future employability of students of post-secondary education/training.
• Potential of the proposed STEP position to enhance the education and training of the student in the future.
• Potential of the position to contribute earnings to be applied to future education/training or student debt reduction.
• Potential of the position to benefit the community at large.

Accountability and Assessment of STEP

Government collects information to help assess the extent to which STEP benefits Albertans and achieves its goals.

Random "monitoring" of STEP contracts will be done to ensure adherence to STEP contracts, guidelines and procedures.

Creating Positions and Hiring Employees

Positions are to be "created"

STEP positions are to be "new". Positions are to accomplish tasks that would not be accomplished without STEP funding. STEP positions are for hiring individuals who would not be hired without STEP funding. STEP positions are to accomplish tasks that go beyond the required operations of the organization. Employers are encouraged to hire students for summer positions, but not to apply for STEP funding where students or others would be hired without that incentive.

Reliance on STEP is to be avoided

Employers are encouraged to apply for STEP funding where they incur additional costs related to hiring, training and managing students. Employers are discouraged from applying for STEP funds as a means of primarily subsidizing the cost of operations. STEP funding for the same positions year after year would tend to lead to and reflect a reliance on STEP, and should be avoided.

Length of positions

Positions created must be at least 6 weeks in duration.

Matching potential employees with positions

Employers are encouraged to identify specific potential employees by attaching their résumés to the STEP application form, and to identify specific programs of study where potential students will be recruited.

Minimum age

STEP employees must be at least 16 years of age by May 1.

Repeat employees

Employers are to avoid hiring the same students for the same positions in consecutive years. The value of the position decreases in terms of student learning where the student performs the same job in consecutive years.

Hiring of family members

The hiring of individuals who are related to individuals already working in the organization is to be avoided. Since STEP positions are publicly funded, the hiring of STEP employees must be done in a fair and equitable manner, providing equal opportunity to those interested in the position. STEP employees cannot be supervised by immediate family members.

Partnering

Where a STEP position involves any other organization in any way, that relationship must be disclosed in the STEP application. STEP recognizes that partnerships are important for community projects. This requirement for disclosure of other organizations' affiliation with the STEP position applies to supervision, administrative services, location of employment, tasks performed, or any other relationship with organizations other than the organization applying for STEP funding.