Frequently Asked Questions about the Summer Temporary Employment Program (STEP)
Can STEP be used for any unemployed Albertan, or must we hire a student?
How does STEP define “student”?
What does STEP mean by “post-secondary education or training”?
What is the timeline of STEP—when will we be informed about decisions?
What employers are eligible to apply for STEP?
How can we make an application this year?
Our organization has a need for a part-time STEP student. Is this allowed?
Is it OK to hire a family member into a STEP position?
Can our organization “share” a STEP employee with another organization in our community?
Can STEP be used for any unemployed Albertan, or must we hire a student?
STEP is open to post-secondary and high school students who are seeking summer employment. The focus of STEP is to provide full-time employment to full-time post-secondary students. If students with a disability can only participate in the STEP program on a part-time basis, then part-time employment positions will be acceptable for these students.
How does STEP define “student”?
- be at least 16 years of age by May 01 of the program year
- have been in school full-time at some point during the previous 12 months from the May 1 start date of the program.
- be unemployed or working an average of 20 hours or less per week
- normally be a resident of Alberta, and
- be a Canadian citizen, or
- be a permanent resident of Canada.
What does STEP mean by “post-secondary education or training”?
Any type of after-high-school education or training is included. This can be training in the trades, college-based training, short-term training, or university education. The goal of STEP is to help students who are investing in their future by taking some form of education or training and who need short-term, summer employment.
What is the timeline of STEP—when will we be informed about decisions?
We expect to inform all successful applicants in early April.
What employers are eligible to apply for STEP?
- Community-based, not-for-profit organizations (registered under the Societies Act).
- Public sector organizations such as post secondary institutions, regional health authorities, regional school systems, and municipalities.
How can we make an application this year?
The deadline for applications is February 28, 2011. The completed application form must be signed and mailed with a postmark of on or before February 28, 2011 to be considered. Applications received after February 28, 2011, will not be assessed. Faxed applications will not be accepted.
How are allocations for communities and organizations determined? Is there a formula? Is it based on the size of the community?
Applications for STEP positions are assessed on an individual basis according to the following criteria:
- Will the position help students find future employment in their field by:
- providing appropriate work experience in their field of study?
- providing an opportunity to apply academic learning in a practical setting?
- Will the position help students earn money that they can use for future education/training?
- Will the employer be able to recruit a student to match the position (extent to which the employer has pre-identified one or more
appropriate programs of study)?
- Will the position benefit the community at large?
Our organization has a need for a part-time STEP student. Is this allowed?
Positions must provide continuous full-time employment of between 30 and 40 hours per week.
Our organization had a great STEP employee last year. Can we hire the same person back into that same position for another year?
We prefer that employers avoid hiring the same student for the same position in consecutive years. The value of the position decreases in terms of student learning if the student performs the same job for more than one year.
Is it OK for our organization to basically submit the same application for the same type of position every year?
Employers are discouraged from applying for STEP funds as a means of subsidizing the cost of regular organizational operations. STEP funding for the same position year after year could lead to a reliance on STEP and should be avoided.
Is it OK to hire a family member into a STEP position?
Hiring of students who are related to someone already working in the organization (especially in a supervisory position) should be avoided. The hiring of STEP employees must be done in a fair and equitable manner, providing equal opportunity to all students in the community who are interested in and qualified for the position. STEP employees cannot be supervised by immediate family members.
Can our organization “share” a STEP employee with another organization in our community?
Maybe. Where a STEP position involves another organization in any way (for example, supervision, administrative services, location of employment, tasks performed), that relationship must be made clear in the STEP application.
Our organization doesn’t have the time or resources to hire and supervise a STEP student. Is it OK to have another organization do these tasks for us?
Where a STEP position involves another organization in any way (for example, supervision, administrative services, location of employment, tasks performed), that relationship must be made clear in the STEP application. In addition, the work assigned to the STEP employee must be related to and contribute DIRECTLY to the organization submitting the application.
Modified: 2011-01-28
PID: 3189
