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Child Item

TUS Programme

rsole1

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Hi Had a letter from Social Protection inviting me to participate on a TUS Programme. I have done an internet search and there seems to be very little "chatter" about it from people who have been on it, does anyone have any experience of it? I know how much it pays and a broad idea of what type of jobs etc, but would like some first hand experience from people in the know. Sounds a bit like a CE Scheme.

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jeffk

The Darkness wrote: »

Yeah, that sounds like a complete waste of everyone's time all right jeffk. How come there are so many of you there?
Seven effectively unemployed people in the one place seems very excessive - surely if there's a need for that many, they could just create some actual, paying jobs instead!

Out of curiosity and if you don't mind me asking - what are you actually doing and how many hours a day/days a week are you doing it?

I know one is on CE Scheme in his second year, after that, i don't know why so many.
Two people is pushing it, should be one paid worker doing the job and then a helper, even if that helper is spilt into two Tus people.

I'm a centre attendant, so far its been moping/cleaning floors, sweeping the main gym and general tidying up
Im in 8-12 Monday to Friday, pushed those hours as don't want to be 1-5 or 10-2

The Darkness

jeffk wrote: »

I know one is on CE Scheme in his second year, after that, i don't know why so many.
Two people is pushing it, should be one paid worker doing the job and then a helper, even if that helper is spilt into two Tus people.

I'm a centre attendant, so far its been moping/cleaning floors, sweeping the main gym and general tidying up
Im in 8-12 Monday to Friday, pushed those hours as don't want to be 1-5 or 10-2

Yeah I agree. Two, at the most, would be plenty; seven is just taking the complete and utter piss and seems like a clear example of gaming the system.
What do you mean by a centre attendant btw - what kind of 'centre'?

It sounds like it's basically a janitor's job, is it? Do you get to do anything that will develop any skills or in any way improve your employment prospects?

scamalert

before i got invited to TUS i always wondered why no one really spoke or posted of actual positions they end up in, one side is that there are good few sensitive ones with social work ex: elderly,sick,kids,disabled, then you have centers as above involving charities community places.So ppl in general wont post any details about where they end up in.

Unless one is looking at career as carer of some sorts there's few courses and smth to learn, otherwise pushing furniture, painting walls and pouring salt on pathways is the skills you will learn.Since all organizations TUS sources are public charities/centers where money moves from government funding and EU around to keep em afloat.

Its not all bad as you can see you could be sitting most day doing f all, but in reality unless thats a single job that you'll be able to put down as your future CV goes - it would be seen as volunteering work that you have done and if you any degrees it might fill the gap but wouldn't be seen as any sort of progress,rather then say you had year off to go travel.

all negativity aside if one is out of work for over a year id say its better then anything just to go back to reality and routine, instead lining up in same PO every week,just to get handed cash and rinse and repeat,at least you get paid for doing some work then none at all,and just losing hope if job prospects aren't there,or motivation is down which after a year does hit it believe most people who have worked.

That said if one really wants to dodge em,just put down you have issues with drinking or come in smelling of weed

, was told by supervisor its main reason they wont take many people,since its major issue with their placements given some sensitivity to most of them and prob they wont bother to return to one.
But if your not taken by TUS then its more then likely matter of months before your details will be passed to seetec and the likes, since DSP does random draws and seems once your picked for one of these if say seetec gets to you, then TUS has to back out as they have higher priority, and seems in many cases when they do the picks they refer people to both organizations to take on them.

jeffk

The Darkness wrote: »

Yeah I agree. Two, at the most, would be plenty; seven is just taking the complete and utter piss and seems like a clear example of gaming the system.
What do you mean by a centre attendant btw - what kind of 'centre'?

It sounds like it's basically a janitor's job, is it? Do you get to do anything that will develop any skills or in any way improve your employment prospects?

The job title is what tus gave me to put on CV, suppose like most titles its there to dress and upsell your duties.

It's down as a Youth & Community Centre, from what I've seen, its a creche, PE hall for school next door, then football pitches beside it

Yeah that's all it really is, like today I was sent to another center across the road basically to have someone there to have it open or if they needed something

i want to work in admin/it, so no, if i wouldn't lose 2K id leave it

jeffk

scamalert

Don't be too sure, I was on Seetec about a month after my last Jobridge failed, a year or so of that experience, then onto LES for id say about two meetings, then Tus came calling

ALL different names, same crap end result, left firing off CVs/applications to no reply as the gap in your employment history grows

scamalert

agree Jeffk its possible to dress up them positions as mentioned above but if someone asked in detail they would realize its nothing more then no skill or average job that one did thus does no favors really, to fill up gaps id say one should look into likes of BTEA,springboard or some 3rd level education many of them over last couple years developed programs specially to get people trained and include placements, now grand its not the answer for most but if one is serious to transition or increase their skills thats the way to go,as at very least you learn some new actual skill in need and in colleges theres a lot of contacts to be made, TUS as i said its a break to get out of the WF routine but it provides little in future prospects and guess that biggest failure in it, as this scheme goes.

AXA In House

Can anyone answer pls, does the placement have to be 52 cons weeks.

terryduff12

you can do a full week then following week off if they agree to it

AXA In House

Has anyone ever come across a situation where a participant on the programme has been offered a work trial (with a view to securing a contract) on the basis if the trial didn't work out, the participant would still have the something to fall back on. What if you know would be the common procedure be then Thanks

uncleseano

Has anyone replied and hit the 'No' box in the return letter to the DSP?

I was with Seetec and have been trying to secure employment that would end up with a better salary than 200 odd a week. I have a 11 month on boy in the house with me and he'll have to go off to a creche if I get dragged into TuS so I'll end up with negative income a week for 20 hours, plus one cranky child getting dropped off to strangers each day...

Really trying to find a way out of this and into proper employment. Not sure why TuS are after me when I was working with SeeTec

scamalert

uncleseano wrote: »

Has anyone replied and hit the 'No' box in the return letter to the DSP?

I was with Seetec and have been trying to secure employment that would end up with a better salary than 200 odd a week. I have a 11 month on boy in the house with me and he'll have to go off to a creche if I get dragged into TuS so I'll end up with negative income a week for 20 hours, plus one cranky child getting dropped off to strangers each day...

Really trying to find a way out of this and into proper employment. Not sure why TuS are after me when I was working with SeeTec

are you still with SeeTec thou ? or did you finish with them. depending on who will supervise you on the TUS you could get good bit of flexibility ,splitting to work 4h a day say 9 to 1 or evening.

while the solution would be quite simple to fix instead of paying 20e on top just paying average wage for the job and making it proper not pawning on free labour every 12 months to have receptionist or some other dull job which would be normally paid otherwise.

thou i can relate to information you provided and it will be a burden to get someone to mind the child if OH isnt around then cost of commute food time will easily chew into that 215e in no time.

personally you should ask yourself will you be fit to go back to work say year later once the kid is older, or whatever you worked before it will be hard to find job, thus being stuck on the dole.

Since no bashing but see quite few people with kids and mothers being 40-50yrs old that once had some type of job which is outdated or they didn't keep up with skills and end up bouncing between courses, be it Tus or whatever comes else sort of closed loop.

TUS is another bounce of to reduce numbers in unemployed doing low skill work nothing else- for me personally its some routine and not going to po each week,no other use then that.

splinter65

uncleseano wrote: »

Has anyone replied and hit the 'No' box in the return letter to the DSP?

I was with Seetec and have been trying to secure employment that would end up with a better salary than 200 odd a week. I have a 11 month on boy in the house with me and he'll have to go off to a creche if I get dragged into TuS so I'll end up with negative income a week for 20 hours, plus one cranky child getting dropped off to strangers each day...

Really trying to find a way out of this and into proper employment. Not sure why TuS are after me when I was working with SeeTec

Are you parenting alone? Or is your OH at work?
Would your OH be better off applying for FIS and you sign off JSA?
You will also get BTWFD if you totally sign off.
You can look for work that suits your kids without having to adhere to the JS conditions.

uncleseano

As far as I know you can still get called up for TuS if receiving FIS. Tough I'll call citizens info in the morning and see what the difference in benefit would be. Thanks

splinter65

uncleseano wrote: »

As far as I know you can still get called up for TuS if receiving FIS. Tough I'll call citizens info in the morning and see what the difference in benefit would be. Thanks

No you can only be called to TUS if your on JSA.
FIS is paid to low paid workers.

The Darkness

I received a letter from TUS informing me that I have to attend an assessment interview and I was wondering what should I expect and do I need to bring anything with me? (It didn't mention anything)

Also, how long does the process generally take - from interview - to assessment - to placement etc?
And what are the placements themselves usually like - are there a good variety of options?

So if anyone can give me the benefit of their experience, I'd be very grateful.

And if it isn't really suitable, for some reason - what would be the options or likely consequences if I were to turn it down?

Thanks in advance.

scamalert

The Darkness wrote: »

I received a letter from TUS informing me that I have to attend an assessment interview and I was wondering what should I expect and do I need to bring anything with me? (It didn't mention anything)

Also, how long does the process generally take - from interview - to assessment - to placement etc?
And what are the placements themselves usually like - are there a good variety of options?

So if anyone can give me the benefit of their experience, I'd be very grateful.

And if it isn't really suitable, for some reason - what would be the options or likely consequences if I were to turn it down?

Thanks in advance.

read my previous posts for up to date on TUS.As for bringing, bring your cv ,any degrees certs you did recently or in the past.
prepare to say how your looking for job or if there's any issues why your finding hard to find a job atm, location kids etc.
once you do initial interview placement takes between 4-6 weeks to find you a spot, they will ask you generic options what you'd like to do like charity shop assisting, general public cleaning etc, nursing- more like assisting those in need of someone to take care of em.

now its not anyone's cup of tea what they might offer if you worked before, but placements vary by doing f all all day to doing almost paid job for free, if you dont feel comfortable to work with say kids,elderly disabled or do public jobs say so, as your given trial for first placement and if you feel its off tell it how it is.

some like it some dont theres a lot of variables in it, only way i can see if you really dont wanna take it, dont accept any placements they offer, TUS isnt really to pushy about that since general rule is if they have your details its matter of time before likes of seetec or whatever other crap scheme number massaging company will be in touch and from what i hear it could be worse, like attending weekly meetings just to sit on pc in some run down office to browse jobs on web and send out your cvs and be monitored each week on your progress.

pros are you do get put on bank pay so no more PO and if placement any good it will give some routine and encouragement to pursuit full time job more actively.

also depending on placement there's various training you can apply for etc-manual handling,safe pass and few others short but at least you'd have them ready once getting full time job.

Im not for or against TUS since it has its own benefits and drawbacks and if your looking for short answer treat it like job interview with what i outlined as extras, since they will try to match you to smth if they see your making initiative.Then again depends who your supervisor is so far met only great people that do care about you once placed but then again not everyone gets same.

my only beef would be in my case id work alongside well paid people but you do get treated as freebie from time to time. Granted you learn smth new even on basic stuff but if you were on any decent job before what you do isnt really making any dent in the grand scheme.

edit:keep adding ,final thought its like crappy part time job that you get stuck in for 12mo, pay wise you could see some drop in expenditure,fuel,food but at least your working for the duration - since the routine gets to you, and id say most are, where that weekly collecting from PO and no prospects in job landing makes one numb to do anything.

segosego89

I was under the impression that they were ending the Tús scheme? There was an article posted a year ago on Independent.ie stating that the scheme was facing the axe. I'm a bit surprised that people are still being referred to Tús.

Here's the link to the article:
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/fundamental-back-to-work-schemes-face-axe-under-budget-spending-review-35436463.html

Has anyone heard anything about the ending of Tús since this article was posted? Have they now decided to keep the scheme? I was almost certain they were going to get rid of the scheme as they did with the Gateway scheme....

Rubberchikken

I had a tus placement just over 3 years ago.
My experience from start to finish was excellent but i appreciate that not everyone is that lucky.
I got an admin/reception position in a centre that deals with people with various disabilities.
I worked 19 and a half hours a week spread over a monday wednesday and half day friday.
I was never made to feel like anything other than a valued member of staff. I learned things met loads of people and when i was offered a full time job just over a year ago in a diffetent place, the manager gave me a fantastic reference.
Ive gone back a number of times as the building is used locally for training and am always welcomed and remembered.

splinter65

segosego89 wrote: »

I was under the impression that they were ending the Tús scheme? There was an article posted a year ago on Independent.ie stating that the scheme was facing the axe. I'm a bit surprised that people are still being referred to Tús.

Here's the link to the article:
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/fundamental-back-to-work-schemes-face-axe-under-budget-spending-review-35436463.html

Has anyone heard anything about the ending of Tús since this article was posted? Have they now decided to keep the scheme? I was almost certain they were going to get rid of the scheme as they did with the Gateway scheme....

TUS is going strong. A TUS person is starting in my office on Monday next.

RoundDaBend

The Darkness wrote: »

So if anyone can give me the benefit of their experience, I'd be very grateful.

And if it isn't really suitable, for some reason - what would be the options or likely consequences if I were to turn it down?

Thanks in advance.

I went to a TUS interview. I am against it but anyway you have to go and the people are humans they aren't monsters. You can't really turn it down as far as I know. If you want office work in my opinion they don't really have it. Only community centre stuff. Some people might like that but I don't.

You have to really think about what you want to do as in working outside or inside as they only have about 5 or 6 options all of them disappointing. You have to give them 3 preferences I think and they try and get you your first. They won't try and stitch you up with something that isn't suitable. They put me forward for a few interviews and they have other people on TUS going to the interviews too for the same position so don't assume that they will pick you as you turn up for the interview but make sure you go and don't refuse anything... You probably can turn it down if it is clearly against what you want to do. I didn't take this chance though. It's kind of like a real job interview if you are not suitable the person won't want you, you don't have to worry about them press ganging you. That is my experience.

The hours don't suit me on TUS Ironically I would rather have done the much maligned Jobbridge I am used to working long hours. If you are in a place 40 hours you end up picking up stuff and learning or at least get more comfortable with Part time mop sharing stuff doesn't interest me.

The Darkness

scamalert wrote: »

The Darkness wrote: »

I received a letter from TUS informing me that I have to attend an assessment interview and I was wondering what should I expect and do I need to bring anything with me? (It didn't mention anything)

Also, how long does the process generally take - from interview - to assessment - to placement etc?
And what are the placements themselves usually like - are there a good variety of options?

So if anyone can give me the benefit of their experience, I'd be very grateful.

And if it isn't really suitable, for some reason - what would be the options or likely consequences if I were to turn it down?

Thanks in advance.

read my previous posts for up to date on TUS.As for bringing, bring your cv ,any degrees certs you did recently or in the past.
prepare to say how your looking for job or if there's any issues why your finding hard to find a job atm, location kids etc.
once you do initial interview placement takes between 4-6 weeks to find you a spot, they will ask you generic options what you'd like to do like charity shop assisting, general public cleaning etc, nursing- more like assisting those in need of someone to take care of em.

now its not anyone's cup of tea what they might offer if you worked before, but placements vary by doing f all all day to doing almost paid job for free, if you dont feel comfortable to work with say kids,elderly disabled or do public jobs say so, as your given trial for first placement and if you feel its off tell it how it is.

some like it some dont theres a lot of variables in it, only way i can see if you really dont wanna take it, dont accept any placements they offer, TUS isnt really to pushy about that since general rule is if they have your details its matter of time before likes of seetec or whatever other crap scheme number massaging company will be in touch and from what i hear it could be worse, like attending weekly meetings just to sit on pc in some run down office to browse jobs on web and send out your cvs and be monitored each week on your progress.

pros are you do get put on bank pay so no more PO and if placement any good it will give some routine and encouragement to pursuit full time job more actively.

also depending on placement there's various training you can apply for etc-manual handling,safe pass and few others short but at least you'd have them ready once getting full time job.

Im not for or against TUS since it has its own benefits and drawbacks and if your looking for short answer treat it like job interview with what i outlined as extras, since they will try to match you to smth if they see your making initiative.Then again depends who your supervisor is so far met only great people that do care about you once placed but then again not everyone gets same.

my only beef would be in my case id work alongside well paid people but you do get treated as freebie from time to time. Granted you learn smth new even on basic stuff but if you were on any decent job before what you do isnt really making any dent in the grand scheme.

edit:keep adding ,final thought its like crappy part time job that you get stuck in for 12mo, pay wise you could see some drop in expenditure,fuel,food but at least your working for the duration - since the routine gets to you, and id say most are, where that weekly collecting from PO and no prospects in job landing makes one numb to do anything.

Cheers for the reply scamalert, that's very useful indeed - exactly the type of answer and information I was looking for.
It certainly doesn't sound like it's any great shakes, but I suppose it's also the luck of the draw in many respects. Did you turn down any placements they offered yourself? Or did you just take what was going first time out?

I'll have a read-through of your previous posts for further info too, thanks again!

The Darkness

segosego89 wrote: »

I was under the impression that they were ending the Tús scheme? There was an article posted a year ago on Independent.ie stating that the scheme was facing the axe. I'm a bit surprised that people are still being referred to Tús.

Here's the link to the article:
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/fundamental-back-to-work-schemes-face-axe-under-budget-spending-review-35436463.html

Has anyone heard anything about the ending of Tús since this article was posted? Have they now decided to keep the scheme? I was almost certain they were going to get rid of the scheme as they did with the Gateway scheme....

Ya, I remember reading about that a while back. It certainly seems from that that it won't be around too much longer, so I was surprised to get referred to it also. I'd imagine with the cost of JobPath starting to increase to serious amounts, 84 million last year, that budgetary constrains will start to affect other programmes and options over the next few years, as there's only enough cash to go around - and JobPath is FG's new scheme, so will probably get favoured while it lasts.

previous user

I think I've made a mistake doing this, if there was a job guaranteed at the end of this well all well and good, but I feel like I'm being exploited for free unskilled labour, and to massage unemployment figures.

The Darkness

Rubberchikken wrote: »

I had a tus placement just over 3 years ago.
My experience from start to finish was excellent but i appreciate that not everyone is that lucky.
I got an admin/reception position in a centre that deals with people with various disabilities.
I worked 19 and a half hours a week spread over a monday wednesday and half day friday.
I was never made to feel like anything other than a valued member of staff. I learned things met loads of people and when i was offered a full time job just over a year ago in a diffetent place, the manager gave me a fantastic reference.
Ive gone back a number of times as the building is used locally for training and am always welcomed and remembered.

Yeah, that certainly sounds like you landed on your feet. But, judging by others experiences as told here, it also seems to be the exception, rather than the norm. I suppose a lot of it is down to luck and where you happen to be based, as to what's available - whereabouts were you for that placement? (If you don't mind me asking).

The Darkness

RoundDaBend wrote: »

The Darkness wrote: »

So if anyone can give me the benefit of their experience, I'd be very grateful.

And if it isn't really suitable, for some reason - what would be the options or likely consequences if I were to turn it down?

Thanks in advance.

I went to a TUS interview. I am against it but anyway you have to go and the people are humans they aren't monsters. You can't really turn it down as far as I know. If you want office work in my opinion they don't really have it. Only community centre stuff. Some people might like that but I don't.

You have to really think about what you want to do as in working outside or inside as they only have about 5 or 6 options all of them disappointing. You have to give them 3 preferences I think and they try and get you your first. They won't try and stitch you up with something that isn't suitable. They put me forward for a few interviews and they have other people on TUS going to the interviews too for the same position so don't assume that they will pick you as you turn up for the interview but make sure you go and don't refuse anything... You probably can turn it down if it is clearly against what you want to do. I didn't take this chance though. It's kind of like a real job interview if you are not suitable the person won't want you, you don't have to worry about them press ganging you. That is my experience.

The hours don't suit me on TUS Ironically I would rather have done the much maligned Jobbridge I am used to working long hours. If you are in a place 40 hours you end up picking up stuff and learning or at least get more comfortable with Part time mop sharing stuff doesn't interest me.

Thanks for passing on your experience anyway RoundDaBend, appreciate it.
Yeah, that seems to tally with what others are saying alright, it's very much the common experience.
Like yourself, I have absolutely no interest in 'part time mop sharing', indeed I think it's a total waste of everyone's time on all sides.

What did you end up doing, if you don't mind me asking - were there any even half decent options available to you?

The Darkness

previous user wrote: »

I think I've made a mistake doing this, if there was a job guaranteed at the end of this well all well and good, but I feel like I'm being exploited for free unskilled labour, and to massage unemployment figures.

That's a shame. Why, what are you actually doing on TUS?

It certainly has the potential to be abused and all these schemes/programmes/services etc are effectively for massaging the unemployment figures, that's their main function I reckon - especially if there's no distinct path towards an actual job. But it's way out of line if it's also being used to exploit you for free labour too - that's not on.

And if that's indeed the case, you should look into making a complaint or bring it to someone's attention - you don't have to just accept it, you do know I hope. They're not supposed to be doing that, so if it's obvious that you're being taken advantage of or you're being mistreated in any way, don't just go along with it.

I imagine that there is a complaint/appeals process that they have to follow, as there usually is, and you should use it to try to remedy your situation!

previous user

The Darkness wrote: »

That's a shame. Why, what are you actually doing on TUS?

It certainly has the potential to be abused and all these schemes/programmes/services etc are effectively for massaging the unemployment figures, that's their main function I reckon - especially if there's no distinct path towards an actual job. But it's way out of line if it's also being used to exploit you for free labour too - that's not on.

And if that's indeed the case, you should look into making a complaint or bring it to someone's attention - you don't have to just accept it, you do know I hope. They're not supposed to be doing that, so if it's obvious that you're being taken advantage of or you're being mistreated in any way, don't just go along with it.

I imagine that there is a complaint/appeals process that they have to follow, as there usually is, and you should use it to try to remedy your situation!

I'm just going to send Cvs off like I've been doing to other places.

scamalert

previous user wrote: »

I'm just going to send Cvs off like I've been doing to other places.

im not exactly sure which branch of government allocates funds and lets it run, but worth finding out and sending email above board, TUS get good cut from government and many other funds to let it run and they try to make it look as they make a difference which is far from reality.

since you mention sharing mop expression tells the story itself.
as i mentioned in my early posts it certainly is wake up call to start firing cvs in all directions when you get placed into spot that 16yr old kid have no issues doing let alone someone who worked in their life so being downgraded to smth that you wont even mention on your cv for sake of future career.

decky84

Hey folks my GF got called for this. there wont be any positions to suit her on this. Will she be penalised for turning this down?

uncleseano

So did she called up for the interview and afterwards they offered her a position?

If so you need a totally airtight reason for refusal or I imagine she'll get docked.

Airtight reasons being 'hey you can work at this petrol station' - answer 'I am alergic to petrol fumes and will die on contact, here is my doctors note'