Job coaching eases employment – Anne’s story
Disability Services and the Kuoppanummen koulu comprehensive school have cause for celebration. Job coaching in Disability Services helped Anne Lehtinen find a job in the school kitchen. Her journey to this point was not without obstacles.
Anne Lehtinen is happy with her employment contract and enjoys her work in the school kitchen.
“My workdays are Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I do many different kinds of work, from washing dishes to peeling potatoes. I also have enough time for rest,” Anne says.
Anne is a conscientious and skilled worker, for which she has received positive feedback from her employer. She has even mentored TET trainees in the kitchen.
Employment requires support
Anne has a cook’s qualification from a three-year restaurant and catering programme, which provided a good foundation for working life, but it was the support of Disability Services that made employment possible. After completing her studies, Anne joined the Duunarit group of Lankila day activities, which introduce customers to working life and improve their working life skills. The aim of Duunarit is to build working careers for customers based on their personal interests and capabilities.
Anne knew what she wanted – to work in a kitchen and at the Kuoppanummen koulu comprehensive school in particular. However, Anne’s ability to cope was a challenge, because she is not able to work full-time. This limited her chances of employment.
From trainee to employee
Sini Järvinen and Riina Palmu, the instructors of the Duunarit group, contacted the school and explained Anne’s situation. Her traineeship started in October, and it went very well. In the spring, the instructors proposed turning the traineeship into an employment relationship, for which the school gave the green light. At this point, job coach Liisa Keinänen took over.
Job coaching often looks for a salary-subsidised employment relationship for the customer. This involves bureaucracy, which the job coach can help both the customer and the employer navigate. In Vihti, there is smooth cooperation between the Duunarit group’s instructors and the job coach. The instructors are there to support customers in the early stages and look for traineeships, while the job coach takes care of the practical arrangements of the employment relationships and supports customers and employers in the future, if necessary.
Turning partial work ability into a strength
Anne’s story shows that the right kind of support makes it possible to find employment. Disability Services job coaching may be the key to success. It is important to encourage customers to pursue employment and to help employers to see people with partial work ability as having precisely the work ability needed for the job.
Even a small number of hours per week may be sufficient for the successful employment of a Disability Services customer. Employers can receive up to 70% pay subsidy for hiring an employee, and the job coach will advise and help with applying for it. For persons with disabilities, the pay subsidy can be continuous.
More information: Job coaching in Lohja, Raasepori, Vihti and Karkkila,
job coach Liisa Keinänen, tel. 040 304 8214