Nightclub signs up to scheme to get people off benefits

3:00am Sunday 24th February 2008

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THE owners of a new nightclub have become the latest employers to sign up to a government jobs pledge to help people get off benefits.

More than half of the jobs at the Millennium Nightclub in Teesside Park have been offered to lone parents and the long-term unemployed, as part of a Local Employment Partnership (LEP).

This pledge came in return for additional support from staff at Jobcentre Plus in Stockton who helped with recruitment for around 57 posts ahead of the nightclub opening on Friday night.

Rather than following the traditional application and interview process benefit claimants were offered the opportunity to try out positions as part of a Work Trial - a short test period in the job where they can continue to claim their benefits.

General manager Mark Parker said: "The scheme works well for us and for our employees - it helps to find the right person for the job, without the pitfalls of taking someone on and finding out that they are not suitable."

The nightclub is one of over 500 UK employers to have committed to the scheme and follows in the footsteps of Middlesbrough Borough Council who were the first organisation in the North-East to sign up in September last year.