Questions Employers Often Ask…

Q: What is The Career and Employment Network?
A: The Career and Employment Network is an employment program for people with disabilities. We help people to find jobs and assist them on site to learn those jobs.

Q: What is a job coach?
A: A job coach is the person who helps the individual to learn their job. The job coach may also assist with transportation, provide counseling, and will address any performance issues that come up on the job. The job coach can act as your Human Resources Assistant to address most personnel related issues.

Q: How often should I expect a job coach to come to the individuals' place of work to assist them?
A: On average, the job coach will come two times per month. However, this can be individualized based upon the person’s needs. Sometimes the coach comes more often, and sometimes we can help the person more effectively offsite and never come to the workplace at all.

Q: Why should I hire someone from your program?
A: The most important reason is that it is a way to give back to your community and to give someone with a disability a chance to prove that he or she can be a productive member of the community. But there are other reasons as well. People with disabilities have shown very good retention in jobs and are generally very reliable.

Q: Do you offer any tax incentives?
A: Our program has two types of incentives. The first is a Work Opportunity Tax Credit ( WOTC). This allows you to deduct expenses at the end of the year. The second one is a Work Try Out (WTO). This allows the employer to get reimbursed up to 160 hours of wages that are paid to the individual. Many employers utilize both incentives.

Q: Who should I contact if I am interested in hiring someone from your program?
A: You can contact our Admissions and Intake Coordinator, Valerie Harrington. She can be reached at 518-842-3172.

Q: How many other employers in Montgomery County hire people from your program?
A: We have contacts with more than 200 employers in Montgomery County. Currently we have approximately 120 people employed throughout Montgomery County at more than 40 different places of employment. If you are interested in working with us, call and we will be happy to give you references from other employers who have been satisfied with our services.

Q: What is an enclave?
A: An enclave is a small group of people working with a site supervisor who is employed by the Career and Employment Network. The group can range in size from 4-8 people. It is a contractual agreement between CEN and the employer. It is beneficial to the employer because the individuals are put on our payroll so we pay employee fringe and benefits, relieving the employer of this burden.

Q: What happens if the person I hired from your program is not working out?
A: We expect the person who you hired to be able to do the job as agreed upon at time of hire. You should have the same expectation. If problems arise, we will attempt to retrain or assist the person so that he or she can improve. However, if all attempts fail, it may be reasonable to terminate employment.

Q: How long has The Career and Employment Network been in existence?
A: CEN has been operating for more than 15 years. It is part of Montgomery County ARC, but operates independently from an offsite location. CEN is currently located at 1300 RiverFront Center in Amsterdam, NY. Please stop by to talk to us anytime.