Forward to activity and work with the participation of the business community

The ONWARD project of the City of Hafnarfjörður aims to offer individuals who, due to their circumstances, receive financial assistance from the municipality, the opportunity to utilise their talents and abilities in partnership with the world of work, thereby creating realistic opportunities to enter or re-enter the labour market. The project's guiding principle is work or activity in place of benefits. Individualised solutions are therefore tailored to each person's needs, with the aim of rehabilitating and empowering them.

But this will only succeed with the active participation of the business community in Hafnarfjörður.

Working-age individuals receive job offers from companies and organisations.

The City of Hafnarfjörður wishes to strengthen cooperation with companies and institutions in Hafnarfjörður and encourage local employers to offer temporary employment to individuals who are fit for work. An agreement between the employer and the municipality is made on the basis of the collaboration between the municipality and the Employment Service regarding the recruitment and service of jobseekers who are not entitled to benefits from the Unemployment Insurance Fund. Under the agreement, the City of Hafnarfjörður commits to paying the employer a start-up grant of approximately kr. 185,000 per month for up to six months. The salary paid is always in accordance with the applicable collective bargaining agreement, and the position must be at least two-thirds of a full-time job.

The conditions for the payment of the grant under the agreement are that:

• the recruitment of the jobseeker in question entails an increase in the number of employees of the relevant company or organisation
• The relevant company or organisation must have at least one employee on its payroll before the recruitment of the respective jobseeker.
• the relevant company or organisation has not, in the last six months, made redundant employees who were performing the job that the person seeking employment is intended to be hired to do
• the recruitment of the jobseeker in question by the relevant organisation or company does not constitute a significant distortion of competition within the sector in the relevant area in question.
• The employer shall pay the jobseeker concerned wages in accordance with the provisions of the applicable collective agreement. The contract shall become void if the employment relationship between the relevant employer and the jobseeker concerned is terminated during the contract's term.

For further information, please contact Soffía Ólafsdóttir, Head of the Family Services Department: 585-5500 / soffiao@hafnarfjordur.is

^{Here is part of the staff team of Family Services for the City of Hafnarfjörður. From left: Guðrún Hermannsdóttir, Særún Ómarsdóttir, Soffía Ólafsdóttir, Hlín Pétursdóttir and Arnbjörg Jónsdóttir.}

About the ÁFRAM project

In 2015, the Municipality of Hafnarfjörður received recognition for Innovation in public service for the project Onwards! New opportunities in Hafnarfjörður. This was not a one-off initiative, but a permanent change to the working methods and arrangements for those individuals receiving financial assistance from the local authority. From the outset, over 100 jobs were created within the local authority for the project.