Northwest R-1 school officials have agreed to pay a cash incentive to employees who recruit others to work for the district.
The Board of Education voted unanimously Dec. 22 to pay an employee a $200 stipend if he or she refers a potential employees who is hired and stays for at least six months.
“The purpose of this plan is to increase the number of qualified applicants for difficult-to-fill essential positions,” according to documents describing the stipend plan.
Stipends would be paid to those who refer people who are hired as full-time paraprofessionals, food service workers, custodians and maintenance employees.
If the referred candidate is not considered a full-time employee, the employee who referred that person would receive a smaller stipend, board documents said.
Certified and non-certified district employees are eligible for the stipends, except for administrators, human resources employees, directors, managers and supervisors, according to the documents.
“This is an opportunity for our employees to have an incentive to help recommend any of the classified positions that we’re looking for right now,” said Mark Catalana, the district’s chief human resources officer. “After the employee was hired and onboarded and remains with us for six months, the person referring the employee would get a check.
“A lot of times we get our job applicants by word of mouth. We thought we would reward the employees who recommend their friends and families to join.”
The plan goes into effect Jan. 2 and will end June 30, 2024. However, according to district documents, the school board could renew or extend the plan at any time.
Northwest is not the only school district to implement referral stipend in order to attract more employees.
“I know several districts that are doing this as a way to boost hiring,” Board President Mary Thomasson said. “I’m glad to see it.”
The Fox C-6 School District implemented a recruitment stipend in 2022. According to that district’s website, both the employee who refers a candidate and the new hire are eligible for a stipend up to $1,000. Both the employee and new hire would receive $500 after the new employee works for one semester, and after the new hire’s second completed semester, each one would receive another $500.
Catalana said information about the Northwest district’s referral stipend will be released in the district’s January newsletter.
“Word went out to all of the principals, and we’ll be putting it on our website,” he said. “It won’t take long (for referrals to come in).”
“I think it’s a great idea,” Thomasson said. “We’re hoping that it will help, especially in some of our classified areas.”