The government sets up a job center ranking and gives £250 in bonuses to employees who get the most people into work.
It is part of a pilot program in 60 employment offices aimed at getting more Universal Credit applicants into employment.
The government said it was right to reward employees for helping people get jobs.
But the PCS union said the scheme was “gimmick” and would not help address the “poverty payments” made by employment agency workers.
According to an internal Department for Works and Pensions (DWP) document seen by the BBC, officials want to test whether financial incentives for employment service teams “get better results”.
Employees are set goals, or what the document calls “in work stretch aspirations.”
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Top-performing job centers receive £250 a month. The employees with the next best performance each receive £125.
The pilot will also make it mandatory for Universal Credit claimants who have been receiving benefits for 13 weeks to visit an employment center every weekday for 14 days for “intensive assistance.” Non-participation can lead to sanctions.
An internal document said Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride had asked that the pilot “apply more compulsory activities to encourage movement into work”. This should be delivered within budget and “can be scaled quickly”.
The department says the 13-week mark is critical because it’s the point at which an applicant’s chances of getting a job drop significantly.
Currently, Universal Credit applicants typically meet with a work coach only once a week for the first three months and every two weeks thereafter.
The PCS union said the program was an “insult” to its members.
Union DWP group leader Martin Cavanagh said the pilot would increase the likelihood of applicants being sanctioned for missing deadlines.
He said the government was “intent on making it harder for people to apply for benefits” and warned the pilot project would increase the risk of poverty for jobseekers who fall foul of it.
“Asking more customers to drive to employment centers more often doesn’t help our employees or their workload,” he added.
The union’s DWP workers recently went on strike over pay. They were offered a 2% pay rise for 2022-23 but are asking for a 10% rise.
There are currently 1.3 million unemployed in the UK and a further 9 million who are economically inactive, meaning they are neither in work nor looking for work.
Ministers are concerned that economic inactivity could slow economic growth. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has launched a review of measures to increase worker participation and could make an announcement in the budget on March 15.
The Resolution Foundation said the best way to strengthen the workforce is to encourage more mothers in low-income families to work and to help people who have to take time off for health reasons to hold on to their jobs.
A spokesman for the DWP said: “It is right that we reward our staff for doing their best and helping people secure jobs, stay and thrive is a key Government priority.
“DWP has an existing year-round rewards policy in the form of vouchers for colleagues.”
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