The government have extended their financial initiatives to encourage employers to take on apprentices and coincides this with the new Digital Apprentice Service account for managing apprenticeships. Click here for more info on incentive payments for hiring a new apprentice. Employers are eligible if they hire new apprentices from 1 August 2020 to 31 March 2021. They can apply for the payment until 30 April 2021.
The value of the incentives currently stand at an additional £2k for a 16-18 year old apprentice, £2k for a 19-24 Year Old and £1.5k for an apprentice aged 25 and over.
For many businesses it can be difficult to fill a position with the right candidate, but apprenticeships are a fantastic way to fill skill gaps amongst your work force. As a mentor and employer, your business will be able to guide apprentices to be the kind of employee who aligns with the company from day one, and structure their learning to assist with fulfilling business goals and objectives.
Apprenticeships are a great way to train an employee cost-effectively, whilst supporting the day to day running of the business. Apprentices must receive the National Minimum Wage, however new initiative payments can be used by employers to put towards the cost of wages. If businesses employ a 16 to 18-year-old, the cost of their apprenticeship training is met in full by the Government and if the apprentice is older only a 5% contribution is required towards the cost of the training.
In order to start a new apprenticeship and claim the new initiative payment you must sign up your business to the new Digital Apprenticeship Service.
The apprenticeship service is free to use and provides employers with the choice over how they want to fully control the use of apprenticeships and make them work for their business. All employers will be able to control how they pay for their apprenticeship training and assess and recruit their apprentices.
All employers can use the service to tailor apprenticeship training to meet their business needs, filling skills gaps and boosting productivity. With training provider agreement employers can set permissions to allow training providers to undertake some actions on their behalf.
Whilst many employers have not yet registered for the Digital Apprenticeship Service, Aspire Training Team are offering free support with initial set up for affiliate businesses. To organise an appointment to go through the process, please email info@aspiretrainingteam.co.uk or use out contact form to get in touch.
Please be aware that employers need to have a Digital Account in place and need to reserve funding for their Apprentice prior to the learner starting their Apprenticeship. Click here to find out more about how to sign up for your Digital Account.
For further information on how to use the apprenticeship service as an employer and manage your funds, please click here.
