An Employers Guide to Recruiting an Apprentice

What are the benefits of hiring an apprentice?

Apprenticeships are an exciting option for both Apprentice and Employer. You can employ apprentices at all different levels from school leavers and University Graduates to people who want to further their careers or change direction completely.

Hiring an Apprentice is a productive and effective way to grow talent and develop a motivated, skilled and qualified workplace.

1. 86% Of employers said Apprenticeships helped them develop skills relevant to their organisation.
2. 78% Of employers said Apprenticeships helped them improve productivity.
3. 74% Of employers said Apprenticeships helped them improve the quality of their product or service.

Other Benefits of working with an apprentice includes:

1. You can adapt their training according to the need of your business.
2. They’re motivated to learn new skills.
3. You can expand and upskill your workforce.

Everything you need to know:

The role itself: The role must be relevant to their Apprenticeship qualification

The Employee: It is up to each employer what entry requirements and personal qualities the are looking for in a potential apprentice, however the Government sets out the below minimum expectations: Be16 years old, or older and not be in full time education

The Employer: Must be able to financially and educationally support the Apprentice for the duration of their Apprenticeship – although an external Tutor will also be allocated to the Employee.

Funding: You can apply for an Incentive Payment of £3,000 for new Apprentices who join your organisation. To be eligible, the Apprentices must both: start their employment at your organisation between 1 October 2021 and 31 January 2022. Start their Apprenticeship between 1 October 2021 and 31 March 2022. The closing date for applications is 15 May 2022. * Kickstart Employees can convert to an Apprenticeship with the employer still being eligible for the funding.

Skills Development: Working in partnership with a chosen Training Provider, this includes in depth technical, role specific training, training will lead to a qualification and Apprentices are required to complete a number of hours as “of the job” training.

How to apply as an employer? First, you must identify an Apprenticeship Course relevant to the role you will be advertising, and then find a Training Provider who can support your chosen course. The Employer, or the Training Provider can then advertise their Apprenticeship publicly (in much the same way as you would advertise any job vacancy) to then begin your recruitment process.

Apprenticeship Levels:

Levels	Equivalent Level of Education
2	GSCE
3	A Level
4,5,6 and 7	Foundation degree and above
6 and 7	Bachelor’s or Master’s degree

Training your apprentice:

During their Apprenticeship, your Apprentice will receive two different types of training.

1. Off the job training- this is delivered by a Training Provider during your Apprentices normal working hours.

They must spend at least 20% of their working hours completing off the job training (this can be flexible i.e.- online, at the place of work or at college/university)

• On the job training- this will be delivered by you, the employer. On the job training means you will need to give your Apprentice training and supervision to help them train for the job you’ve hired them for.

Your Apprentice may also need to study for math’s and English qualifications as part of their Apprenticeships. You must allow your Apprentice time to study for their qualifications within their normal working hours. Studying for math’s or English is not counted as part of the 20% minimum off the job training requirement.

You will also be required to have an apprentice agreement this should include:

1. How long you’ll employ them for.
2. The training they will receive.
3. Their working conditions.
4. The qualifications that they are working towards.

You must also sign an Apprentice Commitment Statement. This is to be signed by you the employer, your Apprentice and the Training Provider, this must include:

1. The planned content and schedule for training
2. What is expected and offered by the employer, the training organisation and the Apprentice.
3. How to resolve queries or complaints.

Recruiting an apprentice – employer process:

1. Decide on the role that you want to recruit i.e. Business Admin Apprentice and write a description of the role. (A bullet point list of what tasks the Apprentice will be doing)
2. Use the following link to find a NVQ Qualification that would be suitable for your role and a Training Provider: https://findapprenticeshiptraining.apprenticeships.education.gov.uk/
3. Both your Training Provider and you can advertise the role to find a suitable candidate for the position.
4. Once a candidate has been found your Training Provider will make sure they are suitable for the Apprenticeship Course.
5. As the employer you need to set up an Apprenticeship Account in order to receive the funding Create an apprenticeship service account
6. Once registered you will know what grant you will receive for taking on the Apprentice and what proportion of the Course Fees (if any) you are responsible for paying.         
7. Apprentice starts their employment.           

Useful resources:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/incentive-payments-for-hiring-a-new-apprentice

https://www.apprenticeships.gov.uk/employers/choose-training-provider

https://findapprenticeshiptraining.apprenticeships.education.gov.uk/

Harwood HR – HR Consultants providing HR Consultancy and HR Outsourced Services.  We provide clear, cost effective HR advice. For a free consultation, please contact us on:

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