Employer frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
PAYE
- You must pay your apprentice via the PAYE system, cash in hand is not sufficient.
Contract of employment
- You must have a contract of employment with a minimum of 30 hours per week. If you don’t already have contracts in place then we can help you with this.
Advertise your apprenticeship
- We can help with this. We will discuss with you your requirements and can advertise this though the apprenticeship service and our extended employment network.
Select your apprentice
- We can help with the interviewing and support you in choosing the right apprentice for you and your business. We interview many hundreds of candidates per year and can assist and advise you in this process
Digital Account
- You will need to set up an apprenticeship account via gov.uk website. Again, we have extensive experience in this and can help you navigate your way through this process.
Insurance
- To protect yourself and your staff you must have employers and public liability or combined liability. Your insurance must also cover young people. This is often already part of the insurance you have in place but you should check this to ensure you are covered as it is typically very low cost to add to your policy. Your Training Officer can advise you further.
Pension
- Employers must provide a workplace pension for eligible staff. This is called ‘automatic enrolment’.
- You must enrol and make an employer’s contribution for all staff who:
- are aged between 22 and the State Pension age
- earn at least £10,000 a year
- This will not necessarily effect employers taking on apprentices. If in doubt please call our main office number 01173521960 for advice.
For more information you can visit the ‘Employing an apprentice’ section of the gov.uk website or contact one of our Training Officers for a chat!
- In order to support an apprentice to develop a long and successful career in their chosen trade On Site Bristol will check with you that there is a suitable range of work prior to the start.
This means we can ensure that there is sufficient opportunity for the apprentice to tackle the different aspects of their chosen trade over the length of their apprenticeship. If there is a specific area where this may be a challenge, then we can organise for a learner to complete these with another employer.
- By training your own apprentice you can train them to your standards and the effort you put into their training programme is personally very rewarding.
- An apprenticeship programme delivers the required skills designed around your business requirements and provides the trained workers you need for the future. They also help you develop the specialist skills you need to keep pace with the latest technology and working practices in your sector.
- Apprentices tend to be eager, motivated, flexible and loyal to the company that invested in them. Remember, an apprentice is with you because they want to be – they have made an active choice to learn on the job and a commitment to a specific career.
You must pay apprentices at least the National Minimum Wage.
There’s different rates of pay for apprentices depending on their age and what year of their apprenticeship they’ve completed.
The contract of employment should make it clear what wage you’ll pay your apprentice and for what hours.
- Aged 16 to 18
The current National Minimum Wage rate for an apprentice is £6.40 per hour. - Aged 19 or over and in their first year
The current National Minimum Wage rate for an apprentice is £6.40 per hour. - Aged 19 or over and have completed their first year
Apprentices will be entitled to the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage rate for their age.
- Apprenticeships have a minimum duration dependent on the nature of the work involved. Also, for apprenticeships that our offered at Level 2 we discuss with employers and apprentices if they wish to progress to Level 3 and tackle more advanced skills.
- Bricklaying, Carpentry & Bench Joinery, Plastering, Painting & Decorating Minimum of 2 years (3 years if progressing to advanced level)
- Plumbing Minimum of 2 years
- Electrical Electrical Installation is only delivered at an advanced level and takes a minimum of 4 years to complete.
