Many appreciate that apprenticeships are good for on-the-job skills development and that offering a clear career path and opportunity for progression is good for recruitment and retention.
What is missed is the very real monetary benefit they bring if you employ people under 25.
With the national minimum wage going up 50p this April I strongly urge licensees to consider apprenticeships for this cohort.
From April 2025, for staff aged 16-24 earning up to £50,270 zero national insurance has to be paid if you put them on an apprenticeship programme. This applies to new and existing apprentices under 25.
So, look at your staff to see who you could put on a programme and start saving 15% of their salary. As an example, if you employ an apprentice earning £20,000 per year you would save £2,250 annually.
It can soon add up if you have a few staff members. Plus, licensees can unlock £1,000 per apprentice aged 16-18 in incentive payments.
Apprenticeship schemes aren’t just aimed at school leavers; they go beyond degree level. The apprentice levels range from two to seven and can be done on the job with an element of off-job study. Level two offers two relevant apprentice options – one designed to develop junior chefs and another for junior front-of-house team members. At Level 3, there’s something for first-line team supervisors with Level 4 aimed at Front of House Managers.
‘It isn’t arduous’
The other thing I’ve become aware of is that licensees don’t necessarily know where to start and believe that overseeing an apprentice could be massively time consuming when they are already stretched. Yes, you do have to put some effort into supporting apprentices with their learning, but it isn’t arduous.
There are a number of apprenticeship providers available to pubs who can help them hire apprentices. Their services are free to use plus they normally have deals with different platforms for job advertisements. It’s also good to work with Job Centre Plus whose advertisements are free.
The training of anyone 21 or under is fully funded by the Government and licensees only pay 5% for apprentices over 22. For the over 22s the training would typically cost £250.
The Apprenticeship Providers provide support coaches for free. They give the apprentices tasks and come to your pub to assess progress. Unlike large companies that have a dedicated training resource, many pubs don’t have the time or skill set to put this structure in place.
With an apprenticeship you get this structured training programme to follow. You can tap into an existing resource and tailor it to your style of pub. You will likely even learn skills that you can use to develop your wider team, making all more productive.
It’s a win, win for all.
