FAQs

What are the responsibilities as the Employer?

An Employer must give the Apprentice an induction into their role and provide on-the-job training. As with all employees, Employers are also responsible for the wages of the Apprentice.

What is the minimum an Employer can pay an Apprentice?

As an Employer you must make sure all your Apprentices are being paid at least £2.60 for all the time they are on their Apprenticeships ( New minimum rate enforced by the Low Pay Commission as of 1 October 2011 is £2.60 per hour). This includes time working plus the time spent training both on and off the job. This includes time spent at college/or off site with a provider.

Apprentices aged 19 or over who have already spent a year on their Apprenticeship must be paid at least the full National Minimum Wage (NMW) rate appropriate to their age.

The Apprentice NMW applies to all new and existing Apprentices aged 16 to 18 and those aged 19 or over in the first year of their Apprenticeship. The NMW does not affect those Apprentices aged 19 or over who have already completed a year of their Apprenticeship – they will continue to be entitled to be paid at least at the full NMW rate appropriate to their age.

Is there any maximum an Employer can pay an Apprentice?

What happens if the Apprentice no longer wishes to continue with the Apprenticeship qualification but is staying with the current Employer as an employee?

Apprentices are those on a contract of Apprenticeship or those on a Government funded Apprenticeship. If they are not in one of these categories the Employer must pay at least the minimum wage appropriate to their age.

Do apprentices have to pay Tax and National Insurance?

As is the case of all employees aged over 16, Apprentices must still pay tax and national insurance on their income.

Is there a limit to the number of Apprentices an employer can take on?

No they can take on as many as they need – and often in more than one framework. The Employer will be responsible for giving the Apprentice an induction into their role as they provide on-the-job training.

Do Apprentices take exams?

Most assessment is carried out in the workplace but there may be a requirement to take some tests on or off site. An Apprenticeship is a package of work and on and off the job training. It is right that Apprentices are paid for all the time they are on the Apprenticeship. That includes training time.

Does an Employer have to give an Apprentice holidays?

Like most other employees, Apprentices must be given at least 20 days’ paid holiday per year as well as bank holiday entitlement. Annual leave should be agreed when an employee starts work. Once an employee starts work details of holidays and holiday pay entitlement should be found in the employee's written contract, where there is one, or a written statement of employment particulars given to employees by their employer. Note: The written statement is required by law and must be given to employees by the Employer no later than two months after the start of employment.
Most workers - whether part-time or full-time - are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave. Additional annual leave may be agreed as part of a worker's contract. A week of leave should allow workers to be away from work for a week - i.e. it should be the same amount of time as the working week. If a worker does a five-day week, he or she is entitled to 28 days leave. If he or she does a three-day week, the entitlement is 16.8 days leave. Employers can set the times that workers take their leave, for example for a Christmas shutdown. If a worker's employment ends, he or she has a right to be paid for the leave time due and not taken.

Public holidays

There is no legal right to paid leave for public holidays; any rights to paid time off for these holidays depends on the terms of a worker's contract. Paid public holidays can be counted as part of the statutory 5.6 weeks of holiday.

Working Hours and Young Workers - Who is classed as a Young Worker?

16 and 17 year olds
If you're no longer at school and you're 16 or 17, the law refers to you as a 'Young Worker'.

Working time limits

A Young Worker cannot usually be made to work more than eight hours per day or 40 hours per week. These hours cannot be averaged over a longer period and you're not allowed to ignore these restrictions.

You'll only be able to work longer hours if you either need to:

keep the continuity of service or production
respond to a surge in demand for a service or product

and provided that:

there is no adult available to do the work
your training needs are not negatively affected

Rest breaks

Young Workers who need to work for more than four and a half hours will get a rest break of 30 minutes.

If you are working for more than one employer, the time you work for each one should be added together to see if you can have a rest break. Rest breaks must be:

taken in one block
taken somewhere in the middle of your work period, not at the end
spent away from the place where you work if you want them to be
taken when your employer says you can, as long as it meets these conditions

Daily rest

Young Workers get 12 uninterrupted hours' rest in each 24-hour period in which you work. These 12 hours may be interrupted if your periods of work are split up over the day or do not last long.

Weekly rest

Young Workers must take two days off each week. This cannot be averaged over a two-week period (meaning you can't work an extra day one week and take more days off the following one, even if you are trying to earn a little extra cash). These two days' rest should also be taken together with no working in between them.

Night working

The laws around night working and night workers are very complicated.

Generally speaking, Young Workers can’t work between 10.00 pm to 6.00 am (but you can agree to change this to between 11.00 pm to 7.00 am). However, there are a few exceptions if you work in: hospitals, agriculture, retail, hotels or catering and post or newspaper delivery.

You can work into the night if it's crucial to your job, but only if you need to either:

maintain continuity of service or production
respond to an increase in demand for service or product

and

there is no adult available to perform the task
your employer makes sure that your training needs do not suffer
you are allowed to take a rest period the same length as the time you worked later in the day

Sick Pay - Who can get Statutory Sick Pay?

If you're working for an employer under a contract of service (even if you've only just started and you have done some work), you're entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) if the following apply:

you're sick for at least four days in a row (including weekends and bank holidays and days that you do not normally work)
you have average weekly earnings of at least £102 a week

Your average weekly earnings are worked out by using your earnings in the eight weeks before your sickness began.

What happens if you can't get SSP?

If you cannot get SSP or SSP has ended your employer must fill in form SSP1 and give this to you. On the form, your employer must say why SSP has not been paid or why it is ending and the last date of payment. Form SSP1 is used to support a claim for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). It is important that your employer give this form to you as soon as possible. Without the information on the form a decision on your entitlement to ESA cannot be made which may delay payment.

Statutory Maternity Pay - Who can get SMP?

To qualify for SMP you must have been:

employed by the same employer continuously for at least 26 weeks into the 15th week before the week your baby is due (the qualifying week)
earning on average an amount which at least equals the lower earnings limit which applies on the Saturday at the end of your qualifying week

The lower earnings limit is the amount you have to earn before you are treated as paying National Insurance contributions. This is £102 a week if the end of your qualifying week is in the 2011-12 tax year.

If your employer can't pay you SMP

If your employer can't pay you SMP they must:

give you form SMP1 that explains why
give you back your copy of the maternity certificate (MAT B1) that you will have given them

You may be able to claim Maternity Allowance (MA) instead. If you want to claim MA you'll need to send the form SMP1 to Jobcentre Plus along with your MA claim form.

For help and advice on Benefits please contact your local Jobcentre Plus or Connexions office.