With a record 1.5 million apprentices being employed by firms in the UK and with it being National Apprenticeship Week, now is a good time to remind employers of their legal obligations if they take on an apprentice.
Firstly, it is now a legal obligation for an employer who appoints an apprentice in connection with an apprenticeship framework to enter into an apprenticeship agreement with him or her.
The agreement is in a prescribed form but, in addition to these legal formalities, it would be sensible for the employer to consider including other details in it.
For example, if the apprentice leaves the organisation before the end of the apprenticeship or a short time after it has finished, the agreement could include a provision requiring him or her to reimburse the employer for all or part of its expenditure on training in these circumstances.
The employer should also remember to include a clause reserving the right to deduct any amount due from the apprentice’s wages should this happen and should consider inserting something about whether or not the employer will pay for the incidental costs incurred in completing the training course, such as textbooks and materials, and if it will grant study time for exams and assessments.
Secondly, an apprentice now has the status of employee, which means that he or she is protected by all the usual employment rights. This is a change from the traditional common law apprenticeships, which employers may not know.
Finally, apprentices aged 19 or over and who have spent at least a year in their apprenticeship must be paid the applicable national minimum wage, while younger apprentices are entitled to receive an apprentice rate for the time they spend working and training. The apprentice rate applies to apprentices who are aged under 19, or who are aged 19 or over but still in the first year of their apprenticeship.