Why employ an apprentice?
Whether you are a large employer paying the apprenticeship levy or a small or medium enterprise, employing apprentices makes good financial business sense. Research by the governments Education and Skills Funding agency has shown that apprentices give an excellent return for the investment of between 150 to 300% and apprenticeships reduce long term recruitment and training costs.
RICS see apprenticeships as one of the key ways that employers can meet their skills needs and expand their talent pool by attracting a more diverse range of talent with alternative routes into the profession. RICS can help employers with any questions you have about how to maximise the benefits that apprentices bring to your business.
What does it all cost?
An apprentice is an employee, so their employer has to pay them a suitable wage. Obviously existing employees who are learning new skills and developing their careers by becoming apprentices retain their existing salary and conditions. New recruits should be paid a wage that is competitive for the market. There are rules governing the minimum that you can pay an apprentice, but most employers recruiting surveying apprentices will pay a salary that is competitive to fill the vacancy.
How do I pay for apprenticeships?
Large employers with a staff payroll of over £3m will pay 0.5% of that pay bill as a levy, paid via their PAYE systems. This levy payment funds the training for any apprentices that they employ, both new recruits and their existing workforce. Smaller non-levy paying employers pay for their apprenticeships through a subsidised formula where the government pay 90% of the cost and the employer pays 10% of the training cost. In the future, the amount that the government pays will increase to 95%.
Levy paying employers can also pass up to 10% of their Levy funding to as many other employers as they like. From April 2019, employers will be able to transfer up to 25% of their unspent levy funds.
Each apprenticeship has been assigned to a price cap which tells you how much apprenticeship levy or government money is available to put towards the training.
Read more about the apprenticeship levy
How do I recruit an apprentice?
The process for enrolling staff (new or existing) onto an apprenticeship should be relatively straightforward and you should be supported by the training provider who you engage to deliver the training for you. In addition to using all your existing channels, you can advertise apprenticeship vacancies for free through the National Apprenticeship Service and RICS Recruit.
