Do you know the difference between an apprentice and an apprenticeship? Have you heard of the Levy, are you paying it but don't know what to do or how it benefits you?
It’s confusing so Northern Insight has teamed up with JB Skills Training to help us get to grips with it.
JB Skills is one of the region’s leading training providers. The company offers support to Levy and Non Levy paying employers, placing apprentices: delivering apprenticeships to up-skill workforces as well as creating bespoke training packages.
Dave Macmillan, managing director, says: “Generally an apprentice is aged 16-24, new to a business, learning new skills and being paid an apprentices wage.
“As an employer if you have less than 50 staff you could be eligible for a fully funded 16 18 year old new apprentice for your team. To employ a new apprentice aged 19 or over, the employer is responsible for contributing 10% of the value of the qualification specified by ESFA.
“But did you know that the term apprenticeship’ applies to any learner in the workplace? You can study an apprenticeship up to retirement age! The term applies to anyone in existing employment up-skilling and working towards apprenticeship framework/standards. The studying doesn’t affect salary or current entitlements.
“As an employer looking to up-skill your existing workforce there are a number of routes. If your pay bracket is under £3million per annum then you can access funded training packages or pay for them yourself through a training provider.
“If, however, you’re an employer with a PAYE spend of £3 million and above then you will have heard of the Apprenticeship Levy. In fact you will have been paying 0.5% of your annual payroll for nearly a year. Your payments are collected monthly by HMRC alongside Tax and National Insurance.
“Introduced in April 2017, the Levy’s purpose is to pay for apprenticeship training. It is an investment for future skills and talent, a pot that can be used to develop the skills of your workforce improving business performance.
“However, a huge amount of this money is now sat stagnant, with employers not knowing how to unlock these funds via the Digital Apprenticeship Service (DAS) account. And most employers don’t know that their Levy payments must be used within 24 months otherwise the contribution will be written off.
“There is also a misconception that if they spend their Levy, there are no more funds for employers. Actually there are other funds you can access to do more training as ESFA will make a 90 per cent contribution of the qualification value, with the employer only paying the outstanding 10 per cent.”
Many employers use JB Skills’ invaluable service to help them understand their Levy payments. They show employers how to maximise their return with personalised apprenticeship programmes. Account managers can support you through the whole process, getting apprenticeships on board and improving your businesses outlook. Companies we have worked with so far have reported back that JB Skills support has raised internal company standards, improved the quality of staff and their motivation; improved the business performance and that their staff now have nationally recognised qualifications.
