Offering training to young people you employ

If you employ young people, you need to know about new Government legislation which requires young people to participate in part-time training alongside their work.

• From this summer, all young people will have to stay in education or training until the end of the academic year in which they turn 17
• From summer 2015, all young people will stay in education or training until their 18th birthday

Nearly 90% of 16 to 18 year olds in Hampshire already participate in education or training, and many of these also work part-time at the evenings, weekends or during holidays.

Ways young people can participate in education and training

There are a range of ways that young people can continue their education or training, including:

• full-time education at a school, college or training provider (and work part-time alongside this)
• work based learning such as an apprenticeship
• part-time education or training if they are employed, self employed or volunteer for more than 20 hours or more per week. This training must be accredited and must be for a minimum of 280 hours over the course of a year – this is equivalent to around a day per week, but it can be taken flexibly

What does this mean for you as an employer?

As an employer of apprentices? There are no changes for you, as an apprenticeship is classed as continuing in training.

As an employer of other 16 and 17 year olds? young employees who work full-time will be required to take part-time education or training alongside their work. There are no new legal duties on you as an employer, but your young employees will be required to undertake some training alongside their work.

The Government fully funds accredited training for 16 to 18 year olds. This includes training specific to your business needs, as well as English and maths. Employers can also design and fund training programmes of their own, and can work with awarding bodies to get these accredited, or can consider becoming an awarding body themselves. For more information, go to www.awarding.org.uk.

What can you do to support the employment and training of young people in Hampshire?

• Provide on the job training programmes that lead to recognised qualifications such as an apprenticeship. You may be eligible for a grant of £1,500 if you employ an apprentice.
• Provide time for young employees to access off-site college based courses to develop knowledge and skills
• Provide pre-apprenticeship pathways such as Work Trials – a full-time placement for a young person with a training allowance for up to six months
• Provide work placements for young people in schools to help them gain an insight into careers in your industry
• A flier  399 kB has been sent to all Year 10 and 11 students in Hampshire – you may also want to give it to young people that you employ.

Have you considered taking on an apprentice to work in your company?

Many employers already encourage and support their younger employees to train through an apprenticeship or part-time study, taken flexibly alongside their job. More information is available about training providers in Hampshire and information about apprenticeships www.apprenticeships.org.uk and www.peta.co.uk/choices/.

Young people and businesses see the returns on this training for many years. Increasing the proportion of trained workers in an industry boosts productivity and studies have shown that this adds more value than the increased costs of the wages they receive.

If you are a business employing up to 1000 employees and interested in recruiting a young apprentice you could be eligible to receive the £1,500 grant. The AGE 16 to 24 apprenticeship grant aims to support businesses to grow by providing incentives to assist in offering young people employment. Find out more about Age 16 to 24.

Frequently asked questions