Cheers to our Apprentice. You’re hired!
It was smiles all round when CJAM’s Lucy Mitchell took up her new role at the Colchester-based marketing and association management agency.
Now is the time for business to engage apprentices
Having been ignored for decades, apprenticeships are back for good. According to the government, ‘over 2.1m people have started apprenticeships this Parliament, with a six-fold increase in higher apprenticeships started since 2009-10’. The number is planned to increase and there’s an apprenticeship voucher scheme on the way, scheduled for roll-out in 2017. In yesterday’s Budget from Chancellor George Osborne, the apprentice wage went up by 57p an hour to £3.30 – equivalent to an annual salary increase of over £1,000 for a full time worker.
Government proposals could sound the death knell for UK apprenticeships
The ECA has been completely overwhelmed by the strength of responses from its members, and those of partner industry bodies, who may no longer be able to train the next generation of apprentices if proposals under the Government’s Apprenticeship Funding Reform Technical consultation go ahead.
HMRC increases minimum wage and introduces real time PAYE reporting
HMRC officials have increased the UK’s National Minimum Wage (NMW) for adults and apprentices. The changes, effective from 1st October 2012, will see approximately one million of Britain’s lowest paid workers benefit from pay increases. The adult NMW has increased by 11p to £6.19 per hour, while the apprentice rate has increased by 9p to £2.65 per hour. The rates for 18-20 year olds and 16-17 year olds remain unchanged.