Large employers to pay levy to fund apprenticeships 


Next month sees a sea change in learning and skills with the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy.


The levy will help to support quality training, but will only be paid by less than 2% of UK employers — those with an annual pay bill of over £3 million. It will be charged at a rate of 0.5% of an employer’s pay bill, with each employer receiving an allowance of £15,000 to offset against their levy payment.


Employers can claim the funds back from the levy pot by training apprentices in the workplace. The levy is one of the government measures which aim to deliver three million apprenticeship starts by 2020.


The TUC’s learning and skills arm Unionlearn has published a handy collection of 15 negotiating tips for reps and officers on the levy. The leaflet describes the main issues for unions to consider when they enter into discussions with their employers to ensure the apprenticeships in their workplace are good quality.


Some of the factors for reps to take into consideration are:


• union learning reps (ULRs) can assist with mentoring programmes and provide additional English and Maths support to apprentices;


• health and safety reps can make apprenticeships even safer;


• ULRs can carry out workforce skills audits which will help employers plan for their business’s future skills needs.


Unionlearn has also produced an Apprenticeships Toolkit to help union reps and officers to get to grips with the apprentice reforms.


www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/Apprenticeships_Levy.pdf


www.unionlearn.org.uk/publications/apprenticeships-toolkit