Covid-19 – Employer Apprenticeship Support - details
Tuesday 23rd June 2020
As part of the 2020 Budget, the Government announced the introduction of the Trades and Apprenticeship Training Fund (TTAF) and the Apprenticeship Support Programme. Here are some of the ways these may help you and where to go for help.
The Trades and Apprenticeship Training Fund (TTAF) pays course fees and will be available from Wednesday 1st July 2020 and will continue to be available until December 2022. This means that anybody applying for any sub-degree courses or apprenticeships will be able to do so fee free. These fees will be paid automatically as part of the course application process.
Here is a link to view information around eligible courses;
Impact on incentives for apprentices - Generally this is going to help your apprentices by easing their financial burden – but, somewhat perversely, if you are incentivising them by offering to pay their fees if they are successful, your offer will now be nothing – so it may be better to find an alternative incentive, like focusing on their post-apprentice wage level.
The Apprenticeship Support Programme covers four main areas:
- The introduction of the Apprenticeship Boost - a broad-based wage subsidy for employers to help them keep existing apprentices and employ new ones.
- Expanding the Mana in Mahi programme that supports at-risk people through an industry training pathway (including apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship training) and into long term sustainable work.
- Group Training Scheme support – funding to ensure the existing seven schemes remain viable by enabling them to continue to employ apprentices and trainees and provide related services to host businesses.
- The introduction of the Regional Apprenticeships Initiative – support for displaced regional apprentices who have lost their jobs, initially focusing on Māori and Pacific Peoples (funded through the Provincial Growth Fund).
What is in it for my company employing an apprentice?
Apprenticeship Boost Funding will be available to anyone with staff applying for or already doing an eligible apprenticeship or course – for all the time from August 2020 until they have completed 24 months of training (or April 2022, whichever comes first).
You will be eligible for funding at $1,000 per month per apprentice in their first year of training and $500 per month per apprentice in their second year. It also allows extra funding to help with other business support and pastoral care so the employer and apprentice can successfully maintain the apprenticeship. Funding is through MSD.
Please note that you will still have to top up this funding and pay your apprentices the relevant minimum wage, at least, or the training wage. You must also not be accessing a wage subsidy or similar from anywhere else (so if you are I understand you will need to wait before accessing the apprenticeship boost.
Application details are not yet available but please look at the following link to keep an eye out for those details, as well as some more information for the four different areas of apprenticeship/training funding.
https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/work/apprentice-support/index.html#null
If your apprentice is already part of the Mana in Mahi scheme or an existing Group Training Scheme, you should be contacted by those schemes. The Regional Apprenticeships initiative still has details to come.
Essential HR are here to help. For ongoing help, contact Mike on 027 2808546 and mike@essentialhr.co.nz or Beccy on beccy@essentialhr.co.nz or 027 2909070 – and if you phone our landline 03 6590377 you can leave a message that gets delivered to us automatically. Please bear with us if you can’t get straight through – we are getting many calls! I’m happy for you to pass this on to others.
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