January 26 2008 - The Government should increase the minimum pay rate for apprentices to improve the quality of training and tackle apprenticeship dropout rates, says a new TUC report out today (Saturday).
The TUC report, 'Decent Pay for Apprentices', says that apprenticeships are a good route into work for young people, but the quality of courses can vary. It says that some apprentices receive low pay and inadequate training, which in turn leads to poor completion rates. Some apprentices are being paid as little as £1.54 an hour, with low pay particularly affecting female apprentices, who on average are paid 26% less than male apprentices. Young women working in areas such as hairdressing, early years education and social care tend to be the most poorly paid.
Most apprentices are exempt from the minimum wage, but in 2005 the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) established a minimum payment of £80 a week for apprentices. The TUC report says that while this rate has helped to protect some apprentices from unscrupulous employers, a pay rise is long overdue. The TUC would like to see the minimum rate for apprentices to be increased to £110 a week, which would roughly be in line with the minimum wage rate youth rate (£3.40).
According to recent statistics on apprentice pay, less than one in ten are paid between the LSC minimum rate of £80 and the TUC proposed rate of £110. The TUC report says that increasing the minimum rate to £110 would be relatively inexpensive and would only represent a tiny fraction of employers' payroll expenditure.
The Prime Minister recently announced that the issue of minimum wage exemptions for apprentices would be looked at by the Low Pay Commission. However, the report says this is unlikely to lead to any changes before October 2009, so the TUC want the LSC to urgently increase their minimum rate to £110.
TUC Regional Secretary Roger McKenzie said: 'Apprenticeships are an excellent route into work and we want to see more employers offering high quality places. But there is a stark quality divide between apprenticeships, with too many young people receiving poor training and poverty pay. Many are training to care for our families and friends and it's scandalous that they are paid so poorly. It's no surprise that these apprentices are among the most likely to drop out.
'Increasing the minimum pay rate would be a drop in the ocean for employers in terms of payroll costs, but would make a huge difference to some of the worst paid apprentices. By paying a fair wage, more young people will be able to afford to complete their apprenticeship, with employers more likely to have a fully trained worker at the end.
'Apprenticeship completion rates have improved significantly over the last couple of years, but there is still a long way to go. Increasing apprenticeship pay will raise their standing among young people and stop bad employers from undercutting good employers and undermining the apprenticeship programme by offering poor quality training on the cheap.'
Contact
HRM Guide Network