If you’re looking at ways to add to and enhance your workforce maybe taking advantage of the Government’s Kickstart scheme could be the way to bring in new people. Or maybe you have the capacity to mentor and train a person who’d appreciate a helping hand onto the career ladder. Perhaps you’ve been running work placements for a long time in your organisation – well, this scheme gives you some return financially that you’ve never previously been able to access.
Here’s a quick overview of the basic details you need to know about the scheme:
- It is aimed at providing new job placements for any 16 to 24 year old who is on Universal Credit.
- It pays 100% of national minimum wage or national living wage of the person you take on for 25 hours per week for 6 months.
- It also pays the national insurance and auto-enrolment pension payments.
- £1,500 per employee for set up costs and support is available to employers.
- Jobs MUST be new jobs and can not replace existing or planned vacancies.
- The impact on deploying a kickstart employee must not affect existing employees, apprentices or contractors to lose work or have their hours reduced.
- You can register NOW but you don’t need to start the work placement until December 2021 to make a claim
Unsure where to deploy a kickstart work placement?
Our advice would be to look at what you currently have and what your business needs are. The best way of illustrating this is an example. Let’s say you already have someone who does business development however, they need someone to research new prospects. As it’s a new role and not currently done, it will meet the criteria for the Kickstart funding. It will also meet your business needs as that is a role that will add value to the business. You also have someone in the business who can give the training and support to the person you recruit.
How do you make a person more employable?
Our advice would be to ensure you have a set of skills that the person needs to learn to become fully operational in the role they have been employed to do. And that those skills are transferrable; it could be learning how to use software, getting to grips with project management, health and safety training or administration tasks that many organisations undertake (invoicing, facilities management, report writing etc.). Having a training plan in place will help you prove that your Kickstart employee has gained those transferable skills needed for meaningful employment for them.
Could a work placement turn to permanent employment?
Absolutely, but there’s currently nothing on offer out of the £2billion set aside for this scheme to help employers make that transition. If the person you’ve taken on for the Kickstart scheme has performed in such a way that you know they will be a valuable long-term addition to your team, then it’s a great way to recruit for your organisation.
You can read more and understand all aspects of the Kickstart Scheme by visiting the Gov.uk website – click here.
If you need any help understanding the contractual side of things, please get in touch – lisa.lenton@precepthr.com or 07469 153048
Recent Comments