Back in July we told you about some changes the Government were bringing in to try to get the jobs market back on track. The Government have now announced more details about the Kickstart Scheme, and we wanted to share these with you.
Any employer can use the scheme to create a NEW 6-month job for young people who are currently on Universal Credit and are at risk of being unemployed for the long-term.
The job that’s created needs to be a new job, not an existing one that you’re already recruiting for, a replacement for someone who’s left, or be used as an excuse to make someone redundant and have a funded role instead. The job also needs to develop skills and experience for the person you’re taking on.
You get 100% of the National Minimum Wage (for that person’s age) for up to 25 hours per week. If the position you’re hiring for is for 30 hours a week, you only need to pay for the 5 hours yourself and the Government covers the rest.
You also get funding for National Insurance contributions and the minimum employer contributions for automatic pension enrolment.
And there’s more! You can also get £1,500 PER JOB for setup costs, support, and training. Not too shabby.
This is the part where things get a bit more complicated. Here’s the main rules about your new role
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Must |
Must not |
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Be a minimum of 25 hours per week for 6 months |
Replace existing or planned vacancies |
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Be paid at least the National Minimum Wage for their age group |
Cause existing employees or contractors to lose or reduce their employment |
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Require people to undertake extensive training before they start the job |
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Be an apprenticeship (they can move on to these roles after this scheme) |
How you apply depends on whether you are creating less than 30 roles of more than 30.
Creating more than 30 roles – You apply directly to the Kickstart Scheme by clicking here.
Creating less than 30 roles – In these cases you cannot apply directly. You will need to find someone to apply on your behalf. There’s lots of people who can apply on your behalf and you can find their details here.