Apprentice Employers Exempt from National Insurance Contributions

Employer National Insurance contributions have been abolished for apprentices under the age of 25 years. This is great news for apprentices employers and those businesses thinking about taking on an apprentice.

Incentives to Employ an Apprentice

The Government has an ambitious target of 30,000 apprenticeship starts by 2020 and are making a number of key changes to encourage employers to hire an apprentice. There has already been an extension of the Employer AGE grant which gives eligible businesses £1500 to employ an apprentice and with the abolition of National Insurance contributions the cost of hiring an apprentice has become even more attractive.

The change to the National Insurance contributions came into effect on the 6th April 2016.

The change will apply to both existing employers with apprentices and those taking on a new apprentice.

Benefits to employing an apprentice

As well as these new incentives there are many great reasons to employ an apprentice. Many businesses employ and apprentice as a means to grow their business. If we consider the social media and digital marketing apprenticeship it will help to see why apprentices are so important. Businesses are realising that they need to add digital marketing to their efforts in promoting their goods and services. What happens still is that a member of staff who has a slight interest in social media is normally given this task to do on top of their normal job. It means that the digital marketing is not done well or as often as it needs to be done.

Hiring an digital marketing apprentice is a perfect way to alleviate this problem. A business can hire the apprentice, now with no National Insurance contributions and allow the apprentice to be fully dedicated to this area of the business. As the apprentice grows your digital marketing the apprentice will grow with your business.

There is also huge amounts of evidence that shows that apprentices are more loyal to the business that has given them their first opportunity and will stay with it longer. Your small investment can reap huge rewards.

If you are an employer considering taking on an apprentice please contact us and we will discuss your needs in more detail.