WFM UK: UI Refresh HR: Managing Apprentices – Fourth & HotSchedules Customer Success Portal

Overview

The Apprentice Levy was introduced in 2017 and all employers with a payroll greater than £3m (NIable pay) are required to pay the Levy.

To offset this payment, businesses may employ apprentices and these employees can be recorded in the system to ensure that they:

Are paid the correct rate for apprentices
Have the correct NI category assigned

There are also alerts that will notify users when an employee has been an apprentice for a year and is entitled to the National Minimum/Living Wage.

For information about how the Levy is calculated by the system, please refer to the release note:
Release Note: Apprentice Levy Functionality.

For advice on employing apprentices, please speak to your HR professional, HMRC, or ACAS.
The following government document may also be useful. Apprenticeship Funding Rules.

Setup

It is not necessary to create new job titles for Apprentices - any standard job title can be used. To allow a job title to be used for apprentices:

Go to HR > Company Admin > Job Titles > select a Job title > set Allow Apprentices to Yes

Fig.1 – 'Allow Apprentices' for a Job Title

National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates for apprentices can be entered in the Pay Banding within the job title. These are not age-related and apprentices over 19 should be moved to the NMW after 1 year.

Go to HR > Company Admin > Job Titles > select a Job Title
Use the yellow drop-down arrow and select Link Rates of Pay
Tick the box against Link rates of pay to job titles
Set the Pay Rates accordingly and then Save

Fig.2 – Setting pay rates for Apprentices

Employee Details

Go to HR > Employees > Employee List
Search for and select the required Employee
In the employee side menu, go to HR > Employee Info > Employment Details
Tick the box against Apprentice? and enter the Start and End Dates of the apprenticeship
Scroll down and Save

Fig.3 - Entering apprenticeship dates

The employee will then comply with relevant National Insurance and NMW/NLW regulations associated with apprentices.

Reminders

Reminders can be set up to notify users when an employee has been an apprentice for over a year.

For guidance on setting up reminders, please refer to this article.

Fig.4 - Reminders

Permissions

The ability to add employees as apprentices can be restricted to certain users via the Payroll Permission Templates.

Go to Payroll > Users > Templates
Select the required User Template and then the Assign Permissions button

A new window will open.

Scroll down to the 'Employees' section and tick the box against Employees Apprentice
Scroll all the way down and select Save

Fig.5 - Amending Permissions Template

Amend User Templates via the Hierarchy

These templates can also be accessed via the Access Level Hierarchy.

Go to HR > Company Admin > Access Level Hierarchy
Select a Hierarchy and then select an Access Level
Select Edit against the Payroll Module Access Level

Fig.6 - Access Level Hierarchy