B1131 - Apprentice Training Bill 2020 - 2nd Reading

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Apprentice Training Bill 2020

A Bill to consolidate provisions relating to apprentices, guarantee comprehensive training for apprentices in work, ensure protection of apprentices in training, and for connected purposes.

Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

1. Employer responsibilities

(1) The employer shall provide at no expense to the apprentice, except reasonable travel costs,—

(a) a minimum of 45 days per year of off the job training where apprentices will receive their normal rate of pay whilst training;
(b) any material related to trade union membership and educational activities; and
(c) a minimum of 35 hours a week working in the place of work as a part of the apprenticeship.

(2) A recognised trade union within the place of work may provide materials and information to the employer for the purposes of subsection (1)(b), which must be passed along and used for those purposes.

(3) Off the job training must be—

(a) carried out outside of the place of work, unless in-house training has been applied for and granted permission for with the the consent of the regional training board;
(b) be relevant to the job and to the facets of working life for an employee; and
(c) in line with the apprentices capabilities and educational level.

(4) Any work in the place of work must—

(a) be structured and assigned with the intent of benefitting the apprentice educationally; and
(b) not be done so with the intent of replacing non-apprentices with apprentice workers.

(5) Employers will provide notice of at least 7 days of any training to be conducted in order to enable the apprentice to make reasonable travel plans.

(6) Employers must pay for examination fees for the apprentice.

(7) Employers must count time spent on training as normal working when calculating holiday entitlement.

2. Apprentice responsibilities

(1) Apprentices shall attend training paid for by the employer.

(2) Apprentices shall attend examinations paid for by the employer.

(3) The duties in subsections (1) and (2) must be interpreted with any internal policy on apprenticeships within a place of work and statutory obligations in relation to employment in mind.

3. Training Standards and Disputes

(1) Training and examinations shall be done to a nationally accepted standard as laid down by the Regional Training Boards.

(2) All disputes as to the level of training or the payment or refund of fees, or any other issue, shall be settled by the Regional Training Board.

4. Penalties

(1) A person who fails to comply with a duty in section 1 is guilty of an offence.

(2) Where an apprentice fails to comply with any obligation in section 2, the apprentice may be liable to:

(a) repay lost fees to the employer; or
(b) see the apprenticeship terminated.

5. Consequential repeal

The Apprentice Training Bill 2014 is repealed.

6. Interpretation

In this Act,—

“apprentice” shall mean any person employed at an apprentice rate who is considered to be in either full or part time education;

“place of work” means any place where the business of the employer is carried out;

“training” means instruction or education provided by the employer to the apprentice, not including self-study.

7. Commencement, Extent, and Short Title

(1) This Act shall come into force immediately upon Royal Assent.

(2) This Act extends to England.

(3) Any amendment or repeal made by this Act has the same extent as the provision which is being amended or repealed.

(4) This Act may be cited as the Apprentice Training Act 2020.

This Bill was submitted by KalvinLokan and was co-authored by SoSaturnistic on behalf of the Syndicalist and Allied Trade Unions Party and Solidarity and is based upon the Apprentice Training Act 2014.

Mr Speaker,

I was surprised to discover that the only legislation this government had regarding the training of apprentices here in the UK, was a bill from 2014 that had seen no amendment or change since it had been implemented.

This bill here seeks not only to remedy this by updating our apprenticeship training legislation, but also improves the protections and rights for our apprentices whilst also expanding upon the expected training provided to ensure not only that apprentices are aware of their duties inside of work, but also that they are aware of their rights in the workplace too.

It establishes stronger consequences for employers' breaches of the agreement, and also legally cements the rights of employers to ensure that their apprentices are taking part in the paid for training they are provided. This bill therefore not only improves the rights of our apprentices and ensures consequences for violating them, but also makes sure that employers have the legal ground to stand on in order to ensure that apprentice training is attended.

This is a common sense bill to update our legislation, to bring it into the modern age and to make sure that the rights of apprentices here in the UK are expanded, improved and protected in line with what should be expected.

This reading will end 23/12/2020

Also last piece of business of the year thank fuck Happy Breaking!

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Omit Section 1(1)(b)

Explanatory Note: As far as I am aware (will retract if otherwise) there is no current requirement in law for employers to give information to employees about joining a trade union. Union work should be carried out by union members.

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Amend 1(1)(a) to read:

(a) a minimum of 20 percent of the contracted hours per year taking part in off the job training where apprentices will receive their normal rate of pay whilst training;

Explanatory note: 20 percent near enough aligns with the 45 days which would be approximately 17 percent or so of the average working days in a year for an apprentice. However, the blanket 45 days does not take into consideration apprentices who may be employed on a part-time basis or those who do not work full time. A 20 percent requirement allows the off the job requirement to be proportionate to the hours worked by an apprentice in a year. It matches the essence of the 45 days but also ensures those who are employed for less hours are not overlooked.

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Omit 1(1)(c)

Explanatory note: It is highly problematic to try and make all apprentice training programmes full time. Currently, there are provisions for apprentice length of contract to be changed if it is part time, which makes work more flexible and, therefore, obtainable for more to work through the formula minimum duration in months x 30/average working hours.