Planning for an apprentice in your service

Transcription

1 Planning for an apprentice in your service Information pack

2 Contents Purpose Page 1 How to contact us Page 2 Apprenticeship myths Page 3-5 Probationary period information Page 6 Future plans and progression in the service Page 7 Apprentice placement assessment form Page 8 Apprentice vacancy request form Page 9 Guidance document for page 9 Page 10 Apprentice recruitment process Page 11-12

3 Purpose To help you to recruit new apprentices to your service Our major workforce challenge is recruiting sufficient staff to maintain and develop our workforce capacity. We want to attract and nurture new talent to work for us. Ongoing education and development supports the competence of our staff and quality of our service. For that reason we want to: Use apprenticeships to support staff development along clearly defined career pathways for new and existing staff. Use apprenticeship education standards to grow our own and reduce reliance on external recruitment. Attract the best and the brightest to work for our organisation because we support people to achieve their long term career The way apprentice education is funded has changed. From April 2017 the apprenticeship levy came into force. This means 0.5% of our workforce s pay bill (approx. 1.3m) will be set aside to fund apprenticeship education. This money can only be used for education programmes that are apprenticeships and nothing else. In addition all public sector organisations have a target to have 2.3% of their headcount start apprenticeship education each year. For our service that means around 130 apprenticeships programmes each year, which can be a combination of new apprentice posts or existing staff undertaking a levy funded apprenticeship programme. 1

4 How to contact us? For advice and support with apprenticeships please us via: 2

5 Apprenticeship myths I don t know what an apprentice is? It is not right for my team An apprentice is an employee on a specific apprentice contract, who is also completing an apprenticeship learning programme. This means they learn whilst working and earning. Apprentices can be embedded in most teams across the organisation, clinical and non-clinical. Apprentices are only aged An apprentice can be 16+ and work in all areas. The upper age limit 65. Within LPT we particularly want to increase the number of younger people working in the organisation and so we are actively targeting school and college leavers for our apprentice posts. Each apprentice post will be risk assessed (you will be supported with this) and apprentices are covered by the same terms and conditions as our substantive staff. Apprentices are always at college and never at work Apprentices must spend a minimum of 20% of their time doing off-the-job training. This will include: formal study days every other week, shadowing in your workplace, e-learning, research and completing assignments, practical training and clinical visits. Apprentices can t work shifts, nights and lone work Apprentices can do shift work including nights. They are entitled to the same percent of shift enhancement as substantive staff. Apprentices must be directly supervised which can become indirect supervision when they are signed off as competent, for that reason they should not work alone or do night shifts. The Trust has developed competency frameworks especially for apprentices to help with this. 3

6 Apprentices are too emotionally immature to work with seriously ill patients Just like our existing staff, every apprentice is different. You will have an opportunity to evaluate this during the recruitment process. You may also want to consider offering work experience so young people can have a taster of your service before committing themselves. As with all staff, clinical supervision and support from line managers and peers will be crucial when dealing with difficult situations. We can t have young apprentices working in children s services as they may find themselves working with peers from school or college This is true, but equally any member of staff may find themselves caring for someone they know. Apprentices would be bound by the same guidance and rules as any member of staff. There are always benefits to having young people in your team. For example; having just left school or college, they have got fresh skills to bring to the work place and show a lot of enthusiasm and are very keen to learn. I m an existing member of staff and want to do an apprenticeship course but can t afford the pay drop The apprentice salary is only for those on apprentice contracts. Existing staff can benefit from the new funding arrangement and undertake education programmes that are paid for by the apprenticeship levy. Existing staff do not have to change to an apprentices contract to complete an apprenticeship funded programme. Apprentices must be supernumerary There is no legislation that says apprentices must be supernumerary, they just need to be supervised. The exception to this is where you have agreed safe staffing levels in your team in which case Apprentices who are not yet signed off as competent cannot be counted in your staffing levels. 4

7 Apprentices are just cheap labour As a Trust we have some influence over how much we pay our apprentices. We follow national guidance and are consistent with other local NHS organisations. In their first year apprentices on a apprentice contract are paid around 6500 per year. As well as doing a real job and receiving training and education they also get to take part in a range of organisational opportunities aimed at helping them develop their skills and future employment opportunities. We would expect apprentices who successfully complete all aspects of the programme to gain a minimum of a band 2 job after completing. Apprenticeships are for those who can t get into university False studying for 3 years at university with little money and potentially a lot of debt at the end of it isn t everyone s idea of how to start a career. Many students who were academic in secondary school decide not to apply for university as they d rather spend their time learning while being paid. In our last cohort of apprentices 92% (11 out of 12) secured progression. 5

8 LPT has a 6 month probationary period for all new staff All new members of staff appointed to within our organisation (excluding medical and dental staff), whether on a fixed term, substantive basis or apprentice contracts are subject to a probationary period. The policy includes: The length of probationary periods The procedure Successful completion of the probationary period Terminating a contract during or at the end of the probationary period Notice periods. 6

9 Future plans and progression in the service As a Trust we want to ensure there is a genuine job offer for apprentices after they complete their apprenticeship. There are a few ways this could be achieved: Managing talent We will develop clear and comprehensive career pathways to support the development of staff at every level from pre-employment through to post-graduate education. The Trust will develop an approach to growing talent from within the organisation and is likely to encompass the following elements: An underlying principle that all staff are talented and have skills and knowledge to offer. An identification of each staff member s potential, skill and ambition during the appraisal process. Ensuring all staff have fundamental skills in maths and English to enable them to progress. A formal career pathway to demonstrate how you can grow within the service and the steps needed. A clear route for existing staff to access higher education. An example of a career pathway for nursing is shown below: 7

10 Apprentice placement assessment form The purpose of this template is to help you work through some of the key considerations of having an apprentice within your service area. Your name Service(s) What benefits do you see apprenticeships having in your workforce plans? Focusing specifically on school and college leavers looking for a career in healthcare. Can your service provide a good learning experience? A good learning experience would involve a variety of meaningful tasks that allow the apprentice to develop new skills. Can your service provide the level of support required? Apprentices need a supportive line manager, a buddy and will need to be supervised until they are competent. Would an apprentice require independent travel? Younger people are often not car drivers so this may be a barrier to some community based roles. What opportunities are there for a genuine job offer after completing an apprenticeship? It is important that we plan how we retain apprentices after their training. What barriers do you see to having an apprentice in your team? What additional support might be required? 8

11 Apprentice vacancy request form Please complete all fields to assist us with the recruitment of your apprentice. (Please look on page 10 for guidance) Apprentice job title: Work base/division: Line manager: Supervisor: Brief description and responsibility of role: (can add as attachment if preferred) Working pattern: Budget holder name: Budget code for salary: Finance manager name: Human resource advisor name: Any restrictions of role: (e.g. 18 minimum age restriction) Any known risks: Assessment centre representative Future plans /progression 9

12 Guidance document Apprentice vacancy request form Apprentice job title: Work base/division: Line manager: Supervisor: Brief description and responsibility of role: (can add as attachment if preferred) Working pattern: Budget holder name: Budget code for salary: Finance manager name: Human resource advisor name: Any restrictions of role: (e.g. 18 minimum age restriction) Any known risks: Assessment centre representative What do you want to call your apprentice? Where will the role be based? Who will line manager your apprentice? Who will be supervising the apprentice on a day to day basis? Description of key tasks carried out by the apprentice? What work pattern will your apprentice be required to work? (E.g. Monday Friday, 9am-5.00pm). Apprentices are required to work 37.5 hours per week. Who is the budget holder paying for the salary? What budget code will be covering the salary costs ( 6,844) - After 1 year 1 day the apprentice will be paid the minimum wage for their age (this will all depend on the duration of the Education programme) Who is your finance manager who can confirm the funding for the salary? Who is the HR advisor supporting employee relations for your service? Do you need to age restrict the role? Are there any activities that your team carry out that an apprentice can t do? Are there any additional risks the apprentice will be exposed to (For further information please contact HR) There needs to be representative at the assessment centre to be part of the recruitment process and choose the apprentice for your team. The commitment is one full day. Please confirm who this will be. 10

13 Apprentice recruitment process Step 1: The Recruiting manager will Learning and Development via a completed apprentice vacancy request form. Step 2: Learning and Development and Recruiting Manager will identify a post that is suitable to be converted into an apprenticeship. Step 3: Learning and Development responsibilities/advice on: - Job Description (Check HR Library) - Timeline for recruitment - Education provider (Standard) - Clinical competencies (practice learning to support clinical areas to develop) - Book education provider induction - Identify L&D facilitator to support the apprentice throughout the apprenticeship programme - Put on DAS (Digital Apprenticeship Service) - Sign education provider contracts on behalf of Trust Step 4: The Recruiting Manager s responsibilities: - Occupational health risk assessment - ESR/post number (advise on control vacancy) - Liaise with HR to advertise on NHS Jobs and set dates for shortlisting, interviews and preemployment checks. - Shortlist candidates by using qualification checklist and person specification (if the Apprentice is under the age of 18, refer to Young Person Policy ) - Arrange a start date - Manager to attend Apprenticeship Workshop (dates on u-learn) 11

14 Step 5: HR s Responsibilities: - Liaise with the Recruiting Manager re: Advertise the post on NHS Jobs and set dates for shortlisting, interviews and preemployment checks. - Advertise apprentice role on NHS website and liaise with Recruiting Manager - Book trust induction and bespoke training with the Learning and Development. Step 6: Once Apprentice is in post the Recruiting Manager will ensure he/she receives: - Mandatory/statutory training and local induction - Adequate support and time to complete the qualification element of the apprenticeship - Review apprentice as part of probationary period (Trust policy - 6 months) - Payroll system/contract Step 7: At the end of the contract/programme - line manager will: - Identify suitable employment opportunity or further education for apprentice in department at least 3 months prior to end of contract - Liaise with HR to help identify other suitable posts if non available in the department at least 2 months prior to end of contract - If a suitable role is not found, the manager with support from Learning & Development/HR will send risk letter to apprentice 6 weeks prior to end of contract. 12