With the academic year now underway, apprentices will be starting in their new roles across the UK, and it’s important to know the differences when hiring and what employers need to watch out for.

Between August 2024 and April 2025, 284,190 new apprenticeships started in England, up 2% from the previous year.

In this article, we take a typical scenario to explain the key issues. For the first time, my client, who is a logistics company, is taking on an apprentice to work as a freight forwarder apprentice in their Midlands office. If this goes well, they are also thinking of taking another apprentice on in the Aberdeen office. As they haven’t employed an apprentice before, they want to know if there is anything in particular they need to consider.  

The purpose of an apprenticeship first and foremost is for the individual to learn a new trade or skill. There are therefore special considerations when it comes to employment of apprentices.

They need to be inducted into the organisation differently

All new starters should go through a period of induction, and it’s no different for apprentices. However, how that induction will look likely will be. It could be the apprentice’s first job, and therefore not only will they need to be introduced to the usual rules and requirements within the workplace, but also to the world of work at large. This adjustment can take time, and it will need to be built into the induction plans.

Inductions should be designed to help the apprentice settle in and feel comfortable in their new surroundings and meet the key people they will be working with. They are also an opportunity to give an overview of the role of the apprentice, how it fits into the wider organisation and to set general practical expectations for the apprentice.

Alongside that, there are the special things that make the job role an apprenticeship, such as the time to be spent learning and developing. These will need to be discussed and arranged, as the apprentice will need to spend a specific amount of time training and learning according to the rules of the apprenticeship they are working towards. This will need to be accounted for in planning the apprentice’s work.

The duty to make reasonable adjustments applies to them

The employer’s duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees under the Equality Act 2010 applies the same to apprentices as it does any other employee, and this may require additional support to be provided to them for the training and learning that they must participate in as part of their apprenticeship.

To satisfy this duty, where it is reasonable to do so given the size and resources of the organisation, additional support, time or auxiliary aids may need to be provided to accommodate an apprentice’s disability and to ensure they can make the most of their time.  

Sometimes, HR policies need to be applied differently to apprentices

In Scotland, apprentices work under a contract of apprenticeship, and this gives them special ‘apprentice’ status, rather than ‘employee’, in law. This means they are given additional protections that prevent their dismissal in all but very limited circumstances, unlike employees.

Terminating their employment prior to the completion of their apprenticeship can result in significant damages for breach of the contract to train them to the end of the apprenticeship and for stopping them from attaining the status or qualification that doing so would give them.

For that reason, usual HR procedures and practices, such as disciplinary and absence management, should be applied differently to apprentices in Scotland, as these cannot generally conclude with a dismissal. 

In England and Wales, however, legislation was introduced to give apprentices employee status, if they are employed under an Apprenticeship Agreement or an Approved English Apprenticeship. This means that they have the same entitlements as other employees and can also be subject to the same control measures as other employees, such as disciplinaries or formal capability management.

These normal processes can be applied to them and could result in dismissal prior to the end of the apprenticeship where it is fair and reasonable to do so and it is in accordance with the contract of employment.

By Stacie Cheadle, technical writer, Croner-i

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