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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think this isn't what apprenticeships were designed for?

45 replies

VivaLeBeaver · 08/12/2013 19:40

Just seen a job advertised for an apprentice waiter/waitress at Pizza Hut. 30 hours a week for £110. They can get round national minimum wage as its an apprenticeship.

I just think its a disgrace. Does it really take a minimum of a years apprenticeship to learn how to take orders and carry pizza? Its hardly training to be a plumber, etc. They do get to do an nvq in customer services but still.

I feel so sorry for young people today trying to find work, its depressing.

OP posts:
Ifcatshadthumbs · 08/12/2013 19:44

I totally agree. To me an apprenticeship is learning a skilled trade like an electrician, plumber, car mechanic etc. Waitressing does not require an nvq just another way for large companies to take advantage

Original poster
VivaLeBeaver · 08/12/2013 19:47

Exactly. Its like that stupid Workfare scheme

OP posts:
TheCrackFox · 08/12/2013 19:51

Completely agree.

And our taxes are being used to make a massive multi-national corporation's bottom line even better. It stinks.

CocoCha · 08/12/2013 19:52

It's a con, plain and simple. Apprenticeships are there to ensure a trade or skill is learnt. Waiting is unskilled unless you work in a Michelin Starred restaurant.

Original poster
VivaLeBeaver · 08/12/2013 19:54

What? Does Pizza Hut itself not even pay the £110 a week? That's crazy.

Its the sort of job that in the past 2 or 3 sixth formers or students would have done between them to earn some extra cash. Those sort of jobs seem to be hard to come by now. All the Xmas jobs at tk maxx have been taken by Workfare so no paid jobs there.

OP posts:
FadBook · 08/12/2013 19:59

I'm not sure if it is a con as such but I agree it isn't really a 'trade'. To me, PH are trying to attract young people to apply, here's why:

The national minimum wage for apprenticeships is £2.68 (any age) per hour. For £110 a week doing 30 hours that £3.67 so a £1 more than minimum. Actual NMW (non apprentiship) for 16-17 year olds is £3.72, so 0.05p more than what Pizza Hut are offering.

It isn't right no, but it is legal if the person is going to college and achieving an NVQ. For any apprenticeship, the person has to work very closely with college and the college works with the employer too.

solveproblem · 08/12/2013 20:00

We had an apprentice at work, through a college, to do 'warehousing'. Apparently he got some sort of qualification from his college in warehousing after doing this,

He was basically picking and packing all day long 40 hours a week, nothing to do with stock keeping or anything remotely complicated. I found it very odd the college would offer a qualification after this, all it was really was our company getting cheap labour.

Heartbrokenmum73 · 08/12/2013 20:08

I'm seeing a lot more jobs advertised as Apprenticeships lately. It seems to be a great way of getting cheap labour these days.

I have a 'work experience' interview at the Job centre tomorrow. I'm 40 and have plenty of experience already, but they've already been pushing me at 'farmyard work' and 'charity shop' stuff. All for £70 a week JSA and for up to 12 weeks. I can't understand how it's legal for any company to do this.

Luckily, they haven't been able to insist I take any of these 'placements' yet because I'm a single Mum and have set hours that I'm available for work. I wouldn't mind but a) I've only bee signing on for three months and b) I'm applying for jobs all over the place!

Ifcatshadthumbs · 08/12/2013 20:10

In truth there is very little liaison between the college and the employer

FadBook · 08/12/2013 20:22

Hope not ifcats we've just taken on an Apprentice in one of head office departments (not saying where as night out me) So far, during the recruitment process we've seen a shit side and a good side; ended up changing the college we worked with - poor applicants in general, but have found a brilliant lad. He needs office experience in said dept and we need a person to carry out mundane (but important) work.

wetaugust · 08/12/2013 20:24

YANBU

It's digusting.

I know where I shall not be eating.

Parsnipcake · 08/12/2013 20:26

As a parent I see it differently. I foster and my teens lack a lot of skills - taking responsibility, getting up, organising themselves etc. as an apprentice, they have to practice these skills, but get more leeway than a standard employee. My teen apprentices tend to appreciate their college courses more than before they were working, as a crappy job is a definite incentive to get qualifications. My brighter, better organised teens have got 'proper' jobs, with proper pay, but lots of teens need the stepping stone.

Whoknowswhocares · 08/12/2013 20:28

Apprenticeships these days are designed for one thing and one thing alone........to reduce the number of young people claiming job seekers allowance

annieorangutan · 08/12/2013 20:31

Thats what nearly all companies use apprentices for in all sectors waitressing, shop work, nurseries etc then boot them out at the end no matter how good they are. They are cheap so companies make lots of money from them, and they are young so will do anything to impress. It is a shame but its the way its always been especially now you can make someone do anything for 110 quid as they are desperate.

annieorangutan · 08/12/2013 20:34

Although 110 for 30 hours is pretty good as a lot do 40 hours for £107

Parsnipcake · 08/12/2013 20:53

I don't see the problem with getting them to be cheap labour rather than just signing on. It's got to be better that they are getting some work experience rather than sitting at home watching Jeremy Kyle or twittering. As I said before, more competent teens bypass the apprenticeship system. My 18 year old earns £8 an hour plus tips ( £25 a shift) at her job.

annieorangutan · 08/12/2013 20:55

Not here they wouldnt. It depends on the area you wouldnt get £8 here unless you were management ir in the job a very long time.

mrsjay · 08/12/2013 20:59

MY dds friend left school recently to do an apprenticship she has no placement yet but the options are a shop or a care home, yes she will get her nvqs but those are not apprentiships(sp) are they, my dh took 4 years to train to be a plumber that was an apprentiship(sp), these things are likt eh old YTS that i did when i left school

annieorangutan · 08/12/2013 21:05

I think it does depend on how affluent your area is. Here median hourly wage is £9 but that is skewed by all the doctors etc. I have worked in workplaces where they have fired qualified staff and replaced them with trainees purely because its cheap. Bosses havent even hidden that fact from me cheaper the better and just get them to do everything a qualified person would.

Chocamochalatte · 08/12/2013 21:08

I use apprentices in my department and see them as an assett to the team, I have found they are generally young people who have found school difficult and/or not had a stable home life, lacked support etc. I spend a lot of time mentoring, building their confidence and encouraging them to build a great work ethic. However, I also know of other managers in my workplace who see them as a hinderance and have pushed them to another department or refuse to see their value in the first place.

I am pretty sure that apprentices can not work more than 30 hours due to time needed to be spent at college.

In my experience employers have as little or as much contact with the college as they would like, for me it depends on the individual, how they are developing and how much support they need.

I also think people have got to stop seeing them as cheap labour and rather consider it as paid learning, ie if you went to college full time you would not be paid anything, however this way the young person not only gets college support but also hands on learning. Invaluable if you ask me.

DoYouLikeMyBaubles · 08/12/2013 21:09

Spot on.

My brother got offered an apprenticeship in the local Nissa. Hmm I'm sure as a full time job this is great for some people, but they wanted him to work 12 hour shifts - same as regular staff - for a pittance and exactly what training would it give him Confused

I'm all for apprenticeships, I was an apprenticeship care assistant and it got me on the job ladder - although I don't see why there's an apprenticeship to be a carer because anyone (without a criminal record) can become one.

annieorangutan · 08/12/2013 21:13

choc - They dont have to go to college the assessors come to them so they do a full 40 here. Its 2.68 an hour.

MammaTJ · 08/12/2013 21:16

Seems to be very much the the YTS (Youth Training Scheme, for those not old enough to remember) that I had to undergo to keep the unemployment figures down under Maggie era.

I was lucky, in that it did lead to a full time job and ultimately a career.

Some were not so lucky. They were variable. There were employers who would just use it as a free pair of hands and there were those who used the chance to train the younster, so by the time they were at the end, they were very employable and useful to the company who had bothered.

I guess this not so new scheme will have the same.

TalkingToTheWoodlice · 08/12/2013 21:18

I'm finding it very difficult to find entry level jobs that aren't apprenticeships. I have a degree so I'm not entitled to take up an apprenticeship (well I could but I'd have to pay for the privilege). I've been out of the workforce for some time looking after the dc so I don't have up to date experience to apply for graduate positions. I feel caught in a depressing trap.

mrsjay · 08/12/2013 21:19

I did get a job out of my YTS too so wasn't all bad I trained to be a nursery nurse but I guess this is what these modern aprretichips (spelling again ) I suppose not all young people want to go to further education but it just seems that they are NVqs for everything

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