Apprentice Wages and Expenses.

[Porridgekisses]

DS is in the second year of his apprenticeship on the standard apprentice wage for his age (20). As part of his training, his company have sent him to work in a different part of the country for 3-6 months. As he's so far away from home, he can't commute and has needed to find his own accommodation. The accommodation he's found is available on a short term let basis, and the rent is due weekly in advance. He is paid monthly.
The problem he has, he can't afford to pay four weeks rent (one month) from his pay as well as his usual bills, i.e. car repayment, mobile phone, insurance, petrol. Also food shopping, this is a new cost for him as normally he lives at home.
His company are currently refusing to help and say his January and February expenses will be paid back to him in his pay at the end of February.
Is there anything he can say or do that will persuade them to change their mind?

Could he be really strict with the use of a credit card. Use it for food, petrol and spending to the amount of the accommodation and then pay it off when he gets paid. He would get a months free credit. Thats what I do with travel expenses for work put it on a credit card and then pay off in full when I get paid

Do you mean he will get the full rent paid back on expenses so it is just a cash flow issue? If there is no one in the family who could help then maybe he should discuss with his union rep., HR, employee assistance at work, charity for those working in his field, or ask the bank for a short term overdraft.

The company can claim back 80% of the accommodation costs, so they should be helping your son with this .

No idea where this has come from, but I have managed large apprenticeship programmes and employers cannot claim any type of accommodation or travel expenses back for apprentices, unless the company is a construction company and pays the CITB levy (not to be mixed up with what was the apprenticeship levy).

I used to pay for my apprentices accommodation for them up front, so they didn’t have this issue.

@Porridgekisses he could ask his company to pay some of his expenses upfront, or pay for it direct or he will have to get a credit card and pay it back when his expenses come through.

APOLOGIES - just realised this post is from January 2026. Hope your son got things sorted out.