What Is Involved in the Employment of Apprentices?

The employment of apprentices is a time-honored process of providing real time training to individuals who wish to pursue certain trades. While this approach has fallen out of favor in some countries, the concept of hiring apprentices is still common in a number of nations and often has support from national governments as a means of enticing qualified individuals to consider taking up specific trades. Creating a viable process that aids in the employment of apprentices requires making sure the corporate structure and culture is set up to allow this type of activity, as well as looking into any government incentives that may help make the arrangement even more productive for all parties concerned.

When considering the feasibility of employment of apprentices, companies should think in terms of both the potential benefits and liabilities of this type of arrangement. One of the chief benefits is that many apprenticeships require that the individual remain with the company for a certain period of time, usually several years. The goal here is to make sure that during that period of time, the business can recoup the investment made in the apprentice. Going further, the company will also want to make sure there are inducements for the employee to remain with the company even after the apprenticeship is completed, an arrangement that allows the business to continue enjoying returns from that investment.

Another aspect of the employment of apprentices is the creation of the apprentice program itself. This is particularly important if there are governmental incentives available to support the program. Typically, the employer must comply with certain standards in order to be able to take advantage of those benefits, especially in terms of being able to provide a model for the apprentice program that complies with governmental standards. Doing so not only allows the company to take advantage of tax breaks and subsidies offered by the government in connection with apprenticeships connected with specific trades, but will also result in the individual apprentice also receiving some sort of subsidy as long as he or she remains in the program.

Screening qualified candidates is also part of the overall strategy for the employment of apprentices. Care should be taken to only allow candidates into the program who possess certain educational credentials and have demonstrated some aptitude for the skills necessary to accomplish the tasks associated with the trade. Often, candidates are tested in advance and the results of those tests scrutinized carefully before an invitation to the program is extended.

Depending on how employment laws are written in a given nation, the employment of apprentices may also require providing evaluations of performance from time to time as a means of retaining governmental benefits for the program. These are helpful in other ways as well, such as providing feedback on how well the program is doing in terms of educating apprentices and providing practical application of what is learned. The evaluation will also aid in understanding whether or not a particular apprentice is in fact beginning to become more proficient at the trade, and even if there is room for improving the specifics of the program.