Unsure if I am in the right section to ask this question so apologies if I am not. My daughter is currently on a hairdressing apprenticeship with a local salon and will have been there 2 years in May. She has qualified for level 2 Hairdressing and should be going on to do the level 3 as a designer in the salon. A couple of weeks ago the owner of the salon took her to one side and advised there were no designer places available and she needed to have a think about her options whilst she was off the following week. He didn't advise her what her options were and gave her no indication of where she could find any assistance with it. Just to consider her options. He didn't sign her up to the new Apprenticeship people they have gone with despite transferring all the other assistants. She told him her Dad would probably ring him to speak to him about this matter and was told he didn't know why her Dad would ring as he didn't have anything to say to him. On Saturday he took her to one side again and told her he is giving her one months notice. They usually on give one week but he thought that was a bit unfair given the amount of time she has been there. He will give her the contact details of the lady who runs the scheme for them and 'hopefully' she will be able to assist my daughter in finding another placement to do her level 3. I am trying not to interfere in this as she doesn't want to make it awkward in the last month of her working there. But at the end of the day, she is only 17 years of age and obviously not as worldly wise as her mother. I think he should give her this notice in writing and not verbally. I also think he should advise the reason for letting her go. I think the 'talk about her options' was his way of telling her to go and when she didn't, he had no option to tell her. I know there has been one member of staff who has been doing a lot of tale telling to the owners wife and this has included my daughter in the tales more than once. She has 'invented' a problem between my daughter and another member of staff when there wasn't a 'problem'. This was confirmed by both girls. I had to have words with the owners wife regarding her conduct at having my daughter in tears over this matter. The salon is well known in the hairdressing community for bullying its staff but my daughter has managed to stay of the radar so to speak. Half of me wants to let it go and get her the hell out of there and the other half of me wants to go in and rip his limbs off. So if you can answer any of my questions below I would be grateful. Can notice be given verbally? Can I ask for it in writing giving the reason for it? If he puts it in writing the reason is no designer places available, then makes somebody a designer, do I have any comeback? Any help or advise anyone can give would be great.

My son turned 18 last weekend and has just completed two years at College for a Sports degree. He has been offered an apprenticeship for 35 hours a week at the rate payable for appreniticeships which is around £5+ per hour. Can he claim UC or any other benefits?

Hi everyone, looking for some advice My daughter started an apprenticeship in hairdressing in September and was today dismissed on the spot. She was told it was because the employer had had 2 complaints from clients that she hadn't shampooed their hair correctly, but this was the first she had heard about it. Naturally she is very upset. I called the employer and politely asked why and was told that she didn't do what she was asked, and he had had these complaints from clients. I spoke with my daughter who said the employer gave her a list of things to do in the morning, so she would start the task, then someone would call her away to sweep up, or make tea etc, so the tasks she had been given originally wouldn't be completed so he would tell her off. He also said he had gone over and over the shampooing procedure with her, but she tells me he showed her once, and once only. She is 16 and she does have some learning problems, this was brought to the attention of the college, so they were fully aware of her needing a little extra support and guidance. She also tells me that a girl who is permanently employed there has been making fun of her and generally being mean. I brought this up with the employer and he said "well its just banter". Can they dismiss her like this? I can't get hold of the tutor until Monday, but naturally i am not very happy at all and wonder if there is anything I can do? She doesn't want to go back to the salon, but she dearly wants to carry on with the course. Thanks in advance

I was enrolled on an advanced level 3 Ict apprenticeship working for xxx. In my interview I was told that I would be building computer systems, installing and maintaining software and dealing with computer repairs. I was also told that up until Christmas time I might have to work in the warehouse for one week every month as they were understaffed in that department. It was November at the time and I agreed as I was desperate to find a placement and this company seemed perfect for what I wanted. I signed a contract with them saying that I was to work there for 12 months and that I was entitled to an apprentice wage. From the moment I started working there I was kept inside the warehouse, lifting heavy computers and emptying cardboard and plastic bins. I didn't do anything technical for at least a month. The only reason I was allowed a couple of days of building computers was because everyday I was complaining that I was an IT Apprentice and this was not what I had signed up for. When the time came for me to go to college for my IT assignments, my manager at the time told the college that he was not willing to let me go and therefor I missed out on almost a whole months worth of training. A few months later my manager was fired and a new person took his place. I was told that I would be able to do all of the jobs promised to me in my interview and that I would no longer work in the warehouse. I thought that would be a turning point and so I decided to continue my employment working at xxx. Every now and again my new manager would put me into the building side of production but only if I kept asking him. He kept saying that there was not enough work for us and that is why I had to stay in the warehouse. Three members of staff had left their building positions and I asked to be moved into their role but again I was told that there was not enough work and therefor I had to remain in the warehouse. Shortly after, the boss hired three new people to fill the roles. I was unable to gather any evidence for my assignments and I was also unable to have my apprenticeship assessor come in to watch me working. Whilst I was at college I completed all my assignments (some of them had to be done in my own time) and received distinctions in every one of them. I also went out of my way to take on additional assignments and MTAs as I wanted to get the very best out of my apprenticeship. I had also planned to go onto higher education afterwards and I had an agreed plan with Newcastle College that I could enrol on a Foundation degree on the agreement that I finished my apprenticeship. Three months before the end of my apprenticeship, my manager has claimed that there is not enough work for me and has said that he is terminating my employment. He gave me about a weeks notice and also said that I owed the company a weeks worth of pay. When I asked how I owed them this they said that they had taken my sick days away from my holiday pay. They were terminating my contract and therefor I was not entitled to the full amount of holidays that was agreed to in the contract. As I have been unable to finish my work placement at xxx I am unable to go onto a higher education course, I am unable to pay my rent and bills and I have not received any of the training that I was supposed to. The health and safety at xxx was a complete joke and I believe that they had no intentions of training me as an IT apprentice at all. I have wasted nine months working at that company and in that time I have received zero training. There are a great many other complaints I have such as the lack of health and safety and making us work outside of our contracted hours for no extra pay. I am wondering if there is anything that I can do right now? I have been reading up on apprentice rights and I believe that I have been unfairly treat and unfairly dismissed. I believe that because they terminated my contract early on the basis that there was not enough work (which there was) I should be compensated for the full duration of the apprenticeship contract. I am now left in a position where I cannot complete my apprenticeship and therefor I have nothing to show for all my hard work. As I don't have the training or experience that I was supposed to have, I cannot find employment working anywhere else.

Hi I would be grateful for some advice on an apprenticeship/employment issue although I'm not sure what forum to start on as the main issue is not with the (former) employer but the negligence of the apprenticeship provider, so please bear with me. Briefly: My daughter started a one year apprenticeship last Autumn. She struggled with the work and despite receiving no help whatsoever from the apprenticeship provider handed her coursework in by the deadlines. Her last attendance at the college was March with subsequent work all to be done online. There have been a trickle of emails over the past several months between my daughter and the provider and her last coursework was completed and handed in in JULY. This was acknowledged and she received emails after this date saying she would be set more work although this was not forthcoming despite her boss and her chasing. Yesterday she received a letter saying that she had been removed from the course in APRIL although no reason was given. Her boss contacted the provider today (yes - AUGUST!)to be told the staff dealing with the apprenticeship course had been let go through a restructure and the resulting lack of staff meant they could not deal with the remaining volume of students. They had therefore made an assessment (based on...?when...?) re which students would be likely to pass and chucked the others of the course, one of whom was my daughter without telling her or her employer. The issues are: - My daughter was immediately let go by her employer today as her contract states she must be on the course to work. - Neither she (nor her employer) have received written details of when or who made this assessment (given that the course tutors had been sacked in April!) Surely she is entitled to know the reasons for the cessation of her place on the course given they were still planning on setting her coursework in July! - She has been working and paid the apprenticeship wage for the past three months even though she has apparently not been on the course - should the company therefore be retrospectively paying the difference between that and the minimum wage for the past three months as she has effectively been a normal employee? - What redress do we have against the UTTER NEGLIGENCE of the apprenticeship provider in failing to inform either my daughter or her employer of the decision in April? Surely she is entitled to some form of written explanation if not some form of compensation - I reiterate, she handed coursework in at the start of July when the college was still in dialogue via email re ongoing work towards a qualification that they have now unceremoniously decided to deny her. At a days notice, she has found herself unemployed without anything to show for almost a years work and no right of appeal. Just dumped! I can't help but feel there must be something we can do as I feel the apprenticeship provider (who have quite frankly been a useless shower of idiots from day 1) should be accountable for their negligence. Can anyone start us off in the right direction please? Many thanks.

Hi I have been asked to produce a letter of termination for an employee who has completed their 1 year apprenticeship course but is not looking to be kept on by the company. The reason for the termination is due to poor performance and not following company procedures. Has anybody had experience of this and if so could you give me some advice as to how to layout a letter of termination or possibly point me in the direction of a good template to use. Regards Kim

Hi All My son left sixth form 3 weeks ago to start an Apprenticeship with a local established company. At the end of the day yesterday, he was told that his apprenticeship was terminated with immediate effect as he was "under performing". This has come as a total shock. He has only been there three weeks. He has had no issues/warnings etc. He has no time keeping issues, no days off, nothing. He was even paid a bonus this week for recruiting new clients. They would not elaborate on the "under performing", just that they are a professional company and he is not working to their standards. He pointed out he was taken on as an apprentice straight from school. He had one days training, then was put on the phones. I could understand if he had a qualification and was taken on as a full time employee with experience, but he is only an apprentice and requires training? He cannot go back to school as he has missed near on a month and AS exams are imminent. He and his employer signed a contract of employment for apprentices (fixed term) Does he have any rights? Many thanks.

My daughter is on an apprentiship at a photograhy studio. Over xmas and new year they shut for the 2 week period, my daughter has not been paid for this period and she won't ask her boss whether she is to be paid or not. My partner and I are a bit unsure of asking on her behalf as her boss is also a family friend. Any advice?

Hi i hope someone can help because i dont have the first clue about traineeships and the government courses etc. But my daughter and her friend are being treated so badly by their employer that i am sure that it can not be legal what this woman is doing to these young people. First of all my daughter is a fully qualified beautician and is 19 and left college last year. She came across a shop that was opening and they wanted a beautician and she applied and got the job. My daughter like a lot of young people these days was so made up she got the job she never asked the woman what she got paid and there was no mention of any trainee scheme or apprenticeship she was just told to come in on the following monday, which she did. When her boss came in she asked her if she could have a word in private. This is when she dropped the bomb shell that she wouldnt be getting paid for 6 weeks, and she would only be doing sixteen hours and the reason the woman gave for this was that she needed to train my daughter to her standard before she would allow her to have her own clients. Obviously my daughter was a bit confused that she hadnt mentioned this but because she wants to be a beautician so badly she agreed that was okay. My daughter was not on jobseekers she had a night job in a pub. When the six weeks finished the boss turn round to my daughter and said she needed further training and wasnt ready yet so she would have to do another 6 weeks of training and not get paid, but did promise to give her bits here and there when she had done well and after that period her hours would go up and she would get a proper wage. My daughter agreed thinking at least she would be getting something and in the mean time quit her bar job because she was so tired and also because she thought in a few weeks she would be on a proper wage. but in the following six weeks she received about £30.00. By this time she was now working unsupervised and already the hours had crept up to her working over 40 hours a week some weeks and didnt see the boss from one day to the next. The boss just seems to saunter in and out whenever and the girls are running the shop for her but only getting paid for 16 hours work when they are all doing nearer 40 or more. my daughter has worked there since May this year so thats 6 months and last week she finally confronted her boss about the hours she works for such little pay. she gets a hundred pounds a week for 40 hours work. She worked for 3 months with no pay at all. then she got bits here and there and then about 2 months ago went on to hundred pounds a week for 40 hours work. which is £2.50 an hour which I thought was disgusting. From that point she said she couldnt afford to pay her much more and said she would give her another £40 a week so thats £3.50 an hour and promised when it got busiier she would give her more. my daughter accepted this as it was at least something. However that was 2 weeks ago and she has only recieved the £140 for one week and last week it went back down to £100. My daughter asked her why and she said she couldnt afford it and she would have to go back down to working 16 hours and getting £100. I wouldnt mind she has never yet worked just a 16 hour week in that shop not even from the start, the first week she worked over 20 and by week 3 or 4 she was doing 40 hours a week. Its just a joke and this woman is such a hard face cow i could swing for her,. Last week she had the accountant in and asked my daughter to come over for a word and she then asked her to go on a training course which she does at home to do with customer service, and she told her it will lead to a proper qualifications. I am now thinking that this woman has mislead my daughter into giving her a full time job when in effect she is telling the tax people or whoever that she is taking on trainees and getting paid for them hence this customer service qualification all of a sudden because she cant say she is training her in beauty as she is already qualified so she has had to dream up a qualification to comply with the traineeship rules so she can get paid her two thousand ish pounds per staff member. Also that way she can get away legally with calling my daughter a trainee and only paying her the trainee minimum wage which i think is £2.68 an hour. I am so angry but dont know what to do to try and help my daughter, she loves her job and doesnt want to leave but hasnt got the confidence to stand up to her boss . any advice would be fantastic thankyou cher69cher69:-x

Hi Guys, need some advice/help if poss - I have several issues/questions so I will try and keep brief initially and ask away if you need anything I havnt put in. Could also do with knowing if ACAS/Tribunal or employing a solicitor is the best way to go? My son has been an engineering apprentice since September 2011 - it is a 3 year apprentice and was due to be completed July 2014. He does have a signed Apprenticeship Agreement. He attended college one day a week. On 22/08 (after a day off to attend a family funeral) he was told 1 hour into work that a meeting had taken place the previous day and the decision made to make him redundant - he was told he could leave immediately as there was no work and that he would be paid 1 weeks notice. (This redundancy came 2 weeks before he would have completed 2 years with the company and therefore be entitled to a longer notice and redundancy). He was asked to come in the following day to go over details. This never happened as two of the bosses were on holiday and the other person he needed to see (who told him of the redundancy) was 'busy' and then later 'out the office until after the bank holiday'. My son was due to have a pay increase on 03/10 when he turned 19 onto the minimum wage rather than apprentice wage - a message was left to see if it was possible to discuss staying on apprentice wage in order to keep their costs lower and for him to be able to complete the course. No reply was received. After the bank holiday he received the letter saying he was being made redundant due to shortage of work and he would be paid what was owed on 06/09/13 - that was it. I called ACAS who said there were 2 issues, unfair dismissal and breach of Apprenticeship Contract & that I should write to them detailing this. At this same time my son was attending interviews and later managed to get a trial at another company to see whether he could complete his apprenticeship there, he is still on trial there and still attends college 1 day a week. I did a lot of research and sent a letter to the previous employer. It basically outlined there being no selection meetings, no appeals process listed, loss of wage, no contact with training provider to inform them, basically way it had been dealt with, breach of Apprenticeship Agreement, failure to complete his training without loss of wage. No reply to requests to meet even though they had stated he go in the following day etc. His training not being upto date because they had not had him on right machines (something I found out from the college, another breach of the Apprenticeship Agreement). As he had been given a trial at another company I asked for a settlement Agreement of £4000. I was advised he was at the least entitled to loss of wages for the remainder of the course (12 months) however with him starting a trial at a new company I reduced this by more than half for an out of court settlement. Today we have received a reply - it states the following: they apologise for no appeals process being included on redundancy letter, oversight on their part and they would happily accommodate and appeal meeting if he wanted one after reading the letter. They refute that he was unfairly dismissed 1; several meetings had taken place in the 6-8 weeks before where decreasing workload was discussed in detail. 2; My son was in attendance at the meetings. 3; It was discussed that as a result of lack of work that short-time work was being considered. 4; 6 roles have been been made redundant, a mix of skilled and unskilled. I have a couple of issues, first no redundancy was discussed in the meetings and also not mentioned in their points above, my son was present at the first meeting where short-time was discussed in as much as overtime was banned, that was it. He had a day off for the 2nd meeting so was not in attendance, he was told about the meeting from a collegue and that work shortage meant they may have to reduce hours, he was not told about the meeting by a manager upon his return just a collegue. The third meeting took place the day before his redundancy when he was at a family funeral, he was told of the meeting upon his return and that the decision had been made in that meeting to make him redundant. He left immediately. It then goes on to say 'all other measures have been considered and as you can see from the above points have indeed been applied' - no they were not - my son nor anyone else there has been placed on 'short-time' to try and help them keep their jobs. It then states...'As you have stated in your letter you were the least skilled person onsite and in order to protect the business for the future our priority is to retain the most multi-skilled people'...first i didn't state that, it said - they had not kept his training up to date as advised by the college & also is the second part not discrimination?? ...it goes on....'We would clarify for you that a redundancy situation arises when there is a diminishing requirement for an employee to carry out work of a particular kind, it is therefore irrelevant that you were on an apprenticeship'...my question is, how can a training position be diminishing if the training is not complete?? They refute that they are responsible for any loss of wage to my son - 'the company always paid you more that the basic apprenticeship rate in any case'....they are responsible for loss of wage as my son cannot earn the minimum wage for a 19 year old now and what difference does it make that they paid him more than the minimum apprenticeship wage, that was their choice!!?? They state they have not breached employment law in any way. They state they will not be entering into any discussions of any kind regarding a financial settlement as it is wholly inappropriate and not applicable....why state you will be happy to set up an appeal meeting if his job is 'diminished' and no financial settlement will be discussed - whats the point of an appeal meeting then?? It then just says 'if you have any queries please contact us to arrange a meeting. So, sorry, not that brief...but has he a case, I think so, acas think so but my concern is that as he has a trial at another company now that this will go against him - as it reduces the claim for his loss of earnings substantially - a claim for just loss of earnings would be pretty much pointless if he gets taken on permanent at his new company, is there an unfair dismissal case, acas said yes but didn't elaborate, his ex employer say no. Thinking of going straight to acas,, no point having a meeting with them as far as I can see or would I be better getting an employment law solicitor?? Does anyone know exactly whats been committed here: breach of apprenticeship agreement, breach of employment law, unfair dismissal - all of those??

I'm due to start an apprenticeship as part of the youth contract and was informed I'll be liable to pay £20 rent as I'm classed as a 'non-dependant' on my dad's claim, is this true!? I already have in excess of £35 being taken away from my small wage of £79. I was told it shouldn't apply to anybody on a app. that's part of the youth contract but I'm having a hard time getting the proof needed for them - I'm due to start soon and was only informed of this after signing the contracts with the provider. 0,0 Help? This doesn't seem right in the least.

I hope someone can help me out. Basically, I've been accepted for an apprenticeship and I'm due to start on Monday. I live with my dad, who has been informed that once it starts they want £20 council tax and rent from me. Bearing in mind I have £25 board and lodgings to pay, £5 petrol for my motorbike, insurance of £3 a week and dinners whilst I'm there I'm going to be no better off. Actually, I'll be worse off! I was fine with having £50 a week, but £28 is a joke. I get £56 now. Before anybody says anything about my motorbike, it's cheaper than the bloody bus. I don't want to turn down this apprenticeship but I can see no way of it working. Is there anything I can do? . I've been unemployed quite a while and I was so happy. This news has ruined my day to be honest.

Iv been in an apprenticeship with a company for 3-4 months, for the first few months we didn't have an immediate manager and I made a lot of progression. We now have a new manager and she has recently told me that she has to let me go because I'm 'not good for the company' what I don't understand is that Iv been waiting for training so that I can contribute to the company that she should have arranged, she hasn't given me any warnings verbal or written, she has stopped me from learning parts of the business then tells me that I'm not good enough for the company. Is there anything at all I can do to turn this back round on her?

Hi Folks, Is anyone here over the age of 24 and found that their Apprenticeship Applications are rejected with excuses rather than reasons? I have made several without so much as getting an interview. Recently was rejected for an Junior IT job where I have the neccessary skills but they used my GCSE results from 16 years ago as the reason why I was un-successful. I am aware that businesses are able to apply for funding from the Governments Apprenticeship Scheme for applicants between 16 - 24 years old. They are however obligated to advertise the vacancy to the public. I'm concerned that age discrimination is being used by employers to ensure the vacancies are filled by those who are eligible for the funding. If that was the case then applicants over 24 may be subject to having their applications POO POO'd before they even get face to face with anyone!!!!!!!! Alex1980

With job cuts and redundancies just around the corner, I was wondering being an apprentice how much I am protected from these? Ive read many things regarding the safe guarding of apprentices, however my main concern is in my contract it states, the employer may terminate the contract at any given time for any reason giving no less than one months notice. So have I thrown all my protection out of the window, or does the law override this?

Hello there, just looking for some advice on the situation I've been placed in, My apprenticeship was recently terminated due to not completing my coursework, for a Level 3 course which I should never of been on, as my contract states intermediate apprenticeship meaning Level 2, I had no warnings prior to the termination, and was literally put into a meeting with a HR manager and she made reference to the apprenticeship agreement I had signed, which she only made reference to the a agreement I did not comply with, which was not completing the college work, I told her this must be irrelevant because it's not the course I should be on anyway. I have appealed against the decision, I've been researching on the web at current legislation's and it states that, the apprenticeship agreement should include the relevant apprenticeship framework, which in my case should be Level 2, the reason for me failing level 3 was generally lack of knowledge, I don't think I even qualified to be on the course, yet was still placed on it. My question is this apprenticeship agreement must be illegitimate if it does not state the RELEVANT apprenticeship framework? If anyone has any advice, please post.