The Kickstart Gateway now means small business owners can offer a fully funded, six month placement to local youngsters, who may be facing a long period of unemployment .
100% funding is available which will include 25 hours a week at National Minimum Wage, plus National Insurance Contributions and statutory pension contributions. There is also £1,500 per job placement designed to cover set up costs, support and training.
Contact your local or national Kickstart Scheme contact if you need application help
Apply for a Kickstart Scheme grant: 29 or less job placements
Kickstart Scheme terms and conditions
When the Kick Start plan was first announced as a part of The Plan for Jobs in July, it seemed as if small businesses wouldn't be able to utilise the opportunity, to offer a a paid job placement to young people aged 16-24, as a minimum of 30 placements had to be offered per company.
That's changed now, with the introduction of the Kick Start Gateway to assist single applicants, so read on to see if your business can benefit and at the same time, create an opportunity for a local youngster, who needs someone to give them a chance to prove themselves with a paid job placement.
Contents
How the scheme works
What you’ll get
Job placement criteria
What you need to give your Kickstart gateway
How you will get the funding
Getting the young people into the job placements
How to apply
After you have applied
Other employment schemes
Further support and help
How the scheme works
The Kickstart Scheme provides funding to create new job placements for 16 to 24 year olds on Universal Credit who are at risk of long term unemployment. Employers of all sizes can apply for funding which covers:
100% of the National Minimum Wage (or the National Living Wage depending on the age of the participant) for 25 hours per week for a total of 6 months
associated employer National Insurance contributions
employer minimum automatic enrolment contributions
Employers can spread the start date of the job placements until the end of December 2021.
From 3 February 2021, employers will be able to apply to the Kickstart Scheme without a minimum threshold of 30 jobs.
Funding is available to support young people on the scheme to get a job in the future.
What you’ll get :- £1,500 per job placement
You’ll get £1,500 funding per job placement.This is for setup costs and to support the young person develop their employability skills.
If you get someone else to do some of this for you, such as your Kickstart gateway, you’ll have to agree how you will share this money.
Kickstart Scheme wages and related costs
This funding covers:
100% of National Minimum Wage (or the National Living Wage depending on the age of the participant) for 25 hours per week for a total of 6 months
associated employer National Insurance contributions
employer minimum automatic enrolment contributions
Employers can pay a higher wage and for more hours but the funding will not cover this.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will send the funding to the Kickstart gateway. They will be responsible for giving the funding to you.
What the Kickstart gateway will get Kickstart gateways will get £300 for each job placement to cover admin costs.
Job placement criteria The job placements created with Kickstart Scheme funding must be new jobs. The job placements must not:
replace existing or planned vacancies
cause existing employees, apprentices or contractors to lose work or reduce their working hours
The job placements must:
be a minimum of 25 hours per week, for 6 months
pay at least the National Minimum Wage or the National Living Wage for the employee’s age group
only require basic training
For each job placement you must help the young person become more employable. This could include:
looking for long-term work, including career advice and setting goals
support with curriculum vitae (CV) and interview preparations
developing their skills in the workplace
If you are not eligible for Kickstart Scheme funding, find out about other employment schemes.
The young person may be able to move to another employment scheme when they’ve finished their 6-month Kickstart Scheme job placement.
What you need to give your Kickstart gateway
You will need to give them:
your Companies House reference number, Charity Commission number or Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator number, if you have one
your organisation address and contact details
details of the job placements and their location
Tell them how your job placements are new and created just for the scheme
Tell your Kickstart gateway:
how many employees you have
about changes to your workforce in the last 6 months and why (for example redundancies and changes to hours worked by existing staff)
the number of people affected by changes to your workforce in the last 6 months
about the kinds of roles, functions and average salary of those who were made redundant or who had their hours reduced in the last 6 months
if you would be able to create these job placements without Kickstart Scheme funding and what funding source you would use
what recruitment you have completed, started or paused in the last 6 months, including how similar these vacancies are or were to the roles you are creating for the Kickstart Scheme
if the job placements will be similar to existing or planned roles or the roles previously done by those made redundant or with fewer working hours, why you are using Kickstart Scheme funding to create similar roles
if you’ve engaged with any relevant trade unions and any advice the unions have given
How you will support young people to become more employable Tell your Kickstart gateway:
what support will be offered (for example helping young people with writing their CV and preparing for an interview)
when you will provide this support (for example halfway through their placement or towards the end)
how many hours it will take
who will provide the support (for example you may already have a pre-existing relationship with training providers)
how you will monitor this support
how the young person can provide feedback during their placement and afterwards, and how this will be acted on
We provide funding per job placement for setup costs and support.
If employers get someone else to do some of this, such as a Kickstart gateway, they will have to agree how to share this money.
How you will get the funding
DWP will send the funding to the Kickstart Scheme gateway. They will be responsible for sending the funding to you.
£1,500 per job placement
The £1,500 setup costs will be paid when the young person starts the job placement.
If you get someone else to do some of the job placement setup and employability support for you, such as your Kickstart gateway, you’ll have to agree how you will share this money. Kickstart Scheme wages and related costs
DWP will use information from HMRC to check that the young person is still employed. The grant funding to pay the young person’s salary will be paid in monthly arrears when we know they are:
enrolled on your payroll
being paid through Pay As You Earn (PAYE)
You can pay a higher wage and for more hours but the funding will not cover this.
Getting the young people into the job placements
Kickstart Scheme job placements are only available for Universal Credit claimants aged 16 to 24 who are referred to you by DWP.
If your application is successful:
Your Kickstart gateway will give job descriptions to DWP that work coaches at Jobcentre Plus will use.
The work coaches will match suitable candidates to the job placements.
You’ll then be able to interview the candidates matched to your job placements.
You’ll select the candidate best suited to the role.
Funding will only be given if a young person is hired using the Kickstart Scheme process. After a job placement ends you can get another Kickstart Scheme young person to start another job placement.
How to apply
As an employer with 29 or less job placements you need to find an existing Kickstart gateway, such as a local authority, charity or trade body.
Whoever represents you will apply on your behalf. You’ll need to give them information about the job placements.
After you have applied
We’ll aim to email the person representing you with a decision on your application within 1 month. You may be able to apply again through:
the same Kickstart gateway
a different Kickstart gateway
yourself if you have more than 30 job placements
The organisation representing you can apply for another grant while they wait on the response for an existing application.
Other employment schemes
Apprenticeships You may be able to get funding for any apprentices you employ in England. Find out more about apprenticeships.
Sector-based work academies Jobcentre Plus can support you to create a skilled workforce for your business by offering unemployed people sector-based work academies in England and Scotland.
Traineeships Employers can also help young people by setting up a traineeship. Funding is available for this scheme.