Kickstart – A quick guide

What is it?

Kickstart is part of the government’s Plan for Jobs strategy. The scheme provides funding for employers to create new jobs for young people at risk of long-term unemployment, assisting companies to kickstart their businesses post Covid-19 and helping young people get into employment.

How are wages covered?

The government fund wages of all employees taken on through the scheme for up to 25 hours per week, for a period of 6 months (based on National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage). You can choose to increase the hours that the person works by paying for the additional hours. You can also choose to pay a higher wage by ‘topping up’ the amount the government pays for.

What other funding and resources are available?

Employers are also given a grant of £1500 per employee taken on through the scheme, which must be used to the cover costs of onboarding and training. Springboard can deliver the training for you. The Government also cover the cost of NI contributions and minimum pension contributions for 6 months.

What type of job roles can I fill?

You can apply to fill any job that could be carried out by a UK based 16-24 year old

How many staff can my business take on?

Employers can take on any number of kickstart candidates. There is no lower or upper limit when applying through Springboard.

When does the scheme start?

The scheme is now OPEN for registrations with vacancies already starting to be filled

How can I ask questions and find out more information?

You can email, Bhavna Patel, who will be happy to help: Kickstart@springboarduk.org.uk or call on: 07789 748 399 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm)

How do I sign up?

Click here to register on Hospitality Unite, in partnership with Harri

The Full Details

The initiative is aimed at 16-24 year olds on universal credit, who will be able to access six-month, paid work placements for 25 hours a week, in which they’re paid the National minimum Wage (or higher).

Springboard is a Kickstart gateway employer, meaning that hospitality, leisure and tourism businesses of any size can apply through us. We can do this for employers looking to take on just one Kickstart placement to those recruiting hundreds from application and recruitment to training and aftercare.

Springboard can:

• Guide you through process, making it as simple as possible
• Be there for you if you have any questions or problems
• Deliver the employability training aspect of your commitment to Kickstart
• Provide a free jobs board to use via our partner, Harri

Funding available

• 100% of the National Minimum Wage (or the National Living Wage, depending on age of the participant) for 25 hours per week for a total of 6 months is provided
• Associated employer National Insurance contribution
• Employer minimum automatic enrolment contributions

You will also receive £1,500 funding per job placement which must be used for setup costs and to support the young person to develop their employability skills. The employability skills training can be delivered by Springboard.

You can contribute financially in order to pay the participant a higher wage or to get the participant in for more than 25 hours per week (the available funding does not cover this).

Why Apply through Springboard?

Springboard’s purpose is to futureproof the talent pipeline for hospitality. We have been delivering Employability Programmes for over 30 years..

Our work is fully inclusive- supporting young and unemployed people from all communities, abilities and backgrounds to fulfil their potential. In our work supporting young people, across 820 educational establishments and via our employability programmes, we place significant emphasis on identifying and supporting young people who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, which include but are not exclusive to: children in care and care leavers; young people who are at risk of offending or re-offending; those experiencing poor mental or physical health, those experiencing financial difficulties; those living chaotic home/family lives; young people with disabilities.

Our programmes aim to achieve the following;

• Education Programmes:  Nurture young beneficiaries into careers in the HLT industry by equipping them with the inspiration, knowledge, skills, advice & guidance they need. We do this through our first class education programmes in partnership with schools, colleges & universities;
• Employability Programmes: Transforming the lives of young beneficiaries who have barriers to work, and can benefit from our support, so that they can get sustained employment in the HLT industry. We do this by providing tailored support, quality programmes, dedicated aftercare, and access to work experience placements, followed, ultimately, by sustainable employment;
• Careers / Information, Advice & Guidance: Providing specialist careers information, advice and guidance to inform and guide young beneficiaries, families and key influencers about the HLT industry, and facilitate quality work experience opportunities. We do this through our specialist careers information, advice and guidance services and activities- online, face to face & through careers events.

We are well placed to support the long-term employability of young people through the Kickstart scheme as this is what we are specialist in.

Areas of support

We talk to each of our employers personally to assist with extensive paperwork and take care of the administration to deal with Jobcentre Plus on your behalf as well as offering advice on completing your initial application form.

We have streamlined the Kickstart Scheme application process giving you an opportunity to focus on growing your business and finding the perfect candidates.

Springboard employability training package is specifically designed to cover all mandatory training required by DWP to include:

We work with you to understand your training needs and offer solutions to support you with this.  Beyond this, We have created several bespoke packages to include support with recruitment, training and coaching.  Please contact Bhavna Patel on 07789 748 399 or Kickstart@springboarduk.org.uk

Who we are working with

Springboard has partnered with Harri’s Hospitality Unite, which also has the backing of UKHospitality, the Youth Group and Scottish Tourism Alliance. Hospitality Unite is a non-profit careers portal, supporting the recovery of the UK’s economy and will make the Kickstart application process easy for businesses to apply and attract qualified Kickstart candidates.  Some of the businesses we are already acting on behalf of include:

• D&D London
• Luxury Family Hotels
• Village Hotels
• The Columbo Group Limited

Frequently asked questions

Is there a limit on how many jobs you can create?

No, there is currently no limit.

However, do consider the key question of how your jobs would not exist without Kickstart. Remember your responses are reviewed by a government advisory board when you apply for the grant, and applying for an excessive amount of jobs may not be reviewed well.

If I advertise 6 jobs and I want to remove 1 whilst this scheme is going on will this affect my grant?

No.

When your grant application is approved, it’s for the total number of jobs supplied in the application form. Once you hire those employees HMRC and DWP communicate to establish this is an approved young person and then the grant is awarded. If you only hire 5 out of 6, this will not affect the grant, as it is given on a placement basis not as a lump sum.

Is it only for hourly or can I create a job for a salaried employee?

You can create the job for any type of employee you wish at any rate or number of hours. Be aware only the first 25 hours, at national minimum wage, will be paid. NI and pension contributions are also covered by the Government grant.

If you decide (like many businesses are) to top up hours to a full-time contract, i.e. 45 hours, then you will have to pay the remaining difference in hours at the wage you’ve decided is right for that role.

How will the JobCentre receive my jobs? Are you engaging with the JobCentre on a regular basis?

All Kickstart jobs approved by DWP, will be posted to the HU portal which will be visible to Job Coaches (aka. JobCentre Employees) when they search for key terms within hospitality (e.g. waiter, kitchen, cook etc) or for jobs for young people.

In partnership with Harri, we’ll be networking with JobCentre employees to make sure they understand the benefits of a hospitality career and also that they can effectively talk about your jobs to at-risk young people who will be first in the queue for Kickstart roles.

If a young person isn’t the right fit for us or is not performing can they be terminated before the end of the 6 months?

Performance management is expected to take place as part of the young person’s Kickstart placement if they are not performing this should be documented and handled in the usual manner as dictated by business processes. If you terminate the Kickstart employees placement, the JobCentre coach will be in touch to find out more about their performance issues and get feedback to help this young person further.

If the candidate hands in their notice, you process this as a usual leaver. Your grant would be paid up until the final working day/date.

Contact

Please contact Bhavna Patel for any further information about Kickstart Scheme on 07789 748 399 or Kickstart@springboarduk.org.uk