Minister may bring back trainee wage

Deputy Lyndsay Feltham said she would consider bringing back the trainee wage after it was abolished in 2023

Jersey's Social Security Minister, Lyndsay Feltham, says she may bring back the trainee wage after it was abolished by the States Assembly in 2023.

Feltham said she would only look at doing this after speaking to the minister for education and lifelong learning and the minister for economic development.

Industry leaders in construction and the motor trade told the BBC it was no longer financially viable to recruit apprentices as they had to pay them the minimum wage of £11.64

Previously, trainees were paid £7.87 in their first year and £9.19 in their second year.

'Taking their advice'

Feltham said the States Assembly decision to abolish the trainee wage had to be taken in context.

She said "at that point in time there weren't as many moves to raise the minimum wage as quickly as we have been able to do in government".

Feltham added it was because of the rise in the minimum wage that she was open to reintroducing the rate.

She said: "I am very keen to work with other ministers particularly the minister for economic development and the minister for education and lifelong learning and if they considered the reintroduction of the trainee rate was the right thing to do, then I would be taking their advice.

"It may well be that the reintroduction of the trainee rate is the right thing to do but it might be well that there are other solutions to the concerns industries have raised."

Deputy Rob Ward said he was exploring a new wage structure for apprentices

The Minister for Lifelong Learning, Rob Ward, said he was exploring a new wage structure for trainees.

He said: "What we need to look at is a support mechanism that is progressive, so people as they train they can move up the scale, so an appropriate wage at the beginning and an appropriate progression through wage as people get more skilled, because otherwise you won't be able to keep people in the industry."

Ben Cairney, the director of Ashbe Construction, said getting rid of the trainee rate has, "killed the whole trainee market".

"We personally can't afford to take on a trainee or apprentice paying them nearly £30,000 a year, it's not sustainable, it's not realistic.

"They need to look at ways to bring back that trainee wage."

Ben Cairney, director of Ashbe Construction, said it was no longer sustainable for building firms to take on apprentices

Myles Jude, president of the Jersey Motor Trades Federation, said "the reason for having an apprenticeship wage is because they effectively cost us money for the first couple of years".

"For a technician with an apprentice, in the first year it makes the technician 20 to 25% less efficient because he's spending that time teaching the apprentice.

"So not only are we paying the minimum wage to an apprentice to learn a trade, he's actually costing us money for our technician to teach him that trade."