Help a young person to work

Although the Kickstart scheme was launched in September 2020, it was difficult to access for small businesses. However, with so many young people leaving school, college and university with no employment available, it's now been made easier.

What is Kickstart?

The Kickstart Scheme was launched to provide funding to create new jobs for 16 to 24 year olds on Universal Credit who are at risk of long term unemployment.

The young person needs to be on Universal Credit and the employer needs to be able to offer at least 25 hours per week employment.

The government undertakes to cover 100% of the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage (based on the employee's age) for six months, plus the employer NI contributions and auto-enrolment pension contributions for that period.

The scheme ends in June 2022, and the last date for new employees to start is 31 December 2021.

As an employer you can apply either directly on the government web portal or via a Kickstart gateway. The latter may be your local authority, a charity or a trade body - but they must already be registered as a gateway.

There are a few organisations who are registered as a Gateway Plus and these offer additional services, such as paying the young person on your behalf and providing employability support to help that person improve their long term employment potential.

What kind of work can you offer?

Firstly, this is NOT an apprenticeship scheme, it is very specifically for youngsters on Universal Credit who are unable to find work. This means that many of the positions that they may be suitable for tend to be lower-end, basic work. That doesn't mean that they may not turn into a valuable employee long-term - it's up to you as the employer to nurture them and help them to develop and learn skills.

With industries like hospitality, leisure and the supporting roles in the entertainment world all having lost a large proportion of their staff during the COVID 19 pandemic, it's an ideal opportunity for pubs, restaurants, sports facilities, theatres and cinemas and other venues.

Getting started

The jobs you create must be new roles. You can't use the Kickstart scheme to replace existing members of staff who are leaving or to replace work currently being done by others, whether they are staff or contractors.

The candidates must be on Universal Credit and will be referred to you by DWP.

There's a £1,500 payment per job to invest in set up costs and to help your new employee to develop the skills that make them employable. This can include training programmes, equipment and software and uniform/PPE. You will need to keep records of how this amount has been invested.

While this initial payment does cover training, it's not intended to upskill the new recruit beyond basic level.

The funding covers minimum wage, but that doesn't mean that you can't pay the employee more - but the extra will come out of your company's bank account.

You'll need to provide your Companies House registration number (or Charity Commission number), your organisation address and contact info plus details of the job(s).

There is a list of information and action that is required of potential employers on the government Kickstart scheme page. However, these are pretty straightforward and reasonable for any employer.

This is a scheme that is only with us for another 6 months and could be beneficial to many businesses as they navigate their way back to some sort of normality.