Yes, apprentices can be furloughed in the same way as other employees and your child can also continue to train whilst on furlough.
Their employer must pay them at least the Apprenticeship Minimum Wage/National Living Wage/National Minimum Wage for all the time they have spent training. This means that for time spent training your child’s employer must cover any shortfall between the amount they can claim for your child’s wages through the furlough scheme and their appropriate minimum wage.
No. Those students who sign Part 2 of their EMA Learning Agreement by 21st December 2020 will be eligible for consideration for the January Bonus, whilst those who sign Part 2 after 21st December will not.
The actual release of the January Bonus Payment will, however, continue to be dependent on the student meeting the terms of Part 2 of their EMA Learning Agreement.
For academic year 2020/21 the period for applicants to be considered for backdated EMA is being extended.
Usually, if students submit their EMA application to the Student Loans Company before 30th September, they will have their weekly allowance payments backdated to the beginning of term. However, for the academic year 2020/21, students who submit their application before the 3rd December 2020 will have their weekly allowance backdated to the beginning of term.
Any applications which are submitted after 3rd December 2020 will only be backdated to the date that it was received by the Student Loans Company.
Please note that the EMA application packs for academic year 2020/21 were printed prior to the impact of COVID-19, and therefore some printed EMA forms refer to 30th September to qualify for backdated weekly allowance payments.
Yes – students will receive a back payment of any EMA support owed to them once the situation has been rectified. You should contact the school or college directly to ensure that they have provided the correct information to the EA to ensure reinstatement of payments and back payment.
Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that your child’s employer will keep them on after the furlough scheme ends. This will depend on the circumstances of the individual business/employer.
The hope is that by the time the Furlough scheme ends, restrictions will have lifted and your child can return to work where their employer can start paying full wages again.