Equalities and Apprenticeships

Equality and Human Rights Commission, ‘Advocating for Apprentices’, 16 April, 2010

Apprenticeships – a good thing

• Works for employers and individuals• High-level skills for employability in recession,

business performance in global markets• Major funded training routeway into work• Progression to HE in some sectors• Increase in places to support Raising the

Participation Age to 18• But inequalities in access, participation by sector,

pay, levels, outcomes. • Aspiration – to develop a quality vocational offer -

for all

Pay and discrimination• By Sector – weekly rates

– Hairdressing: £109– Early Years: £142– Engineering: £189 – Electro-technical: £210

• By Gender– Gender pay gap for apprentices was 21% in 2007, reflected across all sectors; retail has men being paid 16% more than females, yet 61% of apprentices are females in this sector. – For young women the apprentice gender pay gap begins at 16– 8% of females paid less than contractual minimum (vs. 2% of males) in 2007 when rate was £80pw– Hairdressing and early years highest rates of underpayment (11%)

• Proportion Paying Overtime– Hairdressing: 35%– Engineering: 97%

Participation Rates by Gender & Sector

• By sector (2007)– Early Years: 97% female– Hairdressing: 91% female– Engineering manufacturing: 98% male– Electro-technical: 99% male

• By level (2006/7)– Males vs. females on level 2 apprenticeships: 57% to 43%– Males vs. females on level 3 apprenticeships: 68% to 32%

• By sectors and levels– In Hairdressing, 21% of apprenticeship participants are at

level 3– In Engineering/ Manufacturing, 75% are at level 3– In Early Years, 73% are at level 3.

Participation Rates by Ethnicity and Disability• There is very little data in this area – although we know the

National Apprenticeship Service is working to improve this• In engineering, only 4% are from ethnic minorities and only 6%

have a learning difficulty, disability or health problem• In plumbing, only 2% are from ethnic minorities and 7% have a

learning difficulty, disability or health problem• 13.5% of 16 – 24 year olds are from ethnic minorities across the

UK, increasing to 29% of the population in the London region• Around 25% of the population have a learning difficulty,

disability or health problem, although only around half of them are in work.

• The number of disabled persons on apprenticeships – at around 12% - is comparable with the general cohort of disabled people in employment, but on Level 3 apprenticeships only 5% have disabilities.

Recent Developments

Low Pay Commission Minimum Wage for Apprentices• £2.50 per hour for all 16–18 year olds and all other ages during

first 12 months• Very similar to previous ‘contractual’ rate of £95 per week – but

enforceable through HMRC, hence should stop under-payment• Will address different rates of employers paying overtime by

gender • Will be paid to apprentices for on-the-job and off-the-job

training

‘A minimum wage for apprentices would have most impact on the low-paying sectors, especially hairdressing, which had a high proportion of female apprentices’. Low Pay Commission, 2010

Recent Developments

The Equality Act 2010• Key purposes:

– To reform and harmonise equality law – To advance equality and reduce discrimination and prejudice

through the public sector equality duty – To harmonise and progress positive action opportunities– To enable duties to be imposed in relation to public

procurement functions– “Protected Characteristics” named in the Act are: age;

disability; gender reassignment; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation; and marriage and civil partnership.

• Apprenticeship contracts have same status as contracts of employment for purposes of the Act

Positive Action Provisions

•This new provision allows an employer to take a protected characteristic into consideration when deciding who to recruit or promote. •This provision is allowed where people having the protected characteristic are at a disadvantage or are under-represented.•It can be done only where the candidates are equally qualified.•The clause defines recruitment broadly, and includes apprentices.•This would be particularly useful in apprenticeship schemes to ensure more women work in male-dominated sectors, and ensure the under-representation of ethnic minorities and disabled young people is addressed.•Positive discrimination is allowed for persons with disabilities.•Positive action is voluntary but may form part of a public body’s equality duties (next slide!)

The Public Sector Equality Duty

• Public Authorities must have due regard to the need to:– Eliminate any unlawful conduct specified in the Equality Act 2010– Advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a

relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it– Foster good relations between persons who share a relevant

protected characteristic and persons who do not share it• Public authorities covered by the Act include government

departments, RDAs, local authorities, schools, FE colleges, NHS authorities and trusts, fire and rescue, police authorities.

• Duties apply to employment and service delivery functions. • So all public authorities have specific duties around the creation and

delivery of apprenticeships.• Advancing equality of opportunity includes encouraging participation

in activities where participation of particular groups is disproportionately low

Procurement Provisions

• Public sector spends billions of pounds every year buying in goods and services from third parties. 

• Public bodies to be able choose suppliers who treat their workers fairly and equally, as well as delivering value for money for the taxpayer.

• Public sector equality duty can be delivered by giving due consideration to equality and diversity when making procurement decisions.

E.g. choosing employers for building contracts who have more equal representation of ethnic minority, women workers.

Business Case for equality

• Leicester City Council – Asian women apprentices to reflect community, meet customer needs and reflecting demographic change; currently barely a quarter of the workforce is white, male, non-disabled and under 45.

• British Gas - focusing on equality and diversity is ‘skills-led’ - to meet increased competition in the market place. Recession, recovery demands more high skilled employees - expected 2 million new jobs by 2020

• BAE Systems - equality and diversity programmes directly linked to improvements in staff morale and productivity

• Oakwood Builders - multi-ethnic and bi-gender workforce - evidence of modern company which ‘bucks the trend’ increased turnover by a factor of 5.

Good Practice

• Use Positive Action provisions to address under-representation of specific groups

• Carry out training in equality and diversity for all involved in apprenticeship recruitment and promotion to tackle prejudices- recruiting in own image- and segregation

• Consider giving all ‘atypical’ applicants who meet minimum selection criteria an interview

• Ensure marketing materials, e.g. leaflets and posters, portray a diverse range of individuals

• Target under-represented groups – eg by holding recruitment days at community events, locations frequented by these groups eg single sex girls and boys schools

• Offer work experience placements, single sex taster days and open days to address stereotyping and widen applicant pool

‘Building a society built on fairness and respect where people are confident in all aspects of their diversity.’

www.equalityhumanrights.comdavid.coulter@equalityhumanrights.com