New apprentice pay rates coming into effect in the new year

[edit] Addressing the impact of national minimum wage on apprentice rates

To address the impact of recent national minimum wage changes on apprentice rates of pay, ECA, SELECT and Unite the Union have collaborated to implement new apprentice rates of pay, coming into effect from 6 January 2025.

This measure aims to ensure fairness and stability for apprentices throughout their apprenticeships and ECA, SELECT, and Unite the Union have collaborated to implement this solution.

The electrical industry is facing a pressing need for skilled workers to support the low carbon transition, with an estimated requirement for 15,000 newly qualified electricians over the next five years. To meet this demand, the recruitment of at least 12,000 electrical apprentices annually is crucial, significantly higher than the current average of 8,000 per year. Ensuring fair pay is a critical element in attracting and retaining this talent pipeline.

The agreed updated rates of pay for 2025 are as follows:

[edit] JIB Table of Rates and Differentials

Part of this updated agreement is to remove the ‘At College’ rate of pay for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This means there is one rate of pay which applies to all hours of work or as part of off the job learning during an apprenticeship. For clarity, this does not affect those apprentices employed in Scotland under the SJIB National Working Rules for whom the ‘At College’ rate remains for Stage 3 and 4.

[edit] National Standard Rates 2025

The agreement between ECA, SELECT, and Unite takes effect from Monday 6th January 2025 and retains the benefits of grading by encouraging apprenticeship completion and progression to electrician status, and the obtainment of a gold card in a structured way.

This is set against the backdrop of upcoming pay negotiations for 2026 onwards, which will commence in in 2025.

The updated JIB Handbook which contains all updated rates for 2025 is being finalised and will be shared here soon.

For a copy of the SJIB rates of pay for 2025, please see here.

This article appears on the ECA news and blog site as 'New apprentice pay rates to come into effect January 2025' dated 20 December 2024.

--ECA

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