Have you considered a student or an apprentice?

In March, Arbejderbevægelsen Erhvervsråd (AE) announced that within a few years there will be a shortage of up to 100,000 skilled workers across different industries. In order for this not only to affect the current workforce by wearing them down, we all need to make an effort to attract young people so that they can take over the workload in the long term. 

As your business grows, it may also be worth considering whether it's time to take on an apprentice or trainee. There are several benefits to having a student/apprentice on board. Here we take a look at the possibilities of bringing a student or apprentice into your business.

Types of student/apprentice solution

The regular agreement - can be structured in two different ways. The first way to structure this agreement is that you have the student/apprentice for the entire main course, this works by the student/apprentice doing an internship in the company and attending school for e.g. 5 or 10 weeks. 

Another option is to take all or part of the basic course in addition to the main course. 

For this to be possible, you as a company must ensure that you are approved as a training site for education

Master teacher - the same conditions apply as above. Here, part or all of the student/apprentice's school period is replaced by an internship in the company during the basic course. 

With a master teacher, you as a company will have greater access to the student/apprentice. The internship is then completed with a practical assignment, which, in collaboration between you as 

Combination agreement - with this solution, it is possible for you as a company to split a student/apprentice between you and another company. For this to be possible, agreements must be in place regarding when the student/apprentice will be at the different locations. It is also a requirement that the agreement covers the entire training course. 

Short training agreement - only obliges you to take part of an internship period and a school course. Generally, 2 of these agreements can be entered into with the same student/apprentice. This also means that you as a company are solely responsible for the period covered by your agreement. 

Partial agreement - here you can only train the student/apprentice for a single internship period, it is also required that the student/apprentice is in school internship. If you want an additional internship agreement, you can enter into what is called a residual agreement, read more about it here.

Considerations before hiring / Get approved for an apprenticeship

There are trainees/apprentices in every industry. For many companies, it seems overwhelming to think about training and recruiting trainees/apprentices. At elevplads.dk you can find a lot of knowledge about hiring, as well as a checklist so you can see exactly what is required of you as an intern. 

If you find it difficult to find qualified workers, apprentices are worth looking into and investing time in. Here you have the opportunity to shape the student/apprentice into the employee you want in your company. There are some broad requirements in the training plan that must be met, but you as an internship can have a say in which electives the student/apprentice should participate in, and you also have a say in the exam project. Likewise, at the end of the period, you have the option of an employee who doesn't need training time - so in the end, the question is where do you want to put your efforts? 

In 2012, a study showed that 60% of apprentices/trainees stayed with the company after completing their training. It is therefore an excellent recruitment opportunity if you want to make an effort to end up with a stable and competent workforce. 

Subsidy for a student/apprentice 

If you choose to take on a student/apprentice, it is possible to apply for various forms of financial support. It is therefore important that the training agreement is in place and signed before the student/apprentice starts. 

The payments are made by the employers' education contribution and can be applied for via the Virks website. Please note the different deadlines. 

You can apply for wage reimbursement while the apprentice/student is in school. Please note that the rate is higher for adult apprentices. 

It is also possible to apply for a wage subsidy if the student/apprentice has previously lost their internship through no fault of their own. 

In addition, there are 2 different bonus schemes, the internship bonus and the benefit bonus.

Are you interested? 

If you have not yet tried having a student/apprentice employed, we strongly recommend you take a closer look at elevplads.dk, their site has a lot of information about being an internship site, both before, after and during the process. The site can also be found here! 

Otherwise, we just want to wish all students/apprentices and internships the best of luck and enjoy working together.