Helen Thorpe
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Helen Thorpe commented,
Sarah Wartnaby - I have today received a reply from the ESFA - they have advised that it is acceptable for an apprentice to remain in learning during their gardening leave where the employer supports this up until the gardening leave ends and their employment contract is terminated. At which point - because the apprentice is no longer employed - we then have to follow the rules on change of employer if the apprentice intends to continue. This is great news and fits with your first scenario above and the way in which we have been applying the rules for our affected learners.
Sarah Wartnaby - I have today received a reply from the ESFA - they have advised that it is acceptable for an apprentice to remain in learning during their gardening leave where the employer suppor...
Helen Thorpe commented,
Sarah Wartnaby - We haven't yet heard back but I have been told it has been referred to the Specialist Support Team and I am now awaiting a response from them. I will post here when I get a response to support anyone else who has apprentices in the same situation. Whilst we are awaiting a response our thoughts were similar to yours for the first scenario - that they could continue to engage in apprenticeship work as they are still employed and can be asked to undertake work at any time during the gardening leave period. We were unsure about being able to place them on a break as there would be no intention for them to return to the same employer after the break, although under the latest rules you can be on a 12 week break between employers. A break can also cause a problem for some of our programmes, because there might not be a clear restart point after the gardening leave period due to the programme delivery pattern - which could then prevent them being able to benefit from the redundancy rulings, so the option to continue in learning would be preferable if this is supported by the rules.
Sarah Wartnaby - We haven't yet heard back but I have been told it has been referred to the Specialist Support Team and I am now awaiting a response from them. I will post here when I get a respon...