Apprenticeship Boost

It means apprentices can keep earning and training towards their qualifications as the economy recovers from the impacts of COVID-19. The payment is made directly to employers.

Apprenticeship Boost will be available until 4 August 2022. Applications will be accepted up to that date and payments won't be available after the initiative closes. That means an application received in June 2022 would be eligible for three payments only.

Who can get it

You can get Apprenticeship Boost if your apprentices are:

• actively training through a transitional Industry Training Organisation (ITO) or a provider
• training for a New Zealand Apprenticeship or Managed Apprenticeship recognised by the Tertiary Education Commission
• in their first 24 months of training (this includes any previous apprenticeship enrolment, including any other apprenticeships, with the same transitional ITO or provider).
  

Apprenticeship Boost can be paid for an apprentice who is self-employed if they're employed or contracted by you. You need to apply for your apprentice, and you need to have a training agreement between yourself, your apprentice and your TEC approved transitional ITO or provider. If you're self-employed, contact the company overseeing your apprenticeship. They'll need to apply on your behalf.

You can't get Apprenticeship Boost for your apprentice if you're:

• a State Sector employer
• already getting another wage subsidy from us for this apprentice (eg, Flexi-wage, the COVID-19 Wage Subsidy or Mana in Mahi)
• already getting a payment from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment for this apprentice (eg, a wage subsidy from the Māori Trades and Training Fund or a Regional Apprenticeships Initiative).

Payment rates

You can get Apprenticeship Boost for a maximum of 24 months per apprentice, and it's paid in advance.

How much you can get depends on whether your apprentice is in their first or second year of training:

• First year apprentices can get $1,000 a month
• Second year apprentices can get $500 a month.

These amounts don't include GST. If you're GST registered, you'll be paid the amount plus GST.

You must pay your apprentice at least the minimum or training wage.

Which year of training your apprentice is in:

If your apprentice has been previously enrolled in any other apprenticeship with the same transitional ITO (TITO) or provider, this will be counted towards their training provided by TEC.

For example: In 2020 your apprentice completed a 12 month beauty therapy course with HITO. In 2020 your apprentice also started a hairdressing course, also with HITO. If you apply for Apprenticeship Boost, you would be eligible to get $500 per month, as your apprentice is in their 2nd year of training.

How to apply for your first payment

Find out how to apply for your first month's Apprenticeship Boost payment.

How to apply for monthly payments

You'll need to reconfirm each month so we can check you're still eligible for this payment.

Apprenticeship Boost invoices

You can log back into your account at any time to view your GST invoice. You can also save this as a PDF.

How to save a PDF from your account:

If you're using Chrome

1. Select the 'Payments' tab
2. Scroll down the page to 'Payment Periods'
3. Select the invoice you want
4. Select 'Print'
5. Find the 'Destination' section and select the down arrow to open the list under it
6. Select 'Save as PDF'
7. Select 'Save'.

If you're using Internet Explorer

1. Select the 'Payments' tab
2. Scroll down the page to 'Payment Periods'
3. Select the invoice you want
4. Select 'Print'
5. Select 'Microsoft Print to PDF'
6. Select 'Print'
7. Write the name you want to save your invoice as
8. Select 'Save as PDF'.

Your obligations

To receive Apprenticeship Boost payments, you must agree to the terms outlined in the Apprenticeship Boost Declaration. You'll need to reconfirm each month that you are still employing your apprentice(s), they're still in training and they still consent to their information being shared.

Information for apprentices

If you are an apprentice and your employer has claimed Apprenticeship Boost for you, you can ask for a copy of any information about you that has been supplied to us. You can request this by email at Apprenticeship_Boost@msd.govt.nz or by calling us on 0800 673 227.