Workforce and Skills Support

Your Staff

We recognise that staff members are the backbone of every local business and play a critical role in its success. To assist you in the training, ongoing development of your existing staff, and the hiring of new employees, we have compiled a list of schemes currently available to local businesses for their support

Please reach out to our dedicated support for local businesses for more information on any of the schemes below or to set up a meeting for a more detailed discussion. Email thomas.richardson-hall@gov.im or call +44 (0) 1624 685115.

Alcohol Licensing Training Support

Employee Relocation Incentive

Seasonal Worker Incentive

Licensing Training Support Scheme

Department for Enterprise, in consultation with the Licensing Forum and the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), announced an improved training support scheme for Hospitality Qualifications for ‘Responsible Persons’, ‘Doorstaff members’ (and by extension, for 'Authorised Persons').

This scheme replaces the funding support available through Vocational Training Assistance Scheme (VTAS) and reduces the administrative burden on applicants.

How does it work?

The Department for Enterprise will contribute 50% off the costs in relation to training for ‘Responsible Persons’, ‘Doorstaff’ and, should the proposed Amendment Regulations be approved, ‘Authorised Persons’.

This is an increase on the 30% historically available through the VTAS scheme and will be provided directly with a much simplified process with the requirement for pre-approval removed.

It should be noted that this arrangement is in place for a 12 month period and funding support is limited to application to either the VTAS scheme or the alternative Department for Enterprise initiative, not both.

How to apply?

Please get in touch directly with the DHA approved training provider to book a training slot.

Applicants will have to pay the provider 50% of the training cost upon booking. The remaining cost will be invoiced by the provider directly to the Department.

For more information on the training requirements under the Liquor Licensing and Public Entertainments Act 2021 please click the link below.

View the Act

Employing People

Employee Relocation Incentive

The Employee Relocation Incentive (ERI) provides a grant of up to £10,000 towards the cost of relocating an employee to the Isle of Man. The Scheme is designed to encourage job growth and the import of skills from outside of the Isle of Man in certain sectors, where businesses have been unable to recruit locally.

Features & Benefits

Provides a 20% grant of up to £10,000 towards the cost of a relocating employee’s first year net salary (minimum salary must be £25,000) paid 1 year in arrears
Can support existing or new roles within the organisation
Includes back filled positions
Helps local employers find additional, skilled workers and ensure they find continued growth and success in the Isle of Man

Apply here

Seasonal Worker Incentive

The Seasonal Worker Incentive is available under Appendix 14 of the Financial Assistance Scheme and seeks to support the expansion of the Island’s tourism and hospitality workforce.

Features:

£1,000 grant per employee, paid retrospectively.
50% of grant (£500) paid to business after presenting the first month's payslip of new employee and remaining 50% (£500) paid to business after presenting new employee's sixth month's payslip.

To be eligible:

First £500 - the employee's first month's payslip must show that they have been paid at least minimum wage and contracted to a minimum of 30 hours per week
Second £500 - the business must evidence the employee's sixth month's payslips must show that they have been paid at least minimum wage and contracted to a minimum of 30 hours per week

Apply here

Hiring People-FAQs

The Department of Education, Sports and Culture has a detailed guide on employing young people in the Isle of Man.

Download Guide here

Or view a helpful summary prepared here

Just the Job Guide to Hiring Young People

Please note that in case of any questions your first point of contact should be:

Child Employment Officers – The Department of Education, Sport and Culture 01624 685808 Admin.DESC@gov.im

There are a number of resources available in the Isle of Man for finding the right talent for your business:

1. Job Centre

The JobCentre provides a high quality service to employers and customers by matching skills, talent and aspirations with the rapidly evolving needs of the local job market.

2. Locate's Talent Portal

The Locate Talent Bank has been developed to help people looking to relocate to the Isle of Man find employment opportunities as easily as possible. As a company, you can setup alerts to match to candidates when they look for work on the Island, matched against the exact skills you are looking for. For more information or training about the talent portal contact locate.dfe@gov.im.

3. Just the Job

Just the Job is a dedicated careers portal for young people. Created by Junior Achievement, Just the Job has been designed to help young people unlock career opportunities on the Isle of Man and to connect with local employers. This includes permanent and part-time roles, graduate posts, seasonal work, apprenticeships, internships and volunteering opportunities.

If an individual is employed they can earn up to £160 per week (£694 per month) before they and their employer become liable to pay Class 1 National Insurance contributions. This threshold applies to each different employment that the individual has regardless of how much they earn in their other employments and will apply equally to their different employers as well.

For more information, visit at gov.im/taxandemployment or contact the Income Tax Division at here.

The amount of income tax deducted from your second job is dependent on how much your income is from other sources. For many people, their income before taking on a second job, will incorporate all of the personal allowance (£14,500) and 10% tax band (£6,500), meaning the income tax on the second job will be deducted at 22%.

However, where this isn’t the case, any unused personal allowance or 10% tax band, can be utilised in your second job. Anyone who takes up a second job should contact the Income Tax Division as soon as possible to have their tax code recalculated based on their specific circumstances.

For more information, visit at gov.im/taxandemployment or contact the Income Tax Division at here.

Students considering work over the summer who receive a total income (including earnings, Social Security benefits, bank interest, etc) in the whole tax year that is likely to be less than the single person’s allowance (£14,500), should contact the Income Tax Division to request and complete forms T18 and R104.

As an employer you will be issued with a ‘no tax’ (NT) code which will mean that the student will be paid without any deduction of income tax.

People who claim Employed Person’s Allowance and have a regular pattern of work but who take on additional work for a short period of time, either with their current employer or by way of a second job during the TT festival, for example – can expect the extra earnings to be ignored for EPA purposes. They would get to keep all of their extra pay, subject to any NI and ITIP deductions.

If/when additional work hours become regular, the additional earnings would be taken into account for EPA purposes.

For EPA customers whose work patterns are erratic, it’s likely that any additional earnings they get during the TT festival, or indeed at any other time, would be taken into account.

For more information, contact the EPA Team at EPA@gov.im or phone 685656 and select option 1.

The University College Isle of Man (UCM) offers further education and upskilling courses for the Hospitality and Catering industry.

Further Education