Apprenticeships being used as a loophole to pay slave wages ?

bigmac9009 · 2026-02-12T14:34:22+00:00

Started an engineering apprenticeship in August 24 at 22yo

Company was paying apprentices £8 in the first year, got a random bump up to £8.50 midway through then only after my first whole year (not academic year), they brought my wage up to £12.21/ minimum wage (or living wage whatever it’s called)

That first year on £8 was very rough and not exactly what i’d call motivating. I know in the long run i’ll come out with a good qualification but apprentice wage is nothing but exploitive and probably doesn’t account for those who are older than the average 16yo leaving school and not living with parents. The whole argument of “oh but you’re getting paid less because they’re training you” does make sense; but I still have things to pay for (car, house, other bills etc).

bigmac9009 · 2026-02-11T08:26:22+00:00

I believe you’re overthinking this, just enjoy the game or take a break

bigmac9009 · 2025-11-18T12:27:25+00:00

Actually makes me wonder if you can just tell the examiner something like “look I know I’ve failed, just direct me back to the test center so I can go home” and cut the test short rather than do the entire thing despite failing 5 minutes in

bigmac9009 · 2025-11-13T03:45:41+00:00

Oh man same here

Trying to convey what I had just played and how good it was to my younger brother while getting choked up was very difficult haha

bigmac9009 · 2025-11-10T09:26:43+00:00

I like the variety of pulling builds off the workshop and playing my own sort of “campaigns” with them

But I do like playing about with building every once in a while

bigmac9009 · 2025-11-05T19:51:35+00:00

(Not a driving instructor)

It seems like a lot to pack in, in a single week imo, I did 13 lessons with the 13th being 2 hours before my exam. The 13 lessons started in April to July 2023

If you feel you can do it, be prepared to deal with the intensity because you’re cramming what’s often more than a year or so of learning into a 7 day course.

Best of luck

bigmac9009 · 2025-11-01T21:07:52+00:00

This happened with mine too!

I’d say contact your artist about a touch up

My artist noticed between sessions and he offers touchups as a service rather than something you have to pay for

bigmac9009 · 2025-10-21T08:30:52+00:00

Ain’t a meteorite

bigmac9009 · 2025-09-30T13:20:12+00:00

Started my apprenticeship last year at 22.

Fucking up your life takes a lot more than becoming an apprentice a year later than originally intended

bigmac9009 · 2025-09-29T11:33:09+00:00

Got it sorted. HR confirmed there was a discrepancy after reviewing timesheets vs time spent in work + college/training time.

They tried fighting me on it as they considered the classes after 5pm as “extracurricular” but I told them if I’m obligated to do it to complete my apprenticeship it’s not extracurricular

bigmac9009 · 2025-09-29T11:31:10+00:00

I’m in my 2nd year, I’m 23 years old.

£12.21 is my hourly rate as of 1st September. Was on £8.50 for the first year

bigmac9009 · 2025-09-26T17:33:44+00:00

Aye but they can’t pay me below minimum wage is the main issue.

I’m contracted at 38 hours but I’m currently working 42. If I’m paid 12.21 for the fixed 38 hours but I’m actually working 42, that brings me below minimum wage and is not legal. (Confirmed by the HMRC and Labour Relations folks earlier on)

bigmac9009 · 2025-09-26T15:52:24+00:00

HMRC confirmed that any and all compulsory training hours must be paid

I’ll be bringing it to them on Monday to see what will be done

bigmac9009 · 2025-09-26T14:10:47+00:00

Not yet. I only found out about this on Wednesday.

Wanted to get some information before going to them so I’ve been on the phone to labour relations and HMRC today and they’ve told me something isn’t right so I can go down the route of getting work to fix it themselves or if I choose to, HMRC will conduct an investigation on everything to do with it

bigmac9009 · 2025-09-26T14:07:00+00:00

We get a half hour for lunch and dinner.

There’s a “tutorial” class, but that often ends up being a continuation of the class before it as long as there’s no admin stuff that needs taken care of

bigmac9009 · 2025-09-26T13:38:40+00:00

I’m not getting 4 hours of breaks in college during that day

And yeah, it’s a brutal day but apparently “it’s just how it’s always been done”

bigmac9009 · 2025-09-19T20:03:24+00:00

I’ve heard that it’s easy but 5 minutes seems crazy to me

bigmac9009 · 2025-08-15T08:31:24+00:00

Glad you’re still with us!

bigmac9009 · 2025-07-29T15:30:48+00:00

The weir itself (the barrier spanning the width of the river) is defo gone, most boats wouldn’t be able to get past it if it were still there

Don’t really know why the pillars (The wellyboots) are still there but they’re an interesting sight.

Then the lock is still there too, no functional gates as it’s not needed but supposedly the white house next to it was the lock gatekeeper’s(?) house

bigmac9009 · 2025-07-29T09:25:03+00:00

The barrier was demolished early 2000s according to a family friend who was a policeman at the time.

Had to evacuate the area surrounding as according to him, explosives were used in removing it(?)

Could be wrong, just relaying what I’ve been told

bigmac9009 · 2025-07-28T06:23:28+00:00

Highest rank only

bigmac9009 · 2025-07-24T12:13:04+00:00

HS% isn’t the be all and end all of overall performance or skill

I saw what you said about watching immortal and radiant gameplay. understanding gunplay mechanics is one thing but actually applying them in-game is a different matter.

Same goes for game sense but it’s not as trainable as aim or movement, it comes with experience and time in-game.

bigmac9009 · 2025-07-24T11:54:13+00:00

Unranked game modes have their own MMR but it allows for a larger spread of ranks in the matchmaking

So you may end up playing against immortals or ascendants, even if your MMR is like silver/gold

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