Per position:
An employer can apply directly online for the grant or through a kickstart gateway (an organisation who will act as an intermediary applying on your behalf).
There are no restrictions on company size or industry type, and there is no limit on how many positions you can have, however other criteria applies.
The positions must be new roles which require only basic training, but provide meaningful and regular work. They must not replace existing vacancies or be a detriment to existing employees - so must not create a reduction in working hours or job duties for any existing member of staff.
Participants must be treated fairly and no less favourably than other staff members doing similar work with similar experience who are recruited outside the Kickstart Scheme.
The full terms and conditions of the scheme can be found on the Government website.
The person will be your employee so the usual legal rules will apply and you would carry the same risks as with any new employee. An appropriate fixed term employment contract would need to be drafted up, and you would need clauses written to ensure certain pitfalls are avoided, such as: inadvertently committing yourself to paid notice outside the funded 6 months, or the full 6 months of pay if the employee left the scheme early and the funding was stopped.
If you have a comparable employee on more enhanced terms than the scheme offers, then you would have to match these and bear the costs yourself to avoid a claim under the Fixed Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002.
Contact our HR Consultancy team for further advice and to ensure you have the right clauses in place.