Educating for the future

The BGA believes in education, Chief Executive Lucy Katan regularly provides talks to colleges about the industry and the importance of Good Employment.

This morning Lucy gave a talk to the British Equestrian Young Professionals cohort; a programme designed to support young riders to gain the skills and knowledge needed to develop their career and learn essential topics needed to run a business.

The students particularly valued the following topics of Lucy’s session;

• The need to keep records and have contracts
• Unaware of the huge consequences of doing it wrong
• The importance of logging hours
• Travelling hours and working overtime
• The perfect intro from being an employee to becoming an employer
• Accommodation charges were clarified
• The difference between freelance and being employed
• The importance of payslips

Lucy also spoke about National Minimum Wage, (NMW), explaining how to calculate wages correctly to ensure employees are paid at least the NMW for EVERY hour worked and any deductions are removed legally.

Continuing the topic of NMW, Lucy demonstrated how the upcoming rise will impact employers and their wage bill. 

 As an example Lucy explained Jame's story;

James is a competition groom who is working long hours, without a lunch break because he was always running late! (not a sign of Good Employment, or legal, as a worker has a right to a 20min rest break every 6 hours).

The impact on his salary will be huge, (see the image for the calculations). James is a 21-year-old groom working 66 hours per week.

N.B - It is common for grooms to work A LOT of hours; surveys have reported grooms can work around 60-70 hours a week.

Educating the next generation of both grooms and employers is key to encouraging Good Employment and securing the future of the industry and its viability.

Over the years the BGA has educated thousands of future grooms and professionals on the importance of Good Employment and hopefully ensured that they have their eyes open to emloyment matters. Lucy is continuing her mission to visit as many colleges as possible by the end of the 2024 student year, offering the colleges who are included on the Where to Train guide, a visit for a small outlay to cover travel costs.

BGA Strategic Plan

The BGA strongly believes that to achieve the vision of their Strategy – an industry where Good Employment is the norm – educating the new generations is the way forward.

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The BGA is your organisation that supports, represents, and champions the career of all grooms. If you are not a member yet, please join to help us make the equestrian industry a place of only Good Employment.

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