A Subway store has been criticised for the its apprentice pay (Picture: Getty Images)

People are angry at Subway for only paying apprentices just £3.50 an hour.

A store in Gateshead is currently advertising a position for trainees that pays £119 a week, which is the Apprenticeship National Minimum Wage.

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For that they expect the apprentice to work five days, from 8am to 5pm, including weekends.

The proposal also states the applicant will be ‘physically active for most of the shift’.


As you can imagine the job advert, which was posted on the Government’s apprentice website, has annoyed a lot of people.

Click to enlarge: The job is advertised on a Government website

Keri Warbis wrote: ‘£3.40 per hr for a 14 month (yep 14!) ‘apprenticeship’ making sarnies. (The smell of a Subway has ensured I’ve never entered one, tbh).’



Another user Ethan Mills added: ‘How are subway offering a “sandwich artist” apprenticeship, paying £3.40 p/h that’s acc criminal.’

The Healty Pins Twitter was also unhappy and wrote: ‘TIL Subway has a “sandwich artist” apprenticeship in the U.K. as an excuse to pay £3.50 an hour. #todayilearned #til’

£3.40 per hr for a 14 month (yep 14!) 'apprenticeship' making sarnies.

(The smell of a Subway has ensured I've never entered one, tbh). https://t.co/ArMUYGMNIO — Keri Warbis (@KeriWarbis) March 18, 2017

How are subway offering a 'sandwich artist' apprenticeship, paying £3.40 p/h that's acc criminal — ethan (@ethaanmills) March 18, 2017

TIL Subway has a "sandwich artist" apprenticeship in the U.K. as an excuse to pay £3.50 an hour. #todayilearned #til — Healthy Pins (@Healthy_Pins) March 18, 2017

It’s not the first time a Subway store has caused controversy with the wages it has offered to apprentices.

Earlier this month an outlet in Newcastle Upon Tyne was criticised by the Unite trade union for paying apprentices £3.50 an hour.

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‘It is the bare minimum, so not very generous,’ spokesman Shaun Noble told the IBT Times. ‘Unite would advocate a boost to the national minimum wage as a stepping stone to the “living wage”.

‘More generally, we have concerns about “bogus” apprenticeships when some employers use apprenticeships when the job is suitable for a more qualified person.’

Subway has previously said all stores have to comply with employment law, which the ones mentioned before do.

A spokesman added: ‘The franchisee of this store was unaware of this advert which was posted by a recruitment agency.

‘Together we are working to have this advert removed immediately.

‘Subway requires that all franchisees comply with employment law when recruiting and contracting, and in all dealings with, employees.’