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Apprentices and their Rights

The CFMEU takes great pride in assisting and representing apprentices.

Being new to the workplace, a lot of young workers are not aware of their rights and entitlements. Some employers take advantage of apprentices as cheap labour.

The trade union movement has an important role to educate and organise young workers on their rights and responsibilities at the workplace.

The CFMEU has appointed a full time organiser to advise and assist apprentices.

Apprentices and Trainees
If you are new to the construction industry as an apprentice or trainee there are some things you need to know.

Apprentices and trainees have the same rights as other workers to a safe and healthy work environment and decent pay and conditions. The one significant difference is the contract of training you are employed under.

What is a Contract of Training?
A contract of training is a legally binding agreement between you and your employer. The contract of training provides you with the certainty of employment and training in your chosen occupation. It is an agreement where your employer must provide you with on-the-job training, and release you for off-the-job classroom training to a TAFE college or other approved training provider.

In return, the apprentice and trainee rates of pay are significantly lower than that of fully qualified trades people and skilled workers.

There are three main types of contract of training in the construction industry. These are:

• The indentured apprenticeship: This is a binding (generally four year agreement) between an apprentice and his/her "master" or employer. The indenture system is hundreds of years old and its great advantage is that it is almost impossible for the employer to cancel the contract of training. However, its lack of flexibility has meant that employers have increasingly moved away from "indenture" to the more flexible "trainee apprenticeship".

• The trainee apprenticeship: Increasingly, apprentices in the industry are being engaged under an apprentice traineeship. This contract of training is less rigid than a traditional indenture, but is still more secure than the normal contract of employment. Most apprentices employed under a group apprenticeship scheme come under this model.

• The non-trade traineeship: These traineeships are increasingly being offered in areas that have not traditionally been classified as "trades". In the construction industry, there are trainees in areas such as plant operating (that is, operating heavy construction machinery), steel-fixing and materials handling (crane related operations). Whilst these traineeships provide skilled workers they are generally shorter in duration than trade apprenticeships and job opportunities are probably more limited than broad-based traditional trade.

Your Rights on the Job as an Apprentice or Trainee
These are some of your rights as an apprentice or trainee in the building and construction industry:

• You have the right to a safe and healthy work environment and decent amenities (toilets, lunch room etc).

• You have the right to join the union and to be represented by union officials.

• You have the right to be trained and not just used as cheap labour. Where it is a provision of your contract of training, the employer must release you for off-the-job training.

• You have the right not to be victimised or 'bastardised' on the job. Sometimes the treatment of apprentices and trainees goes beyond a joke. If this is the case, the union will stand up for you.

• You have the right to basic industrial standards such as sick leave and holiday pay.

• On unionised jobs you may be entitled to additional payments such as site allowance, productivity allowance and redundancy pay.

• If you have been under-paid, you have the same right to recover that money as any other worker.

How to join the union
If you are not already a member of the CFMEU, you should join up. Apprentices and trainees pay reduced rates and still enjoy the full benefits of belonging to the union. As well as having the CFMEU represent your interests when it comes to wages and conditions you will find that your union can help in other ways.

You can join on line, if you click here.