Ready for an apprentice or trainee?
In our last newsletter we covered off on some of the important things to be aware of when taking on your first employee, like how much to pay them, do you need an employment agreement, do you need worker’s compensation and many other items.
But what if your first (or next) employee is also an apprentice or trainee? How can you take advantage of the government subsidies on offer and possibly pay a lower wage rate?
Firstly, to be able to access most government subsidies or grants, your apprentice or trainee must be registered with an Apprenticeship Centre. Most Apprenticeship Centres will visit you in your workplace to discuss the training available to your apprentice and any subsidies or grants available to you.
Apprenticeship Centres will also draft a formal training contract that must be in place between you and your trainee.
The Apprenticeship Centre will also discuss what you will need to do in return for your trainee, like allowing them time off to attend offsite training and also the support you will need to provide to them while they are training.
Once signed up with an Apprenticeship Centre, you will need to find a training provider for your apprentice or trainee. In the case of most trades, TAFE are typically the provider, however other traineeships (for example administration) can be delivered by other Registered Training Organisations.
Most awards have provisions for apprentice or trainee rates of pay. An employee can only be paid apprentice/trainee pay rates if they have a formal training contract in place with their employer. The training contract has to be registered and recognised by a state or territory training authority.
Apprentice pay rates will depend on how long the apprenticeship is, how much training the apprentice has done and also the age of the apprentice.
Sound like a lot of hoops to jump through? That’s where we come in!
Addison Partners HR & Consulting can assist you to navigate the minefield of apprenticeships and traineeships. Our experienced HR Specialist, Debbie Innes is available to step you through the process of taking on your first employee, apprentice or trainee. Please contact your usual Addison Partners contact or call Debbie on 4995 7300 or dinnes@addisonpartners.com.au for more information.