Student wages and employment conditions — what do you earn while you go?

One of the great advantages of vocational education is that you get paid while you learn. When you have a training agreement with a bakery, you're employed as an apprentice and get apprentice wages during the entire main course. So you don't pay for your education — you get paid for the work you do while learning the trade.

§Why does salary increase over time?

The apprentice wages are not the same all the way through. They increase step-by-step as you progress further in the education. The idea is simple: The further you get, the more you can contribute to production and the more independently you can work — and that is reflected in the wages. At the beginning you are under close supervision but towards the end you have tasks that resemble a journeyman's.

• 01Lønnen begynder lavest i starten af hovedforløbet, mens du er under oplæring.
• 02It rises in several stages, typically in line with how far you are in the program.
• 03At the end, the apprentice wage is highest because you work more independently.
• 04When you get a journeyman certificate you move to a skilled wage.

§What is a collective agreement?

Your salary and conditions as an apprentice and skilled worker are not something an individual employer makes up alone. They are negotiated in a collective agreement — a combined agreement between employer organizations and employee trade unions. In the bakery and pastry field the Food Union NNF is the union that organizes bakers and pastry chefs and the agreements are negotiated with employer side like Danish Business and baker and pastry master organizations.

The agreement determines among other things wage levels, working hours, allowances and other terms and it is renegotiated at regular intervals. This is why the concrete rates change over time — they are agreed at each agreement negotiation. If you want to know the very latest figures you should see the current agreement or ask the professional union as the rates are adjusted continuously.

§Terms as skilled

When you have passed your journeyman exam and received your journeyman certificate you are skilled. This means you are now covered by the terms that apply to trained workers in the trade – typically a higher basic wage than apprentice wages entitlement to allowances for inconvenient working hours and access to pension under the collective agreement's rules. Baking often has early mornings and work on weekends and holidays and that is precisely why allowances for irregular hours are an important part of the wage.

Remember that working conditions are about more than salary. As an employee in the field you also have the right to vacation, illness management, and a proper working environment. Many choose to be a member of both a union and an unemployment fund, so they are covered if they change jobs or become unemployed.

“You don't pay to learn the trade — you get paid for it, and your pay grows as you get better.”