Loading …
Student wages, collective agreement and what it means to be a skilled worker.
One of the big advantages of financial education is that you get paid while you are in apprenticeship. You are not a student without income, but an apprentice with a training contract and a workplace. Here we look at how your pay is structured, and what it means to become a tradesperson in the financial sector.
When you are in the main course and work in the company you get apprentice wages. The principle is that wages rise in steps through the course – you earn less at first and more the further you progress because you gradually contribute more to the workplace. The specific rates are set via collective agreement and adjusted regularly so you should always check the current amounts in the applicable collective agreement or with your school.
A collective agreement is an agreement between employers and the employees' trade union about salary and working conditions in an area. In the financial sector the framework is negotiated between the Finance Union on the employee side and the employers' association on the other side. The agreement sets among other things minimum wage working hours pension and vacation.
The finance assistant typically works normal office hours at a workplace in a bank, a mortgage institution or an insurance company. It's a trade with fixed frameworks, orderly conditions and a strong collective agreement tradition. Many companies also offer benefits such as health insurance, pension and professional development — this varies from workplace to workplace.
When you finish the training you are a skilled financial assistant. It is proof of documented competencies and typically gives better wages and working conditions than unskilled work in the same role. Many collective agreements distinguish directly between skilled and unskilled.
Pay rates and conditions change over time. If you want to know current figures, the best sources are the current collective agreement in the area, the Finance Union as the relevant trade union and your own school. Avoid calculating with figures you heard a couple of years ago — they are adjusted continuously.