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Student wages that increase through the program and what the collective agreement means for you.
One of the big advantages of taking a vocational education is that you get paid for most of your training. As a photographer's apprentice, you are employed by the company, and you receive apprentice pay from the day your training contract comes into effect. This applies not only when you are out in the company, but also during the periods when you are at school.
The apprentice wages are not fixed all the way through. It is step-wise built up so you get more for each year you move forward in the program. The idea is simple: the more you can and the more you contribute to the company the higher your wages become. That way your development is rewarded along the way.
Your terms as an apprentice are described in a collective agreement negotiated between employers and employees in the photography field. The agreement sets out, among other things, your salary, your working hours and a range of your rights. In the photography field, it is the Danish Union of Journalists on the employee side and Dansk Industri on the employer side who are behind the agreement.
An important principle is that apprentice wages according to the collective agreement apply, even if your employer is not themselves a member of the employers' organization. The collective agreement thus functions as a protection that ensures you fair terms regardless of which company you work for.
When you have passed the journeyman exam you are a skilled photographer. Then the apprentice wages end and you should instead agree a regular wage – either as employed in a company or as self-employed with your own customers. As skilled you stand much stronger both professionally and when wages are to be negotiated.