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How the employee is treated — and what rights they have
One of the big advantages of a vocational education is that you get paid from the day you start at your apprenticeship. You are not paying to learn the trade — you are earning money. Here we explain how it fits together without promising you specific amounts, because rates change over time and depend on the agreement in place at your workplace.
§Student wages that increase through the program, collective agreement and what it means to be a skilled worker.
As an apprentice you receive apprentice wages that are typically lower than a fully trained journeyman's wage — you are still in training. In return wages usually increase in steps as you move forward in your apprenticeship and become more skilled. The further you have progressed the more you are worth to the company and that is reflected in your wages.
§What is a collective agreement?
A collective agreement is an agreement between employers and employees — typically negotiated by an employers' organization and a trade union. It sets among other things salary working hours allowances vacation and pension. For you as an apprentice it means your conditions don't just depend on what you can negotiate for yourself but are secured by a common agreement.
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- 02Agreed rules for working hours, breaks and overtime
- 03Vacation and leisure time according to holiday act and collective agreement
- 04Pension typically paid by the employer when you are in an agreement-covered job
§When you become skilled.
When you've taken the journeyman's certificate you go from apprentice wages to skilled wages. It's a noticeable boost because you're now a trained professional the company can assign to independent tasks. With experience responsibility and special knowledge your wages can grow further and some choose over time to become self-employed running their own sign business.
§If you take EUX
If you choose the EUX variant, you get both the journeyman certificate and a higher examination certificate. It extends the qualification, but gives you more opportunities to study further later. The salary terms during the apprenticeship follow the same principles — you are still an apprentice and get apprentice wages — but you spend more time on instruction along the way.
“You do not invest money in your training — you invest time, and you get paid for it.”