So anyone can take on a trainee and keep them there indefinitely and there is no employment law to protect them? That is so unfair that employers can exploit employees this way!

Also, last year they actually took on another 'trainee' and my son is the one training him! How can he be a trainee yet train a trainee?? lol.. it's just so daft!! I've told him to consult ACAS.. they may be able to advise.

postggj... My son has already done that and his boss has refused to renegotiate his contract and is now actually ignoring his letters and emails.

His boss already knows what the wage scale is for the work he does as there are 3 other IT technicians employed as fully qualified even though they are actually lesser qualified than my son! They all earn almost £10,000 more than my son annually!

So can his boss do this legally? I agree with what you have said but my son is so poorly paid he can not afford to start up on his own. He has applied for many IT posts but been unsuccessful because there is so much competition for IT posts here and they are rare to come by. I feel so sorry for him. He is very good at his job and loves his work. All he wants is to be paid the correct rate for the job he is doing.

Upon finishing college and gaining qualifications in IT ( Level 3 BTEC National Diploma for IT Practitioners (systems support) – Triple Distinction Star) my son has been employed as a trainee ICT Technician for the past 4 years at a school (academy). He does the work of a fully qualified technician and is actually the most qualified technician out of all four technicians including the manager! He is the only one who actually has formal 'paper' qualifications. He is not being trained in any way because there is nothing more to teach him and he does the same, if not more, work as the other technicians. He has approached the principle (his boss) on many occasions asking to be upgraded but is refused. He has been told he will always hold the position and pay of trainee technician because that was the post advertised that he took on when employed and that they will never upgrade the position. Can his employer keep him as a trainee for ever, indefinitely? It seems so unfair as he works very hard and earns less than the playground assistants and cleaners! He has been looking for another job but IT technician jobs are very much in demand and rare in this part of the country. His manager and other technicians all agree that he is being treated unfairly but won't do anything to help. He actually does the majority of the work by himself and is often the only technician on duty taking care of the entire network of computers in the school.