Apprenticeship minimum wage quiery

[gallzo]

I am 19 in a manufacturing modern apprenticeship for a print company, 1yr and 5months into my apprenticeship to be precise. There is nothing mentioned in my contract re. wage rises however previous apprentices in my work normally just had yearly rises but would your employer legislate for a bigger rise/quicker timed rised if you showed vast improvement ?

I was also told by a former apprentice that if my employer has me doing other jobs that i should be getting paid the going/hourly rate for that specific role as he said to them in the past he wasnt doing it unless he was and they paid him the hourly rate or however long he was doing this job - is this right ? As it said in my contract that i am responsible to undertake other tasks to contribute to the company however surely if im losing time from my training for my actual job title then its not right ?

I work for a printing company and my job title is a machine operator however a lot of the time i find myself doing the assistants job as they have been moved to another site so i end up having to do it for whole days.

Also it is a modern apprenticeship so they said their is no time limit and its up to me how long i take HOWEVER previous apprentices have all been kept off for 4 years till they are on the full pay/rate.

I honestly feel capable that I could be on the machines in 3 years time, producing the same standard and quality as the rest of the operators and have my college work completed which I am only a month or two away from doing just now to be honest - City and guilds.

Will they decide when i go on the machines or what happens...as a lot of fellow employers say they will just hold you back for as long as they can so they can get cheap labour and only give you full pay when they are eventually forced - when the apprentice fights for the rate !

Basically just feel im being underpaid/mucked about because im ''the apprentice'' ''get the apprentice to do it !''

 

Move to the appropriate category if this is in the wrong place, thanks for any help or advice.

[bazak1]

Hi gallzo,

My stepson had the same problem when he began training as a mechanic.

Unfortunately he has now been finished but if you contact ( or at least read the info' on the following sites they may be of some help ).

 

Do apprentices get paid?

 

All employed apprentices must receive a wage of no less than £80 per week and this will rise to £95 from August 2009. However, recent research found that apprentices earn an average of £170 net pay per week. The highest paying sector is Electro-technical at £210 per week.

 

www.apprenticeships.org.uk

 

www.direct.gov.uk

 

If you take a look on these, you may find the information you need.

[Lou89]

I recommend you look here:

HM Revenue & Customs:National Minimum Wage

 

Apprentices

 

 

From pay reference periods starting on or after 1 October 2006 the special rules for apprentices will be extended to apprentices aged over 25. This will mean that:

• Apprentices under age 19 will not qualify for the national minimum wage
  
• Apprentices over age 19 and in the first 12 months of their apprenticeship will not qualify for the national minimum wage.
  

What are the current rates of the national minimum wage?

 

 

There are three levels of minimum wage, and the rates from 1 October 2008 are:

• £5.73 per hour for workers aged 22 years and older
  
• A development rate of £4.77 per hour for workers aged 18-21 inclusive
  
• £3.53 per hour for all workers under the age of 18, who are no longer of compulsory school age
  

 

According to the above and with you sying you have been there over a year and are over 19 you should surely be on £4.77 an hour