Trainees fulfill certain employee statuses in labor law. They are considered as employees who must benefit from company practical instruction.
Your attorney for labor law in Bielefeld explains in the following text how a training contract must be designed and which rights and obligations result from it for a trainee.
How the training contract must be structured?
To establish an employment relationship, it is advisable for an employer and the new employee to document the essential contents of the contract in a written employment contract. This also applies if the employee is a trainee. However, some essential points must be addressed here which do not have to be taken into account when a permanent employee is newly hired. This includes:
If the trainee is a minor, the vocational training contract shall only become effective if the legal representative has given his or her consent by signing it.
The training contract should describe the vocational training and formulate the goal of the training.
The training contract provides information about the duration of the training and external training measures.
The employer lists in the written document the working hours of the trainee in detail.
Furthermore, a legally valid training contract contains information about the probationary period and the amount of remuneration.
The notice periods and the conditions for termination must also not be missing from the contract between employer and trainee.
If a collective agreement has been agreed for the sector in which the worker is employed, or if a works agreement exists, this can be referred to in the vocational training contract.
What rights arise for a trainee from the employment contract?
If a trainee signs the vocational training contract or if the legal representative of a minor trainee gives his consent, a trainee can enforce the following rights against his employer:
The trainee must receive the employer's operational support in order to achieve his training objective.
The employer provides the trainee with employees who are suitable as trainers. Professional qualification is not sufficient for this purpose. The trainer must also personally commit himself/herself to carrying out this task.
The employer must provide the trainee with all work equipment required to carry out his or her work and to achieve the training objective.
By signing the employment contract, the trainer undertakes to transfer the agreed training remuneration on time.
The trainee must be granted the right to the statutory annual leave. In addition, the employer is obliged to pay sick leave as long as the 6-week period has not yet been exceeded.
After the apprenticeship, the employer may require the trainer to prepare a work certificate.
It must also be stipulated in the contract that the trainee is allowed to terminate his training with notice.
What obligations arise for the trainee from his employment relationship?
By entering into a vocational training contract, the employer and the trainee establish a vocational training relationship, which entails the following obligations for the trainee:
The trainee must perform the assigned tasks carefully and show willingness to learn.
The apprentice agrees to participate in vocational classes and internal company instructions. He must immediately submit the vocational school certificate to his trainer.
The trainee is bound by instructions vis-à-vis the employer and supervisor. This means that he must perform the tasks that are assigned to him.
The trainee must comply with the company regulations issued in the company.
In addition, the trainee has a duty of care. Any machinery or other equipment provided must be treated with care and returned to the employer in an undamaged condition at the end of the training period.
The trainee must maintain confidentiality about trade secrets. This obligation remains even if the trainee is not taken on after the end of training.
The trainee must keep a written training record.
If the trainee is ill or does not attend vocational school for other reasons, he must inform the employer immediately. If the illness lasts longer than three days, the trainee must submit a medical certificate.
Conclusion
Anyone who starts vocational training as a trainee can invoke the rights arising from the signed training contract. In addition, he must fulfill the obligations that arise for him during the training relationship.
Professional support is provided by good legal counsel. Legal advice is also advisable if you want to sell your company.