Employment law
The apprenticeship contract
A special type of employment contract: training, allowance, mandatory writing and filing with the inspectorate.
An apprenticeship is not an internship, and an apprentice is not an ordinary employee. The Labour Code makes it a special type of employment contract, by which the employer undertakes two distinct things: to pay an apprenticeship allowance, and to provide methodical and complete vocational training.
It is this second obligation that gives the contract its nature. An apprentice used as labour, with no organised training, is not an apprentice : they are a worker under the wrong legal label. Labour Code, Article L.7 (French).
1. Writing is mandatory, and so is filing
An apprenticeship must be recorded in writing, and a copy of the contract is filed with the labour inspectorate for the district of the training location.
The sanction for the absence of writing is the same as for other special contracts: failing a written contract, the relationship is an open-ended contract. In other words, an unformalised apprenticeship does not produce a weak contract: it produces an open-ended one, with all the obligations attached.
The written contract must identify the employer, the apprentice, the training supervisor, the trade being prepared, the duration, the allowance and the training centre.
2. Who can be an apprentice?
| Criterion | Applicable rule |
|---|---|
| Age | Between 14 and 21 at the date the contract is concluded |
| Exception | A 13-year-old may exceptionally conclude a contract having completed the first cycle of basic education |
| Contract duration | Three years maximum |
| Holders of vocational qualifications | May also follow apprenticeship training |
These conditions are verified before hiring, against civil status and schooling documents. Age and duration are two points a badly calibrated contract cannot fix once underway.
3. The employer's obligations
They fall into three blocks, with training at their heart:
- Enrol the apprentice in an appropriate training centre and guarantee access to all the teaching organised there. An apprenticeship training centre requires government approval and provides general instruction complementing the practical training.
- Provide practical training in the company, under the responsibility of a training supervisor : the employer, or a designated employee.
- Pay the apprenticeship allowance on the agreed dates.
One rule deserves to be known by every workshop manager: time spent by the apprentice on the training centre's teaching is included in working hours. Training hours are not made up in the evening, and are not deducted from pay.
4. The apprenticeship allowance
The apprentice receives an allowance expressed as a percentage of the guaranteed inter-professional minimum wage (SMIG), rising as training progresses:
| Year of training | Minimum allowance |
|---|---|
| First year | At least 25% of the SMIG |
| Second year | 50% of the SMIG |
| Third year | 100% of the SMIG |
These rates are minima: a collective or establishment agreement may provide more favourably. And the progression is not incidental: it reflects the idea that an apprentice becomes productive by degrees.
Worth noting on costs: the State covers the flat-rate social contributions calculated on the minimum wage, which appreciably lightens the cost of apprenticeship for the company.
5. How does the contract end?
Two regimes follow one another in time:
| Period | Who may terminate | How |
|---|---|---|
| The first two months | Either party, freely | In writing, without compensation |
| Beyond two months | Both parties by mutual agreement, or the labour court | Written agreement, or a court decision |
The two-month probationary period is therefore the only window for free termination. After that, the contract comes close to the fixed-term regime: it is not ended unilaterally because it no longer suits. That is a serious reason to take care over selection and over following the first eight weeks closely.
6. And at the end of the training?
The apprentice sits an official examination and, on passing, receives a certificate of vocational qualification. This is the culmination of the training commitment made by the employer.
Nothing obliges the company to hire the apprentice at the end of the contract. But where hiring does occur, it takes the form of an ordinary contract, most often open-ended, and the apprenticeship period has already served as an assessment period. Labour Code, Article L.8 (French).
Key takeaways
| The rule | What it implies |
|---|---|
| A special type of employment contract | An allowance, but above all an obligation of methodical, complete training |
| Writing and filing with the inspectorate are mandatory | Failing writing, the relationship is open-ended |
| Between 14 and 21, three years maximum | Conditions to check before hiring |
| Training time is working time | It is not made up and not deducted |
| Rising allowance: 25%, 50%, 100% of the SMIG | Minima; the collective agreement may be more favourable |
| Free termination during two months only | Thereafter: agreement of the parties or the labour court |