Registered under the Kerala shop and establishment act - can we hire graduate /Apprentices for our daily work/ any particular project?

Dear Seniors, We one of the leading and fast-growing building material supplier located in northern Kerala, we are registered under the Kerala shop and establishment act. my query is can we hire graduate /Apprentices for our daily work/ any particular project. If yes then what I need to do..please advise...

Dear Sree,

Though the dictionary meaning of the words "apprentice" and a "trainee" is closer, practically there is a difference in their employment. Enrolment of the apprentice happens under the provisions of the apprentice act of the respective state. In your case, it is "Apprentice Act, 1961. Click on the hyperlink to know further details of this act. Payment to the apprentices is under the provision of this act. A few companies like Toyota Kirloskar Motors Limited are known to give a far greater amount than stipulated by the government.

In contrast, a trainee can be employed without registering with any government authority. Otherwise, you may hire a student also. For example, the students who do a Bachelor in Hotel Management (BHM) course, part of the course curriculum is reserved for "industrial training". The duration of this training could be from three to six months. On completion of the training, a hotel gives a certificate to the student for industrial training. After this training, the student pursues the remaining part of the course. There is no statutory requirement of pay to the trainee but in order to attract the quality students, it is better to give some decent "trainee allowance".

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Dear colleague,
Trainees are two types- one engaged by the organization to tailor their needs and other under Apprentices Act,1961 if the organization comes within the perview of the Act/Rules. Please check this .
The Apprentices Act/Rules is a Central Govt Act and not State Act. State is only implementing authority through structured machinery and governing rules and regulations.
Generally employers are tempted to engage trainee/apprentices to extract work of regular employees at less cost and training, if any , is fully on the job without structure.
If your intention is also same, I will advise you against it. But if you blend on the job training with proper classroom structure or through mentor, and also to cater to the need of creating pipeline of trained manpower, it will be of great mutual benefit.
Regards,
Vinayak Nagarkar
HR and Employee Relations Consultant

If you want to hire Apprentices under Act , you can contact the Regional Directorate of Apprenticeship training (RDAT) at Chennai. I am not aware whether they have any offices in Kerala.

Full address is given below:-

RDAT, CTI Campus, Guindy, Chennai - 600 032, Tamilnadu, Alandur Road, Alandur Rd, Guindy Industrial Estate, SIDCO Industrial Estate, Guindy, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600032

You can write to them and seek their approval and direction, before engaging Apprentices. They will also guide you from where you can engage apprentices under the Act. Their payment, nature of work, hours of work etc shall be strictly according to the directions from RDAT.

Unlike above, if you simply want to hire fresh graduates, you can do so and pay them training allowances (with applicable statutory benefits). But the nature of work to be given to them shall be of Unskilled jobs. Do not engage them in Highly skilled job with payment of training allowance.

may be, if you can wait some time it may to easy to make such appointment with separate arrangement as gig worker or platform worker on commencement of the SS Code.

Like many labour laws, the Apprentice Act has been amended by the government to enable the employers to engage apprentices for periods which mya even extend to three years under National Apprentice Promotion Scheme. Like other employers, if your intention is also getting the work done with lesser payment as salary, ease of termination, abstaining from payment of ESI and PF and putting the "employee" under pressure to obey the orders of the employer, you can also explore the possibilities of engaging apprentices.

Visit the official website and register your organisation and get applications and engage them. There are Designated Trade Apprentices and Optional Trade Apprentices. You need to take the second one. The stipend is 70% of the minimum wages as applicable to semi skilled employees for the first year, 80% in the second year and 90% in the third year. If you opt for NPAS, you will get reimbursement of certain amount of stipend paid from the government.

Dear Madhu Sir
Please advice, how can i hire Optional Trade Apprentices

First register under the Portal of the government and engage the apprentices