Trainees

Find information on trainees, training costs and award entitlements.

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About trainees

A trainee is an employee who is working towards a qualification (other than a trade qualification) in a particular industry under a formal training contract.

Trainees get many of the same minimum entitlements as other employees. These are the minimum entitlements under the National Employment Standards and include annual leave, sick leave and public holidays.

Most trainees get their conditions and entitlements, including pay rates, from Schedule E in the Miscellaneous Award. Their awardAn award is a legal document that outlines the wages and conditions of employment for employees that are covered by it within a particular industry or occupation. Other known term: modern award. or registered agreementA document between an employer and their employees covering employment conditions. A registered agreement must be approved by and registered with the Fair Work Commission. Examples of registered agreements include enterprise agreements (including single and multi-enterprise) and greenfields agreements.  may contain other entitlements like payment for time spent at training.

For more information, watch our apprenticeships and traineeships video.

Tip: Check your award or agreement

Use our industry filter for award specific entitlements for trainees. Not sure what award applies? Use our Find my award tool.

If an enterprise agreement applies, learn how to find a copy: Finding an agreement.

Training costs and fees

Some awards set out rules and entitlements for training contracts and payment for training fees. If the award doesn’t cover this, it will depend on what was agreed to by the employer and the employee in the training contract.

Some awards say that employers are required to pay for training fees charged by the trainee’s Registered Training Organisation. They can include:

  • course fees
  • the cost of course required textbooks
  • the cost of assessment materials.

There are some exceptions to this. To understand more about training costs and fees, read our Library article Trainee’s training costs.

Find award entitlements

Find information about trainee entitlements in a specific award by selecting from the list of industries below.

Industry Embedded Filter Placeholder

If an award isn't listed, use our List of awards to access the one that applies.

Tools and resources

Tip: Help with workplace problems

Problems can happen in any workplace. If you’ve got a workplace problem, we have information, tools and resources to help you.

Visit Workplace problems.