Info in English

Apprenticeships are labour contract  with a training purpose. Apprentices earn a wage and work alongside experienced staff to gain job-specific skills; meanwhile they are involved in a training programme that is provided both by the enterprise and off-the-job by a training centre.

Anyone, over 15 years-old and under 30, can apply for an apprenticeship in almost all the private sector. We had over 540.000 apprentices in 2010 despite the crisis; they were about 650.000 in 2008.
Apprenticeships can take up to three years (six in the previous system) to complete depending on the type of Apprenticeship, the industry sector and the regional regulations. The salary is determined by the collective agreements.

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Apprenticeships, as defined in the 2003  reform, are available in three main forms:

• an apprenticeship aimed at the fulfilment of the diritto/dovere to education and training: young
  people who have reached 15 years of age can be enrolled for all the fields of activity. The contract lasts a maximum of three years and is aimed at helping students obtain a vocational qualification;
• a profession-oriented apprenticeship: students aged between 18 and 29 years can be enrolled.
  Depending on the type of qualification to be obtained, the collective contracts define the duration of the contract which, however, cannot be less than two years or more than six years. There is also a quota of both internal and external training;
• an apprenticeship enabling the student to obtain a second level diploma (within the Initial
  vocational training) or higher education qualifications. It is addressed to students between 18 and 29 years of age.

Recently Apprenticeships have been reformed again, even if the reform will be implemented by April 25th, 2012. In the new model, the apprenticeships forms will be defined as follows:

• apprenticeship to gain a vocational qualification or diploma.

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The training provided to the apprentices differs on the base of the type of apprenticeship contract. The first and the third form are connected to qualifications and diploma recognized at national level and released at the end of other courses of the education system. The second form – the most common – make you gain a certification by the enterprise and eventually entitles you to enter an exam to get a national recognized qualification.

The first type of apprenticeship is aimed to gain a vocational qualification recognized al national level.

In the occupationally-based apprenticeship, apprentices have to be involved in formal training courses of at least 120 hours in three year. The formal training is organised by the regional authorities and is held in training centres which have been accredited; otherwise the formal training can be organised, even in part, by the enterprises which fulfil specific requirements fixed by Regional Authorities and are recognised as “enterprises with training capability”. Considering the duration of off the job training, this form of apprenticeship has to be considered company-based.

In the new occupationally-based apprenticeship, only a part of this compulsory training will be organized by the Regional Authorities, the remaining being provided under the responsibility of the enterprise by the Inter-professional Fund or by the Bilateral Organizations.

For all the different types of apprenticeships, the definition of the training profiles is referred to the Regions and the institutions involved, according to the type of apprenticeship (Ministries, social partners and universities). In case of profession-oriented apprenticeship, if training is carried out exclusively in the company, the definition of training profiles is referred to national collective contracts.

The student’s Individual Training Plan must be enclosed to the employment contract. This document includes the programme of training that the apprentice will follow throughout the contractual period. In addition, there must be a tutor with sufficient training and competence to monitor the apprentice’s progress within the company.

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How is the off-the-job training organized?

Training centres are usually private organizations whose main task is to provide vocational training. They are accredited by the Regional Authorities to supply the activities to apprentices with public funds.

Within the training centres different profiles are involved in training for apprentices:

• teachers, who are in charge for providing training strictly;
• tutors with the pedagogical task to assist the learners and the teachers; sometimes tutors are in charge of contacting the enterprises;
• other profiles sometimes are involved, depending on the importance of the training centre and the number of apprentices participating to the courses, such as coordinators or assessors.

The formal training for apprentices is finalized to the acquiring of basic skills and professional competencies, and has to be connected to the non-formal learning which takes place during on the job training, under the supervision of a company trainer.

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What is the company-based training and the role of the trainers ?

When the enterprise takes on an apprentice an individual training plan has to be elaborated by the firm. This plan is made according to the training objectives which are stated in the related “training profile” defined by the regional authorities with the social partners. The individual training plan is the reference for the company based training.

All the training profiles stated at regional level form a Repertory of profiles. There is a project to set out a Repertory of profiles even at national level.

Usually in company training is organized and developped by an instructor (entreprise tutor), who can be the employer in the SMIs or a qualificated employee with at least three years of professional experience.

The main tasks of the entreprise tutor are defined as follows:

• managing reception and insertion of young apprentices in the company;
• projecting and supporting learning and in-service socialisation pathways, thus facilitating the acquisition of skills and competencies;
• conducting relations with the training centres, to enable positive integration between formal training and on the job experience;
• monitoring and assessing progress results achieved by the apprentices.

All the enterprise tutors have to attend a compulsory training course of at least 8 hours, organised by the Regional authorities at the beginning of the course for the apprentices.

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How much is the wage for an apprentice? What incentives for the enterprises?

Apprenticeship funding is available from the National Apprenticeship Service. The size of the contribution varies depending on your sector and the age of the candidate. If the apprentice is aged 16–18 years old, you will receive 100 per cent of the cost of the training; if they are 19-24 years old, you will receive up to 50 per cent; if they are 25 years old or over you may only get a contribution depending on the sector and area in which you operate.

This is paid directly to the organisation that provides and supports the Apprenticeship; in most cases this will be a learning provider. Large employers with a direct contract with the National Apprenticeship Service may receive the funding themselves.

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