Can We Legally Hire Graduates or Apprentices for Our Projects in Kerala? Seeking Advice

Dear Seniors, we are one of the leading and fast-growing building material suppliers located in northern Kerala. We are registered under the Kerala Shop and Establishment Act. My query is, can we hire graduates/apprentices for our daily work or any particular project? If yes, then what do I need to do? Please advise.

Thank you.

Though the dictionary meaning of the words "apprentice" and "trainee" is similar, practically there is a difference in their employment.

Apprenticeship under the Apprentice Act

Enrollment of an apprentice happens under the provisions of the Apprentice Act of the respective state. In your case, it is the "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.

Employment of Trainees

In contrast, a trainee can be employed without registering with any government authority. Otherwise, you may hire a student also. For example, students who do a Bachelor in Hotel Management (BHM) course have part of the course curriculum 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 to pay the trainee, but in order to attract quality students, it is better to give some decent "trainee allowance."

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Types of Trainees

Trainees are of two types: one engaged by the organization to tailor their needs, and the other under the Apprentices Act, 1961, if the organization falls within the purview of the Act/Rules. Please check this.

Understanding the Apprentices Act

The Apprentices Act/Rules is a Central Government Act and not a State Act. The State is only the implementing authority through structured machinery and governing rules and regulations.

Employer Considerations

Generally, employers are tempted to engage trainees/apprentices to extract work from regular employees at a lower cost, and training, if any, is fully on-the-job without structure.

If your intention is the same, I advise against it. However, if you blend on-the-job training with a proper classroom structure or through a mentor and also aim to create a 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 the Act, you can contact the Regional Directorate of Apprenticeship Training (RDAT) in Chennai. I am not aware of whether they have any offices in Kerala.

The full address is given below:

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

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

If you simply want to hire fresh graduates, you can do so and pay them training allowances (with applicable statutory benefits). However, the nature of work given to them should be unskilled jobs. Do not engage them in highly skilled jobs with payment of training allowances.

Engaging Apprentices Under the National Apprentice Promotion Scheme

Like many labor laws, the Apprentice Act has been amended by the government to enable employers to engage apprentices for periods that may even extend to three years under the National Apprentice Promotion Scheme. If your intention is to get work done with less payment as salary, ease of termination, abstain from payment of ESI and PF, and put the "employee" under pressure to obey the orders of the employer, you can explore the possibilities of engaging apprentices.

Visit the official website, register your organization, and get applications to engage them. There are Designated Trade Apprentices and Optional Trade Apprentices. You need to choose the latter. The stipend is 70% of the minimum wages 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 receive reimbursement of a certain amount of stipend paid from the government.

Please advise on how I can hire Optional Trade Apprentices.

Registering Apprentices

First, register under the government portal and engage the apprentices.