Løn og ansættelsesvilkår som elev
How to earn and develop yourself through the programme
One of the big differences between a vocational education and a general education is that you earn money while you learn. When you are in training with an employer, you receive apprentice pay — not state education grant. Here we explain how pay and conditions typically fit together in the profession.
§Student wages — and that it increases
As an apprentice you receive wages from the company you are apprenticing with from the moment you sign the training agreement. A basic principle is that apprentice wages increase through the course: the further you have progressed and the more you can contribute the higher the rate. It starts lower at first and increases as you approach your journeyman's certificate.
The specific rates are set in the collective agreement in the field and adjusted continuously. Ask your employer or union about the current rate rather than calculating with a figure you have heard — amounts change over time.
§The agreement sets the framework
Løn og vilkår i faget bygger typisk på en overenskomst, der er forhandlet mellem arbejdsgivere og en faglig organisation. Overenskomsten beskriver blandt andet løntrin, arbejdstid, tillæg, ferie og pension. Den er din rettesnor for, hvad du har krav på — og en god grund til at melde dig ind i en fagforening, der kender netop dit område og kan hjælpe, hvis noget ikke stemmer.
§Adult in education
If you are an adult when you begin, you may be covered by different terms than a young student. As an adult, you may under the rules in the field be entitled to at least the minimum wage that applies to unskilled workers in the trade while you are in training. This makes it more realistic to change course mid-life without having to live on a pure youth income.
§If you don't have an agreement yet
If you don't get a training agreement with a company right away, your education doesn't have to stall. Schools have a scheme where you can continue your training in a school-based program and receive an allowance while you keep looking for a job.
§Terms when you are skilled
With the journeyman's certificate in hand you are skilled and it changes your conditions. You are no longer on apprentice wages but on a skilled wage according to the collective agreement — and the trade certificate is proof that you know your trade. It typically gives better pay more responsibility and more job opportunities than unskilled work in the same field.
- 01You move from apprentice pay to skilled pay
- 02The journeyman's certificate documents your competencies to employers
- 03The agreement also covers holidays, pensions and working hours as a skilled worker
- 04You can build further with further and continuing education (see separate article)