APPRENTICESHIPS REVIVED

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24913, 28 June 1946, Page 5

APPRENTICESHIPS REVIVED

REGULATIONS ALTERED EFFECT ON REHABILITATION SUBSIDIES Alterations to conditions governing apprenticeships revived by men discharged from the armed forces have been announced jointly by the Minister of Rehabilitation (the Hon. C. F. Skinner) and the Acting-Minister of Labour (the Hon. J. O’Brien). The Apprenticeship Emergency Regulations, 1944. provided for the revival of apprenticeships that were suspended r^vi?2S y into th s armed forces. Such £PPf en Jtceships come within th a pS e K 1 i-+ tr ? de traln ing scheme of nnL % ha v ll? i? tlon Board - and, in the case of eligible men, they carry wage f t r ° m . th ® b ° ard SfS® adjustments ordered by the Arbitration Court have considerably alnri^nJI 16 col ? d j tion s under which the original regulations were drafted. “? n . the regulations were made in 1944 their provisions covered contracts which in some trades involved a term of six years, and for the employer to pay to some classes of former servicea PP r ®ntices the wage stipulated m the last six-monthly term of the man s pre-service contract plus one!£l rd Of u the - dlf lerence between that rate and a journeyman’s wage. The new regulations change both these provisions.

The increases in apprentice wages ordered . by the Arbitration Court greatly increased the employer’s paynd beca use of this the rehabilitation grants were automatically decreased Representations were made to the Labour Department by the Employers’ Federation to have this posimodified. With the’ concurrence of both employers and union organisations the regulations have been an Lended. At the same time the Rehabilitation Board has amended its subsidy scale to protect the gross Income of men who are affected and who are eligible for its aid. Regulations Summarised

As the regulations are affected the alterations are briefly summarised as follows: —(a) revived apprenticeships are reduced to t a maximum term of five years where the original contract provided for a service term of more than five years, with an adjustment to cover the position of men who have served four years and a half or more of a six-year apprenticeship: (b) the employer is relieved of the obligation to pay “the third of the difference” of the two rates referred to above; (c) the amending regulations apply from £ une 1946, to all contracts which been previously revived and are still in operation and to all contracts revived in the future. They also make it clear that the serviceman apprentice is to benefit from modifications which affect wages since his apprenticeship was suspended. In effect, the main result from an employer’s’ point of view is a reduction of payments, both where the expiry date of the original contract (on a £ ve -year basis) has been passed and where the apprentice has turned 21. As the Rehabilitation Board has agreed to increase its subsidising grants so that certain apprentices already being subsidised will receive the same weekly wage as before, action is being taken to have all revived contracts reviewed.

It is not the intention of the board toal J. er its general policy regarding subsidies for revived apprenticeships. It is not its policy that a training subsidy or grant should be made merely because an apprentice has passed a certain age, without reference to the length of his military service or to what effect his military service has had on his wages, but as the amendments to the regulations will, in some result in a reduction o'J over-all gross income, it will make certain grants available to 21-year-old appren-' tices who had had overseas service.