Supervision of your apprentice
The duty of care for a person conducting a business or undertaking is to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of their workers and other persons. Failure to comply with a health and safety duty could lead to regulatory action being taken, including prosecution which may include substantial monetary penalties.
In some Industry areas the supervision requirements are outlined in the relevant employment award, and you should review these requirements at the Fair Work Ombudsman(opens in a new tab) website.
Where not stipulated, the appropriate level of supervision for the employment and on the job training of an apprentice/trainee shall be determined by the employer based on the following factors:
- any accepted industry supervision standards.
- the level of competence and experience of the apprentice in a particular task/skill; and
- the risk associated with the worksite and the type of work in which the apprentice is engaged.
- the level of supervision must be reviewed and, if necessary, revised at regular intervals.
The supervisor should be a suitably qualified and licensed (where required in licensed trades) person, who is permanently employed at the same workplace and predominantly for the same hours as the Australian Apprentice and can provide Direct Supervision.
Direct vs General Supervision
Direct supervision means under the personal supervision of the supervisor, and within visual contact and/or earshot on a constant basis. Direct supervision cannot be provided by electronic means – this would generally be applicable to a First- or Second-year apprentice.
General supervision is being under instruction and direction for tasks being performed. The Apprentice is to be provided with instruction and direction for the tasks to be performed, with progressive checks while the work is being undertaken. This means the Apprentice does not require constant attendance of the supervisor but requires personal contact on a recurrent (periodic) basis.
The supervisor must remain on the same work site as the Australian Apprentice and be readily available to communicate directly with the Australian Apprentice when required (this does not mean by phone).
It may be appropriate for Apprentices in the third and fourth year/stage of an apprenticeship to be under a general level of supervision as determined by the employer or stipulated in Awards. General supervision is appropriate only for those skills where the Apprentice has demonstrated competence.
Release from workplace
The Vocational Education and Training Act 1996 (“the VET Act”) legislates that employers must release their Apprentices for scheduled training. Failure to do so without approval requires us to inform the Apprenticeship Office, which may result in penalties being applied under the VET Act. For all purposes (including the payment of remuneration) time spent at training within the obligations of the training contract is classified as time spent working for the employer
At the time of receiving your Call up email you will have the opportunity to reschedule the training. Employers should be aware that continual rescheduling of the training may put your apprentice at risk of not completion by their contracted end date.
Please see more information about Scheduling (off the job training) and Call ups.