Workers

Years 11 and 12 students who become enrolled as school-based apprentices as part of their studies are covered by LeavePlus. The apprentice will need to be registered with LeavePlus. Their Employer must report to LeavePlus the days the apprentice worked for the Employer and attended a trade school. Normal school days are not to be included.

If the school-based apprentice is undertaking an apprenticeship covered by the Scheme, no long service leave charges are payable by the Employer. However, should the person be undertaking a traineeship, then long service leave charges are payable.

Neither apprentices nor Workers are required to pay anything into the Scheme. All obligations to pay charges rest with your Employer.

All charges received to the Long Service Leave Fund come from Employers whose Workers carry out work covered by the Scheme in Victoria. But while you’re an apprentice, LeavePlus won’t charge your Employer a single cent. LeavePlus covers the full long service costs of the apprenticeships covered under the Scheme.

You then claim your Long Service Leave Benefit directly through LeavePlus when you’ve accrued enough service and reached an entitlement.

As an apprentice, you might not think often about what will happen later on in your career, years into the future. But with the tiring nature of construction work, you’ll need a break at some point after all that hard work.

Your Long Service Leave Benefit is designed to be there for you to ease that burden in the future and give you that break you deserve. As long as your Service record can demonstrate that you’ve been in the industry for 7 or more years and reached an entitlement. LeavePlus keeps track of all the trade work you’ve done with all your Employers so it has one continuous record.

So, it’s important to make sure your service is being reported correctly to LeavePlus by your Employers and keep track of your service from when you first start in the industry and regularly as you stay working in the industry.

Any employee who performs any kind of work covered under the Rules of the Scheme must have their Service reported to LeavePlus by their Employer in the quarterly return form.

Where the employee undertakes a course recognised by the Scheme as an apprenticeship, the person will be classed as an ‘Apprentice’. Employers will be required to report only the days worked by that employee in their quarterly return (no wage details are required).

Where the employee undertakes a course that is recognised as a traineeship, the person will be classed as a ‘Worker’. Employers must report both days AND wages for that employee in their quarterly return.

For more information on how Employers must report service for their Workers and apprentices, please visit our Quarterly return page.

How do I know if an individual is performing an apprenticeship or a traineeship?

The Department of Education publishes a list of approved training schemes for apprenticeships and traineeships in Victoria. It notes whether the qualification is classed as an apprenticeship (A) or traineeship (T) under ‘Note 4’ of the relevant ‘Determination of Approved Training Scheme’ document.

You can find these documents and more information on the Victorian Registration & Qualification Authority (VRQA) website.