Apprentices

Apprentices performing a trade covered by the Scheme start building up their service with LeavePlus from the first day of their apprenticeship. You will build up service with LeavePlus not only from your days on site but also from you days in the classroom too.

When you first begin your apprenticeship, you will also begin your journey towards building up your seven years of service and eventually claiming a long service leave entitlement. In fact, by the time you complete your apprenticeship, you will already be half-way there. Use the button below to register and become a LeavePlus member.

In the meantime, you’ll likely have a few questions – scroll down to read more about construction apprenticeships and how they work with your portable long service leave.

Any apprentice undertaking a traditional apprenticeship (set out under the Victorian Learning and Employment Skills Commission’s Set 1 Conditions) is generally covered under the LeavePlus portable long service leave Scheme. Those conditions apply to apprentices who are engaged in a training agreement (known as apprenticeship) in the general building trades (such as carpentry, bricklaying, plastering), electrical trades (such as electrician, refrigeration & air-conditioning) and metals trades (such as engineering –mechanical, engineering – electrical).

Years 11 and 12 students who become School based apprentices as part of their studies are covered by LeavePlus. The apprentice will need to be registered with LeavePlus and their employer must report to LeavePlus the days they work for the employer and attend trade school. Normal school days are not to be included.

If the school-based apprentice is undertaking a Set 1 apprenticeship, no contributions are payable by the employer. However, should the apprentice be undertaking a traineeship under Set 2 (as per the above guidelines) then contributions are payable.

You, as the apprentice or worker, are not required to pay anything. It’s a scheme set up for the workers – we’re not going to charge you for that privilege.

All contribution charges to the long service leave fund come from construction employers in Victoria. But while you’re an apprentice, LeavePlus won’t charge your employer a single cent! We actually foot the bill for up to the first four years of any covered apprenticeship.

You then claim your long service leave directly through LeavePlus when you’ve accrued enough service to be eligible for an entitlement.

As an apprentice, you might not think often about what will happen later on in your career, years in 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 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 seven or more years. LeavePlus compiles all the trade work you’ve done throughout all your employers so it can act as one continuous record.

So it’s important to make sure your service is being reported correctly to LeavePlus by your employers, because apprentices are actually covered under the long service leave scheme from their very first day of work or study in the industry, provided their trade is one of those covered by the scheme.

Any employee who performs any kind of work covered under the Rule of the Scheme must have their service reported to LeavePlus by their employer in the quarterly Workers Days and Wages (WDW) form.

Where the role performed by the employee falls under Set 1 conditions of a training scheme, that employee will be classed as an Apprentice – in which case, employers will be required to report only the days worked by that employee in their quarterly WDW (no wage details required).

Where the role falls under Set 2 conditions, the employee will be classed as a Worker – in which case, employers must report both days AND wages for that employee in their quarterly WDW.

For more information on how employers must report service for their workers and apprentices, please visit our Workers Days and Wages returns page.

How do I know if an individual is performing an Apprenticeship (Set 1) or a Traineeship (Set 2)?

The Department of Education publishes a list of approved training schemes for apprenticeships and traineeships in Victoria, and 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 about the Victorian Registration & Qualification Authority (VRQA) at the below link: