Home > My employee rights and responsibilities
You are not just an apprentice, you are a fully fledged employee and still maintain certain rights in your employment such as annual leave, sick leave and maternity leave. You also share many of the same responsibilities as other employees such as maintaining a safe working environment and respecting other members of staff.
Apprentice wages can vary considerably, and most apprentices are typically paid less than other colleagues unless they are upskilling. The Apprenticeship Minimum Wage is less than the National Minimum Wage for other staff, but if you are aged 19 and over you will eventually be entitled to the National Minimum Wage after the first year of the apprenticeship.
You can find out the current rates on .gov.uk
Annual leave allows you to take time off for holidays, rest or of you need time off for other personal matters. Almost all workers are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks (usually 28 days for full time staff) annual leave, however 8 of these are fixed bank holidays. This means that you may only have 20 flexible days. Some employees may be able or required to work on bank holidays and must therefore be given an additional flexible day in lieu.
Some employees may be entitled to more than 5.6 weeks of annual leave if offered by their employment contract, but you cannot deduct this from your 20% Off-The-Job training hours requirement.
You can find out more about your annual leave entitlement on .gov.uk
Apprentices are entitled to the same maternity/paternity leave as all other employees. As maternity leave is long term, apprentices will go on an "Agreed Break in Learning" whereby you can pause your training at The Sheffield College and resume it when you return to work.
Go to Maternity Action to find out more about your maternity leave entitlement.
Go to acas.org.uk for more information on paternity leave.
