Confused about wages :S

[Lorina]

[ref]Mrscar36[/ref],

It no problem at all! Wages are a sensitive issue, especially when talking about it with an employer, you need to get the information right so you can use it as evidence to be paid what you are owed. It's just so frustrating that employers take advantage of their staff when it comes to this issue... Since your daughter is under 18, she could be paid correctly, however, as she has completed her cert 3 qualification she wages may be a little more... Anyway, let's see what Fair Work have to say... I will let you know once I'm informed.

,
Lorina

[Lorina]

Mrscar36,

Hi! Hope you had a great weekend! So I got the following information back from Fair Work:

Hi Lorina,

Based on what you've told us, it looks like you're covered by the Children’s Services Award 2010 [MA000120]

Pay rates for full-time, part-time and school-based trainees are found in most awards in the National Training Wage Schedule. Use our Pay Calculator (which I have added to your links below) to calculate trainee and junior minimum pay rates.

If you're covered by a registered agreement, check the rates in the agreement.

An employee can't be paid trainee rates just because they're new to a job or are being trained in a new task. Employees can only be paid trainee pay rates when they have a formal training contract with their employer and are signed up with a Registered Training Organisation (eg. at TAFE).

Find more information you can contact the relevant state apprenticeship board -
NSW State Training Services on 13 28 11.

So, does your daughter have a training contract with an RTO?

,
Lorina

[Mrscar36]

Hi Lorina
Thank you we did have a great weekend! Hopefully you did as well?
As for my Daughter she has signed a contract with METS. And she is paying for this out of her own pocket thats one of the reasons i didn't understand the pay.
Thank you so much for getting back to us

[Lorina]

If your daughter is paying for the course herself then it isn't a traineeship as the centre should be paying for it and shouldn't be receiving traineeship pay. So, you will need to confirm this...

,
Lorina

[Mrscar36]

She having money taken out every week to cover the cost. And they told her she was a apprentice don't know if that makes any difference.

[Lorina]

It just doesn't make sense to me... I think you should contact the State Training Services... What state are you in?

,
Lorina

[Mrscar36]

I'm in NSW this is why i decided to post on this site because it just didn't make sense to me either. But i wanted to get all my facts right before we took it further.
Thank you so very much for everything you have done

[Lorina]

I'm going through the Junior Award to let you know what I think your daughter should be paid... Then we can compare what she is being paid now to what she should be paid. Also let me contact Fair Work once again and see what other info they can give me..

,
Lorina

[Mrscar36]

Ok thanks once again Lorina you have gone above and beyond for us

[Lorina]

No, not all! I'm here to help as best as I can...

Once again, I get back to you once I hear back from Fair Work...

,
Lorina

[Lorina]

I just received the following reply from FairWork:

An employee completing a diploma gets paid the applicable adult or junior rate in their award, based on their classification and duties.

The pay rates in the National Training Wage Schedule only cover certificate I-IV traineeships.

In regards to who is responsible for training costs check the training contract or contact the training authority.
In respect to deductions generally, an employer can only deduct money from an employee’s pay if it is properly authorised.

A deduction will be properly authorised if:
-the employee agrees in writing and it’s principally for their benefit
-it’s allowed by a law, a court order, or by the Fair Work Commission (e.g. taxation or child support payments), or
-it’s allowed under the employee’s award or registered agreement

The award does not specify an employer can deduct amounts out of their wages for this circumstance.

So, from my understanding of what is mentioned above by Fair Work, the employer cannot deduct course fees from your daughters wages...

,
Lorina

[Mrscar36]

Thank you for all your information i will definitely be speaking with the center about this. And my daughter said that METS are the one's taking money off her but she did sign a contract to do so.
Hopefully we can get it all worked out
Thanks once again Lorina

[Lorina]

Thank you for all your information i will definitely be speaking with the center about this. And my daughter said that METS are the one's taking money off her but she did sign a contract to do so.
Hopefully we can get it all worked out
Thanks once again Lorina

Ok, so If she signed a contract then we can't really do much because it's stated in the contract, however I'm not too sure why the centre is paying her a traineeship level if she is paying for her course... that's what you need to confirm really...

,
Lorina

[Advocate]

The same thing happened to my daughter. She was employed under a Cert III traineeship agreement starting from Aug 2015 as a 19 year old. She signed a document to agree to have the tuition fee of $1532.91 deducted in fortnightly instalments & paid to the training provider. She was paid as a trainee, receiving an hourly rate of $11.86 at commencement, increasing to $12.16 in July 2016. Reading the previous posts I am confused. Since she was employed as a trainee under a traineeship agreement& was paid at trainee pay rate, should she have had to pay the tuition fee to the training provider? She is employed in NSW

Hoping you can clear up my confusion,

Thanks

[Lorina]

[ref]Advocate[/ref],

In NSW, the government has advised that as a trainee you are required to pay an annual upfront tuition fee for each year of your traineeship program and have instructed Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) to collect the tuition fee. The fee differs depending on the RTO.

Some trainees will be exempt; including existing worker trainees, school-based trainees, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and those receiving an identified benefit.

A trainee is required to pay a tuition fee which is not the course fee...however I don't see the difference between a tuition and a course fee...

,
Lorina