Sudden end to traineeship

[DaniAndLilly]

Hello lovely people,

I just wanted to ask if anyone knows if the situation I have recently been put in is in any way unlawful.

I have recently (15th Feb) handed in my final assignements for my Cert. III traineeship, ahead of my end date (6th March). I informed my superiors that I would not be staying with the company long term but that I was happy to stay for as long as they needed me until they found a replacement. My superiors would have preferred that I stayed at their centre however they were happy that I was willing to be flexible and cooperative. The company then received the notice of my completed Cert. III on the morning of 24th Feb, yesterday. I was not working that day but had previously agreed to have a meeting to discuss the end of my traineeship. I was then told at this meeting that my employment had finished and the previous day had been my last day of work with them.

I was told by my superiors that due to the nature of traineeships this is a lawful situation. I assume that such a large company would not make unlawful mistakes but I just want to ensure that I'm being treated lawfully. This has been a very difficult situation for me as I no longer have any income, I have rent to pay, I was unable to say goodbye to any of the families or children, with whom I have very strong, close relationships.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[leenie]

Hi

That would have been a shock.

I'm actually not 100% sure. You could ring ccccnsw.org.au and they may be able to help you or give you further information or someone else to contact. Did you sign a contract? I think that their obligation finishes once you have completed your course, but it should be in a contract before you signed up.

Unfortunately in hindsight you shouldn't have gone to your employer and said that you weren't going to stay until you had another job.
You should've waited for them to tell you they couldn't keep you. Remember it is a business to them, not personal. You gave them an out. Remember this in future employment. It may be cheaper for them to get another trainee on board?

If you have done your cert 3 now you should be able to find other work.

Good Luck
Leenie

[DaniAndLilly]

Thanks for your reply Leenie.

Thank you for the advice but I do not regret going to my superior and telling her my plans. I have a lot of respect for her and I've never before met someone who works so hard for such little reward. I told her my plans because I was coming to the end of my traineeship and she had asked me to stay. I wanted to give her adequate time to replace me and both she and I believed that we would have at least until the 6th of March (when my contract was due to finish) before I was required to move on. If I was to keep this information to myself I would have had to sign a new contract on Monday that I did not intend to follow through with and that would have been dishonest.

[leenie]

That sounds great.

I didn't realise the full situation, that she had asked you to stay-sorry if you had mentioned it, I did some posts very late at night! I can see why it was a shock for you.

I agree with you, it would've been difficult signing a new contract as you were going to leave; as you've explained, probably not appropriate.

So you have an exciting adventure ahead of you.

Good Luck!

Leenie