Aussie Childcare Network Forum

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

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

Mrscar36 wrote: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

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

[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