The Apprentices Act, 1961

This act provides for regulation and control of training of Apprentices and for matters connected therewith.

Applicability: It extends to the whole of India.

Key Definitions:

1. Apprentice: A person who is undergoing apprenticeship training in pursuance of a contract of apprenticeship
2. Apprenticeship Training: A course of training in any industry or establishment undergone in pursuance of a contract of apprenticeship and under prescribed terms and conditions which may be different for different categories of apprentices
3. Designated Trade: Any trade or occupation or any subject field in engineering or non-engineering or technology or any vocational course which the Central Government, after consultation with the Central Apprenticeship Council, may, by notification in the Official Gazette.
4. Optional Trade: Any trade or occupation or any subject field in engineering or non-engineering or technology or any vocational course as may be determined by the employer.
5. Graduate/Technician Apprentice: An apprentice who holds, or is undergoing training in order that he may hold a degree or diploma in engineering or non-engineering or technology or equivalent qualification granted by any institution recognized by the Government and undergoes apprenticeship training in any designated trade.
6. Technician (vocational) Apprentice: An apprentice who holds or is undergoing training in order that he may hold a certificate in vocational course involving two years of study after the completion of the secondary stage of school education recognised by the All-India Council and undergoes apprenticeship training in any designated trade.

Qualifications:

• The person is not less than 14 years of age, is a minimum of 5th class pass (for Optional Trade) and not less than 18 years of age for designated trades related to hazardous industries.
• Satisfies such standards of education and physical fitness as may be prescribed.

*Provided that different standards may be prescribed in relation to apprenticeship training in different designated trades and for different categories of apprentices

Statutory Compliance:

• An Apprentice is not a worker. He/She is not covered under PF, ESI, Bonus Acts.
• Provisions of factory act (fitness, safety and welfare) are applicable to an apprentice.

Number of Apprentices:

• All establishments having work force (regular and contract employees) of 30 or more are mandated to undertake Apprenticeship Programs in a range from 2.5% -15% of its workforce (including direct contractual employees) every year.
• For establishments having a workforce between 4 – 29 this is optional.
• Establishments have a workforce of 3 or less are not permitted to engage apprentices.

Training Completion and Grant of Certificate:

Post completion of apprenticeship, the apprentice shall appear for an exam held by National Council to evaluate his/her capabilities.

1. As per the sub-section (1), every apprentice who clears the apprentice test shall be awarded a certificate of skillfulness in the trade by the National Council.
2. The employer will evaluate the development of every Graduate or Technician apprentice, or Vocational apprentice periodically.
3. After successful completion of the apprenticeship training, each graduate or technician apprentice or Vocational Apprentice will be awarded a proficiency certificate by the regional board.

Key amendments in the Apprenticeship Act, 1961 (amended in the year 2015) & Apprenticeship Rules, 1992 (amended in the year 2019):

• A band from 2.5% to 15% of total strength of establishment has been introduced as a
  responsibility of the employer to engage apprentices in his establishment instead of a fixed
  % earlier. Additionally, 5% reserved for Fresher apprentices.
• The employers have been given the liberty to run industry driven “Optional Trades” for
  apprentices instead of only the “Designated Trades” notified by the Govt of India under
  the Act
• The scope has been extended to include non-engineering pass-outs. Outsourcing of basic
  training component of the Apprenticeship program (which can be about 20-25% of the
  entire duration of the program) has been permitted to an institute of the employer’s choice.
• Penalty in the form of fine has been provided for noncompliance of provisions of the Act. The provision for imprisonment has been removed.
• The entire process of searching & contracting the apprenticeships and submission of
  returns & other information and reimbursement of GOIs contribution towards the stipend
  in a time bound manner has been online.
• Duration of Apprenticeship (including basic training) is between 6-36 months for Designated Trade and Optional Trade at the discretion of an establishment.
• The minimum rate of stipend payable to apprentices per month has been delinked from
  minimum wages schedule and fixed based on educational qualification of the apprentice.

Minimum stipend to be paid to an apprentice: 

• In the case of Skill Certificate Holder, stipend payable per month shall be as per his/her
  educational qualification as mentioned in the table above.
• During the second year of apprenticeship training, there shall be an increase of 10 per cent.
  in the prescribed minimum stipend amount and further 15 per cent increase in the prescribed
  minimum stipend amount during the third year of apprenticeship training.
• In the case of National or State Certificate holder, the period of training already undergone
  by him or her in a school or other institution recognized by the National Council or State Council, shall be taken into account for the purpose of determining the minimum payable rate of stipend.
• In the case of Fresher apprentice, during Basic Training for a period up to three months,
  the stipend amount to be paid by the establishment shall be 50 Per cent. of the prescribed stipend.
• Further, in case of simultaneous Basic Training (BT) and On-the-Job Training, full amount of the
  stipend is to be paid.

National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS):

National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) is a scheme of Government of India to
provide financial support to establishments undertaking the apprenticeship training. NAPS was
launched on 19th August 2016.

The scheme has the following two components:

• Reimbursement of 25% of prescribed stipend subject to a maximum of Rs. 1500/- per
  month per apprentice by the Government of India to all employers who engage apprentices.
• Reimbursement of cost of basic training (up to a limit of Rs. 7500/- for a maximum of 500
  hours= Rs. 15/hour) by the Government of India to Basic Training Providers (BTPs) in
  respect of apprentices who come directly for apprenticeship training without any formal
  training.

 For more information, please refer to the attached document:

  Apprentice Act 1961

For Employers:

NATS Registration-

• An establishment can do the registration itself as it contains information that only company knows and has to enter.
• It is always advisable to fill in the apprenticeship establishment registration themselves by the company as there are many mandatory fields which only the company knows and plans to keep. User manual attached for your reference. NATS_Establishment-Enroll_User_manual
• The forms asks basic things like Role with establishment, Training modules in the company, Training officers details, type of employees to be kept, Manpower/Graduate/Technician details, Infrastructure details, no. of apprentices to be kept from the apprenticeship portal. For more details, please refer to the attached FAQs.  Apprenticeship_FAQs
• Once done, please take a screenshot of the 12 digit establishment enrollment number allotted, you will need to share the same on the email ID mentioned in the letter.
• Once registered, you would need to post an opening for apprentices on the portal to keep apprentices/trainees.
• Every hiring, if done from apprentice portal, would need to be reported back on the portal (create the contract online within a week of joining) along with the number and details.

You can always reach out to us while filling the application form in case there are discrepancies.