The Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission (Commission) has issued a Decision and Determination to vary the scope of the Miscellaneous Award from 1 July 2020, which may impact on our advice in this article. We will review the advice in this article.

We encourage you to review this article regularly for further updates.

Award coverage depends on the industry that the apprentices or trainees employer is in.

It also depends on whether their employer’s industry award has classifications for apprentices or trainees.

Retail businesses

The Retail Award covers IT apprentices and trainees working for employers in the retail industry.

For example, it covers an IT apprentice or trainee working for a business which sells and repairs computers.

Business equipment businesses

The Business Equipment Award covers IT trainees working for employers in the business equipment industry.

For example, it covers an IT trainee working for a business which sells and services photocopiers.

The Business Equipment Award covers apprentices. They get paid based on their age, duties and responsibilities because ther are no apprentice rates in the award.

Manufacturing businesses

The Manufacturing Award covers IT apprentices and trainees working for employers in the manufacturing industry.

For example, it covers an IT apprentice or trainee working for a business which repairs and maintains software.

Other industries

If there’s no industry award that covers the employer, IT apprentices and trainees will get the special national minimum wage and the National Employment Standards.

The special national minimum wage for apprentices is based on clause 14 of the Miscellaneous Award and for trainees, schedule E of the Miscellaneous Award.

IT apprentices and trainees aren’t covered by the Professional Award.