Apprenticeship (Amendment) Rules, 2019 notified

The MINISTRY OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP, in a notification through Gazette on 25th September, 2019 has made an amendment to the Apprenticeship Rules, 1992 (herein referred has principal Act), and brought the Apprenticeship (Amendment) Rules, 2019.

As per the amendment the following changes have been made to the Principal Rules:

1. The period of training for apprentice in optional trade (i.e., which is not designated trade of the apprentice) has been extended from a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 3 years in the place of maximum of 2 years.  
2. For apprentice in optional trade, weekly work, the minimum hours of work and minimum stipend has been removed from Principal Rule 7A.
3. New sub rule 18 has been inserted with respect to apprentice engaged in optional trade clarifying that, every apprentice in the establishment is a trainee not worker, and provisions to labour shall not apply to an apprentice.
4. New definitions or clauses are inserted under the Rule 2, they are “Degree apprentice”, “Fresher apprentice”, “National or State Certificate holder”, “Regional Directorate of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship”, “School pass out”, “Sector Skill Council”, “Skill Certificate holder”. 
5. Employers eligibility to have number of workers has been reduced to 4 or more workers in the place of 6 or more workers, to engage apprentices for designated and optional trade, whereas it is obligatory to have thirty or more number of workers by an establishment for the purpose of engaging apprentice for designated and optional trade, previously it was not obligatory.
6. The band of engaging apprentices by an establishment within the financial year has been raised up to 2.5 per cent to 15 per cent, in the place 2.5 per cent to 10 per cent, of total strength of the establishment including contractual staff, and further added that in which 5 per cent should be reserved from total for engaging fresher and skill certificate holder as apprentices.
7. In no month within the financial year number of apprentice in an establishment should be less than 2 per cent nor should be higher than 18 per cent, where it was 15 per cent in the principal rule, 3 per cent has been raised.
8. Per month stipend of all kind of apprentices has been revised and substituted in Rule 11 sub rule 1 of principal rules, and stipend for skill certificate holder, for first, second, third year, National or State Certificate holder and Fresher apprentice, has been added. Stipend mentioned for apprentices in sub rule 2 of rule 11 in the principal rules is omitted.
9. Hours of work of apprentices has been changed. Apprentices of age eighteen years and above can be engaged in normal working hours of an establishment and apprentices less than eighteen years of age should be engaged only between 8.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m.
10. The hours of work for Graduate, Technician and Technician (Vocational) Apprentices has been removed from Principal rule 12. 
11. Schedule 1 of the principal rules has been amended to include Litho Offset Machine Minder, Leather Crafts Trades Group, Computer Hardware and Network Technician as a designated trade. Rebate allowed in Apprenticeship Training of one year is also inserted for all newly inserted designated trade items.