What should i do ? - Rights of an apprentice

[GPlumb]

To be honest i do not know the rights of an apprentice, but if like you say your are out on jobs on your own then £7 an hour is a little carp.

If your doing bathroom suites day in day out alone and learning next to nothing then your not an apprentice. I bet you do as good a job as time served guys except your boss pays you much less.

A friend of mine who's time is nearly out makes around £130 clear a shift installing bathrooms and i sometimes see him in the pub by 3pm.

So its not bullshit.

My advice: if you need/want more money look for an another firm and/or do some work in your own time too.

 

[kirkgas]

Gplumb, i stay 10 miles from Glasgow and i wouldn't mind £130 clear for fitting a bathroom suite, if your mate has a single persons tax code his top line must be over £900 a week to clear £650, more details please

 

[GPlumb]

Well what do you make for fitting a suite and maybe plumbing in a kitchen sink also?

 

[kirkgas]

i don't take home £130 for fitting a suite, but it looks like your mate doesn't either as we have now added a sink, i am seriously interested in working for a company who pays £800-£900 per week for this type of work so please pass on the company name so that i can apply

 

[Roadyz]

thanks for all your advice, - just to clear a few things up..

i do get paid extra for overtime (but you must have done 45 hours pw before you qualify for higher rate - its some overtime rule)

i do enjoy my job, and to be honest i am lucky to have been given the chance,

Think ive been having a bad week

im gonna see my time out, and hopefully spend a good while with the company after my time is up, i suppose its not a bad gig, and mabe some ,times its better the devil you know etc etc.


would love to know what the apprentices have to do for their £14 p/h ?

 

[gregers]

would love to know what the apprentices have to do for their £14 p/h icon_razz.gif ?

swallow.

 

[Goldspoon]

In my humble opinion:

You should be on about £10 an hour.
You should be paid overtime from 40 hours onwards (where does this 45 come from?)

Unless you are making this amount keep your personal overheads as low as you can and get out on your own as soon as possible and start building up work/customers. Once you have mortgage/commitments/loans it will be hard to make the break into sole trader.

Stay and finish apprenticeship? Are you learning anything? Customers won't ask you to show them any kind of apprenticeship "badge" when you work on your own. They are usually more interested in word of mouth or how nice your van looks.

"Better the devil you know.": Now that's the language of the down trodden and it sounds to me like you are not that kind of person...

 

[kirkgas]

44hrs @ S/T rule came in a few years ago as part of a union pay rise agreement, also they cut double time to T1/2 for sunday

 

[Roadyz]

"Better the devil you know.": Now that's the language of the down trodden and it sounds to me like you are not that kind of person...

im not, im just sdaying that many people chop and change . go from job to job just to find out they are no better off, i dont think there is the "perfect employer" unless the imployer is yourself

so thanks for all your words of advice and support ill be fine

as i said, just had a bad week @:_)

 

[Sylvan Tieger]

I do agree. to some extent,

i do appreciate the chance i have been given
i work almost totally unsupervised - what i mean by that is i normally i am the only person on a job, from beginning to end, I Can ask for advice, but thats it.

It is a good Company to work for, in the respect that the trust me to do all the work, But i feel that I do a high standard of work and deal with alot of pressure.

I was considering asking for more money

I never had an employee ask for a raise as I normally gave raises once and some really deserving people twice a year plus commissions or profit sharing

When I was an apprentice I was serving a 5 year apprenticeship and my employer paid me mechanics scale 3 years into my apprentice training.

Like you I was left on the job worked nights and week ends and tried to learn as much as I could.

All I have to say is be thankful you have a job and do not think what the employer charges is all profit.

Normally the first few years of apprenticeship is a losing proposition for the employer.

The education you get is yours to keep and later on should give you a great livelihood

 

[lagunaglen]

The plumber at our place is on £6-50/hr.
He is 48,and allegedly qualified ,i get around £16/hr and have corgi qualification.
Don know how he can work for this but your much younger so should have less outgoings.
My concern is as an apprentice you are working alone,dont think this is legal to be honest.

 

[Sylvan Tieger]

The plumber at our place is on £6-50/hr.
He is 48,and allegedly qualified ,i get around £16/hr and have corgi qualification.
Don know how he can work for this but your much younger so should have less outgoings.
My concern is as an apprentice you are working alone,dont think this is legal to be honest.

To leave an apprentice alone is inexcusable and one would think illegal as even the best do not have the knowledge to be left alone working on live gas lines or even water piping and I certainly would never send one out on a service call

 

[Roadyz]

i dont deal with gas on my own, that is for sure,

 

[John506]

What college do you do your day release at?

 

[Mushybees]

I'm a second year apprentice and I'm left on my own to work daily though not on gas. I get dropped off in the morning with loads of pipe and fittings and I get picked up at 5 or when the job is done, whichever comes first.
The only thing I don't do alone is unvented cylinders, boilers/gas, soil stacks and drains. I thought it was normal practice to leave the apprentice alone

You could do a lot worse Roadyz, I earn £5.57 an hour