JUNE 26.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE 2001

Apprentices.

5. (a.) Any employer taking an apprentice to learn the trade shall be deemed to undertake the duties which he agrees to perform as a duty enforceable under this award, and shall pay such apprentice not less than the undermentioned rate of wages: For the first year, 8s. per week; for the second year, 12s. per week; for the third year, 16s. per week; for the fourth year, £1 1s. per week; for the fifth year, £1 10s. per week.

(b.) The period of apprenticeship shall be five years, but three months’ probation shall be allowed the first employer of any apprentice to determine his fitness; such three months shall be included in the period of apprenticeship.

(c.) At the end of the period of apprenticeship the employer shall give the apprentice a certificate to show that he has served his apprenticeship. Should the employer at any time before the termination of the apprenticeship wish for any reason to dispense with the services of the apprentice he shall give him a certificate for the time served, and procure him another employer carrying on business within a reasonable distance of the original employer’s place of business, who will continue to teach the apprentice, to pay him the wages prescribed by this award according to the total length of time he has served, and generally to perform the obligation of the original employer: Provided that it shall not be obligatory on an employer to find the apprentice another employer if he shall so misconduct himself as to entitle the employer to discharge him, but he shall give him a certificate for the time actually served.

(d.) An employer taking an apprentice shall give notice thereof, and of the name of the apprentice, to the Inspector of Factories within one week after the expiration of the period of probation; and an employer transferring an apprentice to another employer shall similarly within one week thereof give notice of such transfer to the Inspector of Factories, who, if requested to do so by the secretary of the local union, shall furnish such secretary with the information supplied by the employer regarding any particular apprentice or apprentices.

(e.) An employer shall not be deemed to discharge his duty towards his apprentice if he fails to keep him at work owing to slackness of business, but such slackness of business may form a proper ground for transferring him to a master willing to undertake the responsibility of teaching him.

(f.) When an apprentice is discharged for cause the employer shall send notices of the discharge and the cause thereof to the Inspector of Factories.

(g.) An apprentice after serving his apprenticeship may be employed as an improver for a period of six months at a wage of not less than £1 15s. per week, and for a further period of six months at a wage of not less than £2 5s. per week.

Proportion of Apprentices.

6. The proportion of apprentices and female stitchers to journeymen employed by an employer shall not exceed the following, viz.: In the saddle branch, one apprentice and one female stitcher to every three journeymen or fraction thereof; machinery, harness, and collarmaking branches, one male apprentice to every three journeymen or fraction thereof, or journeymen recognized machinists; in the bridle-cutting branch, one apprentice and two female stitchers to one journeyman, or one apprentice and three female stitchers to two journeymen, or one apprentice and four female stitchers to three journeymen, or two apprentices and five female stitchers to four journeymen, and one female stitcher to every additional journeyman. Bag and trunk makers are to have one apprentice, male or female, to each journeyman. Where there is only one apprentice kept and he has served four years, an additional apprentice may be taken on, so as to enable the former to have a better opportunity of learning the trade.