High-level apprenticeship and research is a work contract with a training component aimed at young people aged between 18 and 29. It is intended to lead to the attainment of one of the following qualifications:
- three-year, master's and single-cycle degrees;
- first- or second-level master's degrees;
- PhD;
as well as to carry out research activities.
It is called a “training contract” because it alternates work experience with moments of “training”, which enable young people to obtain a university degree. Training may take place either within the company or outside it, at university institutions.
The training that apprentices acquire through participation in university courses is expanded, deepened and contextualized within the company, through direct experience of organizational, social and production processes.
Apprenticeship is an open-ended contract, which may be entered into by all employers of private companies operating in all sectors of activity.
Apprentices are granted all the protections (salary, social security, etc.) enjoyed by other employees. Remuneration is established by collective bargaining, with reference to the normal remuneration of qualified workers at the same level, and is progressive.
Award of qualification or research project
The apprenticeship contract must always be accompanied by the Agreement between the employer and the training institution and by the Individual Training Plan (PFI), which must contain:
- the data relating to the company, the apprentice, and the company tutor;
- the indication of the qualification or higher education credential to be obtained;
- the methods for structuring and delivering the training under the company’s responsibility.
Within the company, the apprentice must be supervised by a company tutor or contact person, whose role is to facilitate their integration into the production context and support the gradual acquisition of technical-professional skills.
The characteristics and obligations of the company tutor or contact person are defined by collective bargaining.
The educational organization of apprenticeship study programs is structured into periods of internal training (Company) and external training (University). The programs are agreed upon by the training institution and the employer and implemented on the basis of the protocol. Internal and external training activities are integrated for the purpose of achieving the learning outcomes of the standard study programs.
Young people who meet the requirements established for enrolment in the various study programmes of the current academic regulations may be hired under an apprenticeship contract.
Reference legislation
- Decree of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, in agreement with the Ministry of Education, University and Research and the Ministry of Economy and Finance, which defines the training standards for apprenticeship and the general criteria for the implementation of apprenticeship pathways pursuant to Article 46, paragraph 1 of Legislative Decree No. 81 of 15 June 2015, approved by the State-Regions Conference on 1 October 2015
- Law No. 81 of 15 June 2015, "Consolidated regulation of employment contracts and revision of legislation on duties, pursuant to Article 1, paragraph 7, of Law No. 183 of 10 December 2014" (Jobs Act)
- Law of 16 May 2014, no. 78 “Urgent provisions to promote the recovery of employment and to simplify obligations for businesses”
- Consolidated Apprenticeship Act - Legislative Decree No. 167 of 14 September 2011
- Law of 28 June 2012, No. 92, “Provisions on labor market reform in a growth perspective”
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