Hiring a trainee
All studies involve training at a workplace. The training may be performed as a work placement, an apprenticeship or as on-the-job learning. You can familiarise yourself with a future professional already during their studies and recruit them after graduation.
When hiring a trainee, your company may get a new, eager worker who can energise your work community. Simultaneously, you provide a student with the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired through education in an actual working context. However, you should keep in mind that trainees may not replace regular personnel.
By hiring trainees, you create and maintain the image of being a good employer. Your company’s public image improves, and the recruitment of new employees becomes easier.
The skills of your current employees develop when they instruct a trainee as they may simultaneously learn new things about their work. Your regular employees may also learn new operating models for their tasks from the trainee.
Workplace-based training may be
- a training period pertaining to polytechnic or university education
- a workplace apprenticeship pertaining to vocational education
- on-the-job learning pertaining to labour market training.
Students or educational institutions often contact suitable companies to inquire about an opportunity for training at your company. In addition, you may contact educational institutions and training organisers specialising in your field to let them know about the assignments available at your company.
When you find a suitable student,
- conclude an employment contract if the training is paid or a training contract if the training is unpaid.
- conclude an education agreement with the organiser of the education. The student must be made aware of the content of the agreement.
- agree upon the on-the-job learning with the organiser of labour market training and the trained person.
Training pertaining to polytechnic or university studies may be either paid or unpaid.
If the trainee performs productive work for your company, and their assignments are comparable to your regular employees’ job descriptions, pay them a salary that complies with the collective agreement. A paid trainee has the same rights and obligations as your other employees. The terms and conditions of a paid trainee’s employment relationship are determined in accordance with the labour legislation, the relevant collective agreement and the personal employment contract.
Training may only be unpaid if it is introductory by nature. Introductory training must not include, for example, difficult tasks carried out independently. The terms and conditions of unpaid training are determined in accordance with an agreement concluded by your company and the trainee’s educational institution.
In training based on an apprenticeship and in labour market training, the student is not in an employment relationship, and they do not receive a salary or other remuneration. The student may receive financial aid for students or other social benefits for students.
You are expected to engage in close collaboration with the educational institution or other education organiser that sends the student to your company throughout the training period.
Your company must appoint an instructor for the trainee, and the instructor must have sufficient skills and time for guiding the trainee. If the training is unpaid, the instructor must be constantly present to guide the trainee.
Instruct your entire personnel to take a respectful, encouraging and helpful attitude towards the trainee.
At the end of the training period, organise a feedback discussion with the trainee and provide them with a certificate of employment. The trainee may also request for a skill-based certificate of employment. In the certificate, specify the types of work carried out by the trainee and the skills required for performing the work.
Work try-out is a career planning option offered by the TE Services. A work try-out participant does not have an employment relationship to your company, and your company does not pay them a salary.
Work try-out participants are often
- adult career changers
- youths considering their career choices
- people who have been long absent from the Finnish labour market.
The thing they have in common is that they all wish to try a specific profession in practice. A person returning to the Finnish labour market may also want to find out whether their professional skills are up to date before returning to work.
Note that you are not allowed to use work try-out for compensating your company’s lack of workforce. However, you may hire the work try-out participant to your company after the work try-out.