Kit Qualiopi
Criterion 3 · Welcome, support, monitoring and assessmentMinor non-conformity

Indicator 15 — Informing apprentices of their rights and duties

CFA-specific: you must inform every apprentice of their rights and duties both as an apprentice and as an employee, and of the applicable workplace health and safety rules.

Applies to: CFA

Indicator 15 is the second indicator of criterion 3's apprenticeship block. An apprentice has a dual status — young person in training and employee of a company — and many are unaware of it when the contract starts. The CFA must therefore inform them precisely of their rights and duties under this dual status, plus workplace health and safety rules. Like indicator 14, it is not applicable without apprenticeship activity.

What the auditor actually checks on the day

The auditor verifies the information's content, its effective transmission and its traceability:

  • Content covering the dual status: the apprentice's statutory pay, working time and leave, available aids (housing aid, driving licence aid, student-of-trades card), the apprenticeship master's role — but also obligations: attendance at the centre and in the company, compliance with both sets of internal rules, sitting the exams.
  • The health and safety component: the information and prevention visit, protective equipment, regulated work for minors, what to do after a workplace accident, contacts (disability officer, apprenticeship mediator in case of a dispute with the employer).
  • Timing and medium: the information is delivered at entry — induction day, apprentice welcome booklet, dedicated sequence — and remains accessible afterwards.
  • Traceability: induction session attendance sheet, booklet receipt acknowledgement, a comprehension quiz, dated materials.

The auditor sometimes probes directly: "how does an apprentice know who to turn to in a conflict with their employer?" Your answer must be documented: the apprenticeship mediator, the CFA referent, a displayed procedure.

Achieving compliance, step by step

  1. Write an apprentice booklet or a dedicated section of the welcome booklet: status and pay, rights and aids, obligations, health and safety, contacts and remedies. Ten clear pages suffice.
  2. Schedule an induction sequence at the start of the cycle: the dual status, the internal rules, the safety rules — with systematic sign-in.
  3. Check understanding: a short quiz at the end of induction is far stronger proof of transmission than a mere document handover.
  4. Display and remind: the apprenticeship mediator's, disability officer's and mobility officer's contact details in the booklet and on the premises; a mid-pathway reminder of the key points.
  5. Update yearly: pay scales and aids change; a booklet with stale figures is an easy finding.

Field advice

First: involve the employers. Sending the apprenticeship master a summary of the apprentice's rights and duties prevents the misunderstandings (overtime, exams, revision leave) that escalate into breakdowns. This good practice reinforces indicators 13 and 12 at the same time.

Second: fit the format to the audience. Apprentices aged 16 to 18 will not read ten legal pages: prefer an infographic, a short video or an interactive quiz, keeping the full booklet as the reference. The auditor assesses the system's effectiveness, not its thickness.

Third: keep neighbouring indicators' scopes distinct. Internal rules and running conditions belong to indicator 9; active citizenship to indicator 14; indicator 15 specifically targets the apprentice-employee status and health and safety. Organise your evidence accordingly: one induction day can feed all three indicators, provided its agenda and sign-in sheets detail the corresponding sequences.

Evidence file

The evidence the auditor expects

  1. P.1Apprentice booklet or dedicated section: status, pay, aids, obligations, health and safety
  2. P.2Agenda and attendance sheets of the apprentices' induction day or sequence
  3. P.3Comprehension quiz on rights and duties with kept results
  4. P.4Displayed contacts: apprenticeship mediator, disability officer
  5. P.5Workplace health and safety information materials given to apprentices
  6. P.6Dated, updated versions of the booklet (current pay scales and aids)
Points of vigilance

Common mistakes in audits

  • Information limited to the CFA's internal rules, without the employee status or health and safety
  • A booklet handed out with no proof of delivery and no explanation sequence
  • Outdated pay scales and aids in the documents provided
  • No identified contact for an apprentice in difficulty with their employer
  • Evidence mixed up between indicators 9, 14 and 15
  • Information delivered once at entry, with no reminder or later accessibility
Frequently asked questions

FAQ — indicator 15

+What must the rights-and-duties information contain under indicator 15?

The apprentice's dual status: pay, working time, leave, available aids, the apprenticeship master's role — plus attendance and rule-compliance obligations, workplace health and safety rules, and the remedies in case of difficulty, including the apprenticeship mediator.

+How do you prove apprentices were informed of their rights and duties?

Combine three proofs: the dated apprentice booklet handed over against signature, the signed agenda of the induction sequence covering these topics, and ideally a comprehension quiz whose results you keep. This triptych leaves no room for doubt.

+Does indicator 15 concern continuing-education providers?

No, it is specific to apprenticeship training, like indicators 3 and 14. It becomes applicable as soon as your organisation develops CFA activity and hosts its first apprentices, including as a pedagogical subcontractor depending on the contracted responsibilities.

+When must apprentices be informed to comply?

At entry into training, typically during the induction day, then the information must remain accessible throughout the pathway (booklet, display, reminders). Late or one-off information without a delivery trace is a classic finding on this indicator.

Same criterion