The Apprentices Act, 1961 regulates apprenticeship training in notified designated trades, requiring qualifying employers to engage apprentices at a prescribed ratio and pay them a stipend during training.

Who must comply, and how stipends work

Establishments with 30 or more workers are generally required to engage apprentices at a rate commonly cited between 2.5% and 15% of their workforce annually, those with 4 to 29 workers may do so optionally, and very small establishments generally fall outside the Act’s requirements. The exact applicability bands come from government notifications issued under the Act rather than a single fixed statutory number, so they can shift over time. Stipend amounts are similarly set by government notification rather than fixed in the Act itself, treated separately from a regular salary structure, with a built-in step-up as training progresses, commonly a meaningful increase in year two and a further increase in year three. Unlike the four labour codes, the Apprentices Act remains a standalone law, unaffected by that consolidation.

Frequently asked questions

Is an apprentice the same as a regular employee on probation?

No, a statutory apprentice under this Act isn’t treated as an “employee” for most labour-law purposes, unlike a probationary hire who is.

Was this Act absorbed into the new labour codes?

No, it remains a separate, standalone Act, not consolidated into any of the four codes.

Does stipend increase automatically during training?

Yes, the framework builds in a step-up across the training period, though the exact current rates should be checked against the latest government notification.

See probation period for how a regular new-hire trial phase differs from statutory apprenticeship.