The apprenticeship contract is one in which a manager of an industrial or commercial establishment, an artisan or craftsman agrees to provide or is entrusted with complete, methodical and professional training to another person who contracts, in return, to work for him as an apprentice under the conditions and for a time period that have been agreed upon. This time period cannot exceed two years.

The apprenticeship contract must contain:

1. The last name, first name, age, profession and address of the instructor.

2. The last name, first name and address of the apprentice.

3. The last name, first name, profession and address of the apprentice’s parents or guardian or a person authorized by this parents.

4. The dates and duration of the contract, as well as the trade for which the apprentice is trained.

5. The conditions for the apprentice’s remuneration and, if applicable, all benefits in kind: food, accommodation or any other items agreed between both parties.

6. The skill area that manager of the enterprise is contracted to teach the apprentice.

7. Indemnity to be paid in case of termination of the contract.

8. The main obligations of the instructor and the apprentice.

The apprenticeship contract must be signed by the instructor and the apprentice. In case that the apprentice is a minor, the contract can be signed by his legal representative and the instructor. The Labour Inspector shall review, countersign and register the apprenticeship contract.

No one can be an instructor undertaken an apprenticeship if he is less than twenty-one years of age, and cannot justify having practiced, for at least two years, the profession to be taught as a technician, craftsman or skilled worker.
The period of practice of his profession can be reduced to one year, if the instructor has a diploma in theoretical and practical training from a recognized school or specialized training center.

No employer, instructor in charge of and apprenticeship can live in the same house with female minor apprentices.

The capacity as an apprenticeship instructor or a person in charge of apprenticeship is disqualified for:

1. Individuals who have been convicted of a crime.

2. Individuals who have been guilty of behaving against the local traditional customs.

3. Individuals who have been imprisoned for stealing, fraud misappropriation and corruption.

A Prakas of the Ministry in charge of Labour shall determine the occupation and types of work for which teenagers aged at least eighteen years are allowed to be an apprentice.

Once his vocational skill training is adequate, the apprentice is no longer treated as an apprentice but as a worker hereafter.

Any enterprise employing more than sixty workers must have the number of apprentices equal to one-tenth of the number of the workers in service of that enterprise.

The maximum number of apprentices employed in an enterprise, regardless of the total number of workers, shall be determined by a Prakas of the Ministry in charge of Labour in accordance with the possible availability of personnel and materials.

Derogation of the obligation stated in the first paragraph of this article can be endorsed by a decision of the Labour Inspector for enterprise that have requested to pay an apprenticeship tax whose amount and method of payment shall be set by a Prakas of the Ministry in charge of Labour.

The instructor shall not employ an apprentice for an overwork or for any work or service other than those related to the exercise of the apprentice’s profession.

At the of the apprenticeship, a certificate attesting the execution of the contract by both parties and the professional skill of the apprentice shall be awarded after an official examination conducted by a neutral exam panel.

Any person who is convinced of having incited an apprentice to break his contract shall be liable to an indemnity in favor of the manager of the manager of the establishment or of the workshop that the apprentice has abandoned. The indemnity must, in no case, not exceed the amount of actual damage suffered by the former employer.

Any new apprenticeship contract made before the fulfillment of all the obligations or termination of the preceding contract shall be null and void.

A system for monitoring the apprenticeship, such as determining programs by trade, supervision during the apprenticeship, final examination, methods for setting up examination panel, etc., shall be determined by a Prakas of the Ministry in charge of Labour.

The Prakas of the Ministry in charge of Labour shall also clearly determine the regulations regarding the duration of the apprenticeship, including the trial period, according to the level of professional skill and technical and conceptual knowledge, as well as all the apprentice’s previous training and experience or professional progress made during the course of the apprenticeship.

1. By the death of the instructor or the apprentice.

2. If the apprentice or the instructor is obliged to serve in the army.

3. If the instructor or the apprentice is imprisoned for a felony or misdemeanor.

4. By the closure of workshop or enterprise, specified in the above articles.

1. In case either party does not comply with the stipulations of the contract.

2. In case of serious or regular violation of the provisions in the chapter.

3. In case the apprentice obstinately does not respect international regulations.

4. If the instructor moves his residence his residence to Sangkat (section) or Khum (commune) other than the one in which he lived at the signing of the contract. Nevertheless, a request for termination of contract for his reason is acceptable only with three months following the day when the instructor moved.

Either party considered to be damaged by the unjustifiable termination of an apprenticeship contract, can demand for a compensation from the other party.