Manpower Training Act, 1981 (Act No. 56 of 1981) > Chapter 2 : Registrar of Manpower Training, Training Boards, Training of Apprentices and Attainment of Artisan Status > 18. Registration of contracts of apprenticeship

1)	No contract of apprenticeship in a designated trade entered into before the commencement of the Manpower Training Amendment Act, 1990, but not registered immediately prior to such commencement, or entered into after such commencement shall be valid unless -

a)	at the time it was entered into, it was reduced to writing; and

b)	it has been signed by or on behalf of the employer and by the apprentice and, in the case of an apprentice who is a minor, by his guardian; and

c)	it has been registered by the relevant training board.

2)	The employer shall lodge the contract in the form determined by the relevant training board and within one month after the date on which it was entered into, with the training committee concerned for registration.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act a training board may, upon the application of an employer in an industry and area in respect of which the training board in question has been accredited but no trade has been designated under this Act, register a contract of apprenticeship entered into by such employer and his employee or prospective employee employed or to be employed by the said employer in a trade which corresponds to a trade which has been designated under this Act, as if the trade has been so designated, and after registration such a contract shall be binding on the employer and employee concerned provided the contract -

a)	was reduced to writing at the time it was entered into; and

b)	has been signed by or on behalf of the employer and by the employee and, in the case of an employee who is a minor, by his guardian.

Any contract registered in terms of subsection (3), shall be deemed to be a contract entered into in terms of the provisions of this Act, and the employer and apprentice concerned shall comply with such conditions of apprenticeship and other conditions as may be determined by the relevant training board and specified in the contract.

Subject to the provisions of section 16(3)(d) a training board may, when considering the registration of a contract of apprenticeship, in addition to any other ground on which it may lawfully grant or refuse such registration, take into account any other circumstance, including a report by the training committee in question to the effect that in its opinion registration will not be in the interests of the prospective apprentice, as well as the prospective apprentice’s prospects of obtaining employment in the trade in question at the expiry of the contract.