Learner legal representative’s rights and obligations

Parents have various rights and obligations if they are a learner’s legal representative. The main ones are listed below:

• While the learner is a minor, he/she cannot sign an apprenticeship contract without parental consent. If the parents refuse, the learner may refer the matter to the competent authority for child and adult protection.
• Parents (in the same way as the VET office) must give their consent before any changes are made to the apprenticeship contract.
• The Swiss Code of Obligations (CO, SR 220) requires parents to support the VET trainer as much as possible in the accomplishment of his/her tasks and to encourage good relations between the VET trainer and the learner.
• Parents thus have the right to demand that the VET trainer make the training report available to them and to notify them in due course if the VET programme is not running smoothly. The VET school also has the obligation to inform parents if the learner's school grades risk compromising his/her ability to pass the final examination.

Generally speaking, parents have the right and even the obligation to take action with regard to the employer if the learner is exposed to health or other risks. Adults generally meet these obligations themselves.