End of an apprenticeship: the documents to collect

The last day comes round fast, between the dissertation to hand in and the search for the next job. Yet this is the moment when rights are settled that you cannot reconstruct later. Here is the checklist, as we give it to apprentices on SuperAlternant.

The three mandatory documents

At the end of the contract, the employer must give you:

• the work certificate, stating your start and end dates and the post held;
• the final settlement receipt, itemising the sums paid;
• the attestation for the employment service, which is essential to open unemployment rights.

These documents are collectable: they are held at your disposal within the company. Ask for them in writing if they are not handed over spontaneously.

What you are owed in money

Check three lines on your final payslip:

• the balance of untaken paid leave, paid as compensation;
• any overtime and bonuses provided for by the collective agreement;
• for a fixed-term professionalisation contract, the end-of-contract payment — but note that it is not due to apprentices, whose contract has a particular nature.

Sign, but not blindly

The final settlement receipt can be challenged within six months of signature. After that it becomes binding for the sums it mentions.

So never sign a document headed "final settlement" without checking the detail. If in doubt, write "subject to my rights" next to your signature.

The qualification and what comes next

Finally, ask your supervisor for a letter of recommendation while the memory of your work is fresh, and keep personal access to your non-confidential output. It is that portfolio, more than the qualification alone, that will carry your next application.