Postgraduate internships

For the purposes of applying the provisions contained in Apulia Regional Law No. 23 of 5 August 2013, the following are distinguished:

• training and orientation internships, aimed at facilitating the school-to-work transition through training in direct contact with the world of work for persons who obtained their qualification no more than twelve months earlier;
• summer orientation internships, aimed at training and intended for persons regularly enrolled in a course of study at the University;
• work placement/re-entry internships, aimed at facilitating the entry into the labor market of unemployed persons and the re-entry of jobless persons, including those in mobility schemes, as well as workers suspended under wage supplementation schemes.

The internship constitutes an important opportunity for initial entry into the productive world and offers the opportunity to undertake a period of on-the-job training; it does not in any way constitute an employment relationship.
The duration of the internship is defined on the basis of the skills to be acquired and the training objectives identified in the project. In any case, its duration may not exceed six months, extendable by no more than thirty days. Participation in the training pathway may not require the trainee to commit more than thirty hours per week, scheduled during daytime hours.
In the case of a summer internship, the maximum duration of the training programme may not exceed three months, included between the end of the current academic year and the beginning of the next one.
For the activity carried out during the internship, the trainee is entitled to a flat-rate participation allowance of not less than the monthly amount of euro 450, gross of statutory deductions.

The Placement Office also activates post-graduate internships (so-called extracurricular) with other Italian Regions, in compliance with the applicable legislation.

In order to activate a postgraduate internship (so-called extracurricular) in the Apulia Region, it is necessary to follow the simple steps listed below:

1. Selection of the trainee

The candidate is identified on the basis of selection procedures established by the host organization.

NB: Pursuant to art. 3 para. 5 of Regional Law no. 23 of 5 August 2013, the host organization is required to comply with the proportions listed below:

2. Signing of the Agreement and Drafting of the Training Project

Internships are activated within the framework of an agreement (Apulia Region) between the Polytechnic University of Bari (promoting body) and the Company (host body). To execute the Agreement, which is valid for one year from the date of signature, a €16 stamp duty must be affixed to the document (at the company's expense).

The Agreement, drawn up in duplicate, stamped and signed by hand by the Legal Representative, must be delivered/sent in original to the Placement Office together with the training project (Puglia Region). This document, completed in all its parts except for the internship period, always drawn up in duplicate, must also be signed by the trainee and by the tutors designated for the teaching-organizational and support activities.

3. Start of the internship

The internship start date will be agreed with the Host Organization and subsequently communicated to the trainee, to whom the attendance register and the skills certification form will be sent by email.

4. Cases of suspension, extension, and early termination of the internship

The trainee is entitled to suspension of the internship for maternity leave pursuant to Legislative Decree no. 151/2001, “Consolidated law on legislative provisions concerning the protection and support of maternity and paternity, pursuant to Article 15 of Law no. 53 of 8 March 2000”, or in the event of illness or injury lasting for a period equal to or greater than one third of the internship. The suspension period does not count toward the calculation of the overall duration of the internship. During the suspension period, the trainee is not entitled to the participation allowance.
The originally established duration of the training programme may be extended by no more than thirty days; therefore, the host body, if it intends to extend the internship, must notify the promoting body in writing at least ten days before the expiry of the originally scheduled duration, stating the reasons for the request. The promoting body, having first verified the need or appropriateness of the extension in relation to the achievement of the training objectives, accepts the relevant request and promptly notifies the interested parties, as well as the competent bodies.

The internship may be terminated before its natural expiry in the following cases:
‐ loss of the requirements prescribed by Art. 3, para. 4, Regional Law no. 23/2013;
- written and reasoned communication from the intern, sent to the tutor of the promoting body and to the tutor of the host body;
‐ breach, by the host entity or the promoting entity or the trainee, of the obligations set out in the agreement and in the individual training project;
‐ occurrence of causes preventing the achievement of the training objectives.

5. Conclusion and certification of skills

At the end of the training pathway in the Company, the trainee must submit to the Placement Office the attendance register and thecertification of results duly completed and signed by the company tutor.

Reference legislation

• Ministerial Decree of 25 March 1998, no. 142 - Regulation containing implementing provisions for the principles and criteria referred to in Article 18 of Law no. 196 of 24 June 1997, on training and orientation internships
• REGIONAL LAW of 5 August 2013, no. 23 “Rules on training pathways aimed at guidance and entry into the labor market”
• REGIONAL REGULATION of 10 March 2014, no. 3 - Provisions concerning the activation of internships aimed at guidance and entry into the labor market.

Art. 19 of Regional Regulation no. 3 of 10 March 2014: analytical report on the number of extracurricular internships activated