What does it mean for an apprenticeship to be registered?
For an apprenticeship to be registered means a government registration agency has reviewed the program's written standards and accepted it as meeting the federal requirements. In states without a recognized State Apprenticeship Agency, the Department of Labor's Office of Apprenticeship registers and oversees programs through its state offices. In states with one, the state agency does that work on the Department's behalf, and it may use its own forms and procedures.
A newly registered program is approved provisionally for its first year and then reviewed. After that, the agency continues to evaluate program performance, including how many apprentices complete the program, and it must receive notice of new apprentices, completions, transfers, and cancellations. You'll hear "apprenticeship" used for programs that aren't registered, so it's worth asking which kind someone means.
Who runs a registered apprenticeship program?
A registered apprenticeship program is run by its sponsor, the person, association, committee, or organization that operates the program and in whose name it's registered. An employer can be its own sponsor, but it doesn't have to be. Apprentices can be employed by organizations that aren't the sponsor, and a program can include several employers, which is one way a smaller employer can take part without running a program alone. The sponsor sets the program's standards, registers its apprentices, and answers to the registration agency for how the program performs.
What does an apprentice's work and training look like?
An apprentice's work and training combine supervised on-the-job learning with related instruction, following a written outline of the work processes the apprentice will learn and roughly how much time goes to each. The program can measure progress by time, with at least 2,000 hours of on-the-job learning; by competency, with the apprentice demonstrating specified skills; or by a combination of the two. The federal rules recommend at least 144 hours of related instruction for each year. This is where an education partner such as a college or training provider can come in.
Apprentices are paid throughout. The program must set a schedule of wages that increases as the apprentice's skills grow. The starting wage can't be less than the federal minimum wage where it applies, or a higher wage required by other law or a collective bargaining agreement. The written agreement with each apprentice states the wage scale and whether time in related instruction is paid.
What is the employer signing up to maintain?
The employer, as sponsor or as a participating employer, signs up to maintain the conditions in the program's written standards for as long as it has apprentices. Those include qualified people to train and supervise apprentices on the job. They also include a set ratio of apprentices to experienced workers, safe equipment and facilities, and safety training.
The sponsor also maintains the paperwork. Each apprentice signs a written agreement that sets out the occupation, the term, the hours, the wages, and a probationary period. Probation can't exceed a quarter of the program's length or one year, whichever is shorter. The program reviews each apprentice's performance, keeps progress records, and follows federal equal opportunity requirements. It reports completions, transfers, and cancellations to the agency within 45 days. Whether that commitment makes sense for your organization is a separate decision, which Should we start an apprenticeship program? covers.
The Grantibly perspective
Lauren's perspective
We have evaluated federally and privately funded programs designed to prepare people for high-demand careers, including apprenticeships and other career pathways. That work has given us a close-up view of how people are recruited into career pathways, what helps them persist, where they encounter barriers, and how employers and educators work together.
The requirements on this page describe what a registered program has to have in place. The question we keep coming back to in our work is what happens when the systems intended to support workers do, or don't, work as intended. A mentor named in the standards still needs time to mentor, and an apprentice on the right wage schedule can still struggle without support.
