La. Admin. Code tit. 40 § IX-301

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 11, November 20, 2024

Section IX-301 - Standards of Apprenticeship

A. An apprenticeship program, to be eligible for registration/approval by the Louisiana Workforce Commission, Apprenticeship Division shall conform to the following standards.

1. All apprenticeship programs proposed for adoption shall be required to submit standards of apprenticeship on forms supplied by the Apprenticeship Division. All standards of apprenticeship shall first be submitted to the director of apprenticeship, who, within 90 days and after careful review, shall make a recommendation to the State Apprenticeship Council for approval if all minimum standards have been met.

a. All other notifications and requests for changes and updates relating to a program sponsor's standards of apprenticeship shall be submitted to the director of apprenticeship within 45 days.

2. The program shall have an organized, written plan embodying the terms and conditions of employment, training, and supervision of one or more apprentices in the apprenticeable occupation, as defined in this Part, and subscribed to by a sponsor who has undertaken to carry out the apprentice program and shall contain a statement as to whether or not the apprentice will be compensated for the required school time. The written plan shall also state the names and affiliation of each employer and employee representative and its Joint Apprenticeship Committee.

3. The program standards shall contain the state plan for implementing Title 29 CFR Part 30, Equal Employment Opportunity in Apprenticeship and Training, which plan is made a part of these rules and additional provisions concerning the following:

a. the employment and training of the apprentice in a skilled trade;

b. the term of apprenticeship, which for an individual apprentice may be measured either through the completion of the industry standard for on-the-job learning (at least 2,000 hours) (time-based approach), the attainment of competency (competency-based approach), or a blend of the time-based and competency-based approaches (hybrid approach), as defined in 29 CFR 29.5;

i. the determination of the appropriate approach for the program standards is made by the program sponsor, subject to approval by the registration agency of the determination as appropriate to the apprenticeable occupation for which the program standards are registered;

c. an outline of the work processes in which the apprentice will receive supervised work experience and training on the job, and the allocation of the approximate time to be spent in each major process;

d. provision for organized, related and supplemental instruction in technical subjects related to the trade. A minimum of 144 hours of instruction for each year of the apprenticeship shall be required. This instruction in technical subjects may be accomplished through media such as classroom, occupational or industry courses, electronic media, or other instruction approved by the Workforce Commission, Apprenticeship Division. Also a statement showing where and when the related instruction will be administered shall be contained in the standards;

e. a progressively increasing schedule of wages to be paid the apprentice consistent with the skill acquired. The entry wage shall not be less than the minimum wage prescribed by the Fair Labor Standards Act, where applicable, unless a higher wage is required by other applicable federal law, state law, respective regulations, or by collective bargaining agreements. The journeyworker wage rate upon which the apprentices' wages are to be based shall be set by the program sponsor and approved by the director of apprenticeship and State Apprenticeship Council in accordance with the following criteria listed in priority order:

i. the journeyworker wage rate set by the applicable collective bargaining agreement pertinent to an existing registered apprenticeship program in the same area and for the same trade as the proposed apprenticeship program;

ii. the higher of the prevailing wage for the craft for the area as set by the U.S. Department of Labor pursuant to the Davis-Bacon Act and published in the Federal Register;

iii. in the event that an apprenticeship program is proposed for a craft in an area where there is no pertinent collective bargaining agreement, Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rate, or local prevailing wage rate, the Apprenticeship Division, based on information gathered by its staff through annual wage surveys, may set a journeyworker wage rate for the specific area and craft, to be incorporated into the proposed standards;

f. periodic review and evaluation of the apprentice's progress in job performance and related instruction; and the maintenance of appropriate progress reports. All programs registered with Louisiana Workforce Commission, Apprenticeship Division shall maintain records on each apprentice in their program as to the hours of employment, work experience and related supplemental instruction;

g. the numeric ratio of apprentices to journeyworkers consistent with proper supervision, training, safety, and continuity of employment, and applicable provisions in collective bargaining agreements, except where such ratios are expressly prohibited by the collective bargaining agreements. The ratio language shall be specific and clear as to application in terms of jobsite, work force, department or plant; and in no instance shall such ratio provide for more than one apprentice for each journeyworker employed per jobsite;

h. a probationary period reasonable in relation to the full apprenticeship term, with full credit given for such period toward completion of apprenticeship, and where the probationary period does not exceed 25 percent of the length of the program, or 1 year, whichever is shorter;

i. adequate and safe equipment and facilities for training, and supervision, and safety training for apprentices on the job and in related instruction;

j. the minimum qualifications required by a sponsor for persons entering the apprenticeship program, with an eligible starting age not less than 16 years;

k. the placement of an apprentice under a written apprenticeship agreement as required by the state apprenticeship law and regulations. The agreement shall directly, or by reference, incorporate the standards of the program as part of the agreement;

l. the granting of credit for previously acquired experience, training, or skills for all applicants equally, with commensurate wages for any progression step so granted;

m. transfer of program sponsor's training obligation when the program sponsor is unable to fulfill its obligation under the apprenticeship agreement to another program sponsor, within the same trade, with the written consent of the apprentice and both program sponsors, subject to the approval of the director of apprenticeship;

n. assurance of qualified training personnel and adequate supervision on the job;

o. recognition for successful completion of apprenticeship is evidence by an appropriate certificate of completion;

p. identification of the registration agency;

q. provision for the registration, cancellation and deregistration of the program; and requirement for the prompt submission of any proposed modification or amendment thereto;

r. provision for registration of apprenticeship agreements, modifications, and amendments; notice to the registration office of persons who have successfully completed apprenticeship programs; and notice of cancellations, suspensions and terminations of apprenticeship agreements and causes therefor;

s. authority for the termination of an apprenticeship agreement during the probationary period by either party without stated cause;

t. name and address of the appropriate person authorized by the program sponsor to receive, process and make disposition of complaints; and

u. recording and maintenance of all records concerning apprenticeship as may be required by Louisiana Workforce Commission, Apprenticeship Division and other applicable laws;

v. any trade having been previously approved for training for a particular apprenticeship training program sponsor which has had no activity for a period of two years, may be canceled from the list of approved trades contained in the apprenticeship standards for such program sponsor.

4. Apprenticeship instructors must meet the state Department of Education's requirements for a vocational-technical instructor, or be a subject matter expert, which is an individual, such as a journeyworker, who is recognized within an industry as having expertise in a specific occupation. In order to be considered a subject matter expert in a particular trade, an instructor must hold a registered apprenticeship certificate of completion, or a similar trade specific credential recognized industry-wide, and have training in teaching techniques and adult learning styles, which may occur before or after the apprenticeship instructor has started to provide the related technical instruction.

B. Reciprocity. The Louisiana Workforce Commission, Apprenticeship Division shall accord reciprocal approval for federal purposes to apprentices, apprenticeship programs and standards that are registered in other states by the Office of Apprenticeship or another state registration agency if such reciprocity is requested by the apprenticeship program sponsor. Program sponsors seeking reciprocal approval must meet the wage and hour provisions and apprentice ratio standards of the reciprocal state.

La. Admin. Code tit. 40, § IX-301

Promulgated by the Department of Labor, Office of Labor, LR 12:429 (July 1986), amended LR 17:356 (April 1991), amended by the Louisiana Workforce Commission, Office of Workforce Development, LR 37:2211 (July 2011).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 23:381-391.