The Department of Labor has proposed a rule to rescind affirmative action and equal employment requirements for registered apprenticeship sponsors. If adopted, the rule would eliminate affirmative action components that are currently required, so sponsors would no longer have to submit written affirmative action programs or written selection standards. Instead, sponsors would agree to comply with applicable federal and state nondiscrimination laws. While the rule continues to prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, genetic information, and disability, it omits sexual orientation as a protected characteristic.
The revisions also limit the enforcement power of the Office of Apprenticeship. Sponsors could be deregistered only after a final determination by a court or enforcement entity.
DOL’s stated goal is to expand registered apprenticeships by removing regulatory requirements that impose unnecessary administrative burdens and to bring the apprenticeship regulations into alignment with nondiscrimination law. The logic is that the characteristics currently protected by the regulations are either duplicative of those in Title VII and other civil rights laws or outright unlawful.
DOL will accept public comments on its proposal through September 2.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, can read more here.