Following up on a workplace priority announced early in the Trump Administration, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has published its anticipated proposed rules outlining a process for companies and other qualified entities with apprenticeship programs to apply to become “Industry-Recognized.”
The proposed regulations would implement President Trump’s Executive Order (E.O.) 13801 on “Expanding Apprenticeships in America,” which directed the Secretary of Labor to consider issuing rules – separate from the existing Registered Apprenticeship Program – for entities with apprenticeship programs to apply to become an Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Program.
According to DOL, the proposal is intended to increase the number of recognized apprenticeship programs in the United States by giving employers more flexibility to craft such programs, while simultaneously reducing DOL’s long-time and arguably prescriptive oversight of the apprenticeship system.
A copy of the June 25, 2019, Federal Register notice containing the proposed rules is available here. DOL is inviting public comments on these proposed regulations until August 26, 2019.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.