DOL Issues Pre-Apprenticeship Program Guidelines

The U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration (ETA) has issued a Training and Employment Notice (TEN 13-12) that defines a “quality pre-apprenticeship program” as having training and standards based on industry standards, prepares individuals to enter and succeed in an apprenticeship program, and has a documented partnership with at least one registered apprenticeship program. AGC staff, through participation on the federal Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship (ACA), helped draft a quality pre-apprenticeship framework that was submitted to DOL Secretary Hilda Solis in January and was used as a basis for the final ETA notice. Both the ACA and AGC felt that the connection to a registered apprenticeship program was an important component of the quality pre-apprenticeship definition because too many people have gone through “pre-apprenticeship” programs that neither have a formal connection to an apprenticeship program nor train pre-apprenticeship participants adequately to enter an apprenticeship program. It was also the goal of the ACA and AGC that the pre-apprenticeship guidelines be considered when the DOL issues grants to pre-apprenticeship programs, so that those that are doing the best job of connecting people with registered apprenticeship are receiving grants over those that are not. The ETA does not currently - and is not planning to - register or certify pre-apprenticeship programs, as it does apprenticeship programs. The goal of this framework is to encourage pre-apprenticeship programs to connect with registered apprenticeship programs to ensure that their programs are providing the skills, knowledge and abilities that will help their participants succeed in a registered apprenticeship program. It is important to note that the definition of a quality pre-apprenticeship program states that while hands-on training is an important component of a pre-apprenticeship program, pre-apprentices should not be used to supplant paid employees. The complete TEN, as well as DOL-sponsored resources related to pre-apprenticeship, can be found online.