What are Registered Apprenticeship Standards?

When starting a registered apprenticeship program, you may hear about standards. What are these standards, you might ask? Apprenticeship Standards are the building blocks and roadmap of your apprenticeship program. They describe who you're going to recruit, how they'll be treated, how they'll be trained, and how they'll progress. It's ultimately a template, and it's up to you, the apprenticeship sponsor, to fill in the blanks. Apprenticeship Standards are the foundation of what allows your program to be registered. They're demonstrating that your apprenticeship program meets a certain standard.

More than one template

Let's take a look at what goes into an apprenticeship standard, but first, some context.

As a refresher, the apprenticeship system is driven by states and divided into OA and SAA states. All OA states use the federal standards we're about to describe here. Some SAA states also use the same templates for their standards. Many do not, but they're usually covering very similar information. It's the template and the layout that may differ. There may be additional clauses or sections. Think of it like the common college application -- many colleges share an application, the common app. Others have their own, but the information is often the same. Apprenticeship standards and the states are like that, too.

Another nuance to standards is that they can vary depending on the type of apprenticeship program. Are you running a sole employer program? A multi-employer program? A national program? All of these might have slight variances that are reflected in the standards you create.

A real example

Fun fact: WorkHands is a registered apprenticeship program, itself.

As a registered sponsor, we have been through this process for our own program and are happy to share what ours looks like for a real example from our Application Developer program. As you will see, there are some nuances between what the sections in the Example above contain and WorkHands' standards, which can happen as updates and version changes occur over the years.

The Sections

Before we even get into the sections, there's the cover page.

This includes the ONET Code and RAPIDS Codes associated with the occupation we're apprenticing. These are pre-defined by the government. We'll cover what this mean in another article.

You'll also see in our example that WorkHands registered this standard in California, where we're headquartered. However, we also needed to register in Virginia where our apprentice was located. Remember - the apprenticeship system is quite state specific so while we could re-use a lot of what we registered in California, we had to do a few unique things to be registered in Virginia, as well.

Section I: Standards of Apprenticeship

This essentially laying out the basic regulations and guidelines for all apprenticeships, including EEO and Complaint Procedures.

This includes assurances that:

• Your program adherence to laws, safety, and training requirements

• Apprentices will be under written agreements, standards are registered with the DOL, shared with the apprentice

• Apprentices will be periodically evaluated and records will be maintained (note: we can help with that)

• Apprentices will meet an age requirements

• Apprentices will be trained for a set period of time, on predefined training criteria both in the classroom and on-the-job, and they will get credit for past experience

• There'll be a probationary period, a minimum ratio of journeyworker (ie, experienced workers) to apprentices, and there'll be pre defined wage increases

• The program will follow EEO and affirmative action plans, have selection procedures and a procedure for complains

Section II: Appendices and Attachments

This section explains what additional materials are included in your standards, including but not limited to:

• An Appendix A which lays out your defined Work Processes and Related Instruction

• The Apprenticeship Agreement, to be completed by your Apprentices

• Your Affirmative Action plan

• Employer Acceptance Agreement

Section III: Veterans Educational Assistance

This section protects the laws and assistance that are available for veterans who become Apprentices:

Section IV: Signatures

Yes! This is your Official Adoption of Apprenticeship Standards, wherein you provide your signature attesting to all that is in these Standards and your willingness to follow what has been laid out:

Now you are ready to begin your Apprenticeship program! This may include recruiting apprentices, apply to grants, making sure your have the proper processes in place to track your program data, onboarding apprentices, etc.

And remember, registering your Apprenticeship Standards also means that these are approved and validated by the USDOL or a State Apprenticeship Agency, allowing for your apprenticeship to be recognized and credentialed which adds validity to your apprenticeship program.