Dec. 26 DOL Issues Proposed Rule on National Apprenticeship System Enhancements

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to enhance the National Apprenticeship System by modernizing regulations for Registered Apprenticeships.
 
The proposed rule would include the following enhancements: 

• Strengthening of labor standards, quality and worker protections by making occupational skills and training more portable, enhancing alignment with postsecondary education and providing better performance data. 
• Better defining roles for State Apprenticeship Agencies and other stakeholders within the National Apprenticeship System.
• Codifies the Office of Apprenticeship’s role for national leadership, promotion and standards. 
• Promoting apprenticeship pathways, including pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship readiness programs, by expanding performance and data requirements to improve accountability, transparency and program outcomes. 
• Creating a student-centric model of Registered Apprenticeship, called Registered Career and Technical Education Apprenticeship designed to make them more seamless for full-time high school and community college students to enroll in a Registered Apprenticeship. This approach is modeled after high-quality youth apprenticeship systems in states across the country.

 
The proposed rule would improve the capacity of the National Apprenticeship System to respond to evolving employer needs, provide workers equitable pathways to good jobs, and increase the system’s long-term resilience. 
 
Comments are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. –IFEBP