What are Registered Apprenticeship Standards?

So you want to start a Registered Apprenticeship to help your organization recruit and retain skilled employees. Well, the first step is to define the outcomes you’re looking to achieve through the program.

Who do you want to train? What skills do they need? How should they be trained? Once you have answers to these questions, you’ll need to codify them by creating your Standards of Apprenticeship – a document that defines the core requirements, expectations, and outcomes for your Registered Apprenticeship.

It is imperative to be thoughtful when designing these requirements to ensure they align with your strategic goals and are set up for sustainability. In this post, we’ll explain this process to try and help you along the way to launching your new program.

Registered Apprenticeship Standards: What Do You Need to Get Started?

Standards of Apprenticeship are documents that contain detailed outlines of each component of a Registered Apprenticeship program, including recruitment & mentorship expectations, On-the-Job training schedule, Related Technical Instruction outline, and Wage Schedule.

Specifically, there are 28 sections included in these documents, excluding any appendices. The following are particularly important to note:

• Program Sponsor Responsibilities. Sponsors must administer all aspects of a Registered Apprenticeship Program and may establish a Joint Apprenticeship Training Community to help manage the program.
• Occupation Codes. There are over 1,000 qualified occupations listed by the U.S. DOL.
• Work Process. The Apprenticeship Program requires a custom work process.
• Related Training Instruction (RTI). Make a list of preferred educational providers and partner with educational institutions to develop a curriculum that supports the Apprenticeship's goals.
• Wage Scale. As apprentices master specific competencies, how will wages increase?
• Journeyman to Apprentice Ratio. The ratio of journey workers to apprentices needs to be specified and be high enough to ensure apprentices receive proper training and mentorship from skilled workers. 
• Probationary Period. Define the probationary period during which an apprentice or employer can end the Apprenticeship. A probationary period may not exceed 25% of the overall program duration. 
• Apprentice Selection Process. How will apprentices be selected? The selection process should include specific assessments or requirements for entry.
• Equal Opportunity Pledge.
• Affirmative Action Plan. 
• Qualifications for Apprenticeship.

The first step toward starting a Registered Apprenticeship is to build out the three core components of the program: 

1. On-the-Job Training.
2. Related Technical Instruction.
3. Wage Schedule.

These three components define the skills training, supplemental coursework, and wages that apprentices will work toward throughout their apprenticeship.

While this might seem overwhelming initially, you may not need to create a Standards of Apprenticeship from scratch. Many industries already list their standards at Apprenticeship.gov. Even if you cannot find an Apprenticeship similar to yours, the website lists guidelines designed to help Sponsors establish Standards for non-standard occupations.

Without the proper framework for staying organized and tracking data, it’s easy to fall out of compliance. An unfortunate reality of Apprenticeship Programs is that some fall apart after the initial standards are determined, as program management processes haven't been adequately established. If certain pieces of the Standards of Apprenticeship agreements aren’t met, a program risks getting shut down.

Setting standards and adhering to them is more manageable with Apprenticeship Management Software. ApprentiScope has a platform that reduces administrative overhead and improves program efficacy by centralizing and automating the tracking of these requirements.

A comprehensive and user-friendly Apprenticeship software tool helps track the most critical aspects of an Apprenticeship program determined by the Standards of Apprenticeship. For example, tracking the time apprentices spend in on-the-job training, performance evaluations for skills progression, wage progression, case management, compliance and reporting, employer data, and occupations.

Related Content: Apprenticeship Program Regulations: What Your Organization Needs to Know

Takeaway: Apprenticeship Standards Pave the Way to Success

When developing a Registered Apprenticeship program, it’s essential to design your Standards to align with your business objectives. Once that has been completed, you’ll want to develop processes and invest in systems that support your programs to ensure they are successful over the long term.