A registered apprenticeship is an employer-sponsored flexible training program that cultivates highly skilled workers who meet the workforce demands of a competitive global economy. A registered apprenticeship consists of two complementary components:
- supervised on-the-job training that is provided by an employer at the workplace and is customized to meet job-specific needs; and
- related technical instruction (or “RTI”). This is often delivered by a technical college and serves to reinforce the theory underlying the skills being learned on-the-job.
A registered apprenticeship program is sponsored by an employer to meet broad industry standards. It is designed to create a career pathway for an employee to graduate from a lower skill level to the full performance level in a given occupation. Programs can range in length from one to six years as determined by the length of training that is common in the given occupation and the individual employer’s needs. Specific training content is determined by employers within recommended guidelines, and an employer has the discretion to award advanced standing to apprentices who enter a program with demonstrated skills.
Registered apprenticeship programs also include a “scalable” wage component by which an employee receives incremental wage increases as he or she demonstrates the attainment of new competencies throughout the training program. This provides an incentive for the employee to complete the program. It also provides a cost offset for an employer investing in employees who will not immediately be performing at full productivity, as well as a retention tool for employers who are investing in their employee training. This wage and its progressive increments are determined by the employer, not a state or federal agency. An apprentice cannot start at less than the federal or state minimum wage.
A program “registered” with the US Department of Labor (USDOL) shows an employer’s visible commitment to developing a high-quality workforce that meets nationally recognized training standards. The roles and responsibilities of both the employer and the employee are laid out in a written document (called the “Apprenticeship Standards”) and the curriculum for the training program is clearly delineated for both parties (through the “Training Schedule”). An apprenticeship program that is registered with USDOL awards a nationally-recognized credential to both the employer and the employee. In South Carolina, employers with registered apprenticeship programs are also eligible to receive a tax credit of $1,000 for each registered apprentice employed for at least 7 months during each year of his or her apprenticeship program, for up to four years.
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