New York Lifts Moratorium On Apprentice Programs

Finally! Effective October 15, 2008, New York lifted the moratorium on apprenticeship training programs. The moratorium was first put in place on August 28, 2007, during which time State approval of all new apprentice programs was suspended.

As a result many non-union and merit shop employers without such programs, or whose applications had yet to be approved, were precluded from performing certain public work requiring the existence of such a program. The only qualified contractors were mostly union shops, although a few (and I mean A FEW) non-union contractors with the foresight to have had their own State approved apprenticeship training programs at the time the moratorium was imposed were able to stay in the mix.

The Department of Labor has enacted Emergency Regulations for apprenticeship programs which, among other things, include the following:

• Two-year probationary periods for new sponsor applications;
• Three-year recertifications of all Apprenticeship Training programs;
• Establishment of a written public comment period for all new trades and program applications;
• Sponsors’ responsibilities for employer signatories; and
  
• Job rotation requirements and acceptable documentation.

The Emergency Regulations are effective for 90 days, and the Department of Labor anticipates that they will be replaced with a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in January, 2009. Stay tuned.