Code of Massachusetts Regulations
454 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF LABOR STANDARDS
Title 454 CMR 26.00 - Apprentice Standards
Section 26.02 - Definitions
Administrator means the Administrator of the Office of Apprenticeship, or any person specifically designated by the Administrator.
Apprentice means any person, 16 years of age or older, except where a higher minimum age standard is otherwise fixed by law, who is participating, through employment, in an approved schedule of work experience supplemented by related instruction and who is a party to an apprentice agreement registered with the Division of Apprentice Standards.
Apprenticeship Agreement means a written agreement, complying with 454 CMR 26.06, between an apprentice and either the apprentice's program sponsor, or an apprenticeship committee acting as agent for the program sponsor(s), which contains the terms and conditions of the employment and training of the apprentice.
Apprenticeship Committee means those persons designated by the apprentice program sponsor to act for it in the administration of an apprentice program.
(a) A joint committee is composed of an equal number of representatives of the employer(s) and of the employees represented by a bona fide collective bargaining agent(s).
(b) A non-joint committee, which may also be known as a unilateral or group non-joint (which may include employees) committee, has employer representatives but does not have a bona fide collective bargaining agent as a participant.
Apprenticeable Occupation means one which is specified by industry and which must:
(a) Involve skills that are customarily learned in a practical way through a structured, systematic program of on-the-job supervised learning;
(b) Be clearly identified and commonly recognized throughout an industry;
(c) Involve the progressive attainment of manual, mechanical or technical skills and knowledge which, in accordance with the industry standard for the occupation, would require the completion of at least 2,000 hours of supervised on-the-job learning to attain; and (d) Require related instruction to supplement the on-the-job learning.
Apprenticeship Program means a plan registered with the Division containing all terms and conditions for the qualification, recruitment, selection, employment and training of apprentices, as required under 454 CMR 26.04, including but not limited to such matters as the requirement for a written apprenticeship agreement.
Articulated Credit means credit that is provided to a student from a training facility that is transferable to another training facility through a written agreement.
Cancellation means the termination of the registration or approval status of a program at the request of the sponsor, or termination of an Apprenticeship Agreement at the request of the apprentice, or in accordance with 454 CMR 26.08.
Certification or Certificate means documentary evidence that:
(a) The Office of Apprenticeship has approved a set of National Guidelines for Apprenticeship Standards developed by a national committee or organization, joint or unilateral, for policy or guideline use by local affiliates, as conforming to the standards of apprenticeship set forth in 29 CFR 29.5.
(b) The Division has established that an individual is eligible for probationary employment as an apprentice under a registered apprenticeship program;
(c) The Division has registered an apprenticeship program as evidenced by a Certificate of Registration or other written indicia;
(d) The Division has determined that an apprentice has successfully met the requirements to receive an interim credential; or
(e) The Division has determined that an individual has successfully completed apprenticeship.
Competency means the attainment of manual, mechanical or technical skills and knowledge, as specified by an occupational standard and demonstrated by an appropriate written and hands-on proficiency measurement.
Completion Rate means the percentage of an apprenticeship cohort who receive a certificate of apprenticeship completion within one year of the projected completion date. An apprenticeship cohort is the group of individual apprentices registered to a specific program during a one year time frame, except that a cohort does not include the apprentices whose apprenticeship agreement has been cancelled during the probationary period.
Department means Department of Labor Standards.
Deputy Director means the Director of the Division of Apprentice Standards and his or her designees.
Deregistration means the termination of the registration status of an apprentice program.
Director means the Director of the Department of Labor Standards and his or her designees.
Division means the Department of Labor Standards Division of Apprentice Standards.
Electronic Media means media that utilize electronics or electromechanical energy for the end user (audience) to access the content; and includes, but is not limited to, electronic storage media, transmission media, the Internet, extranet, lease lines, dial-up lines, private networks, and the physical movement of removable/transportable electronic media and/or interactive distance learning.
Employer means any person or organization employing an apprentice, whether or not such person or organization is a party to an apprentice agreement with the apprentice.
Full Time Employment means on the job employment of between 1500 to 2000 work hours per year.
Federal Purposes means any Federal contract, grant, agreement or arrangement dealing with apprenticeship; and any Federal financial or other assistance, benefit, privilege, contribution, allowance, exemption, preference or right pertaining to apprenticeship.
Interim Credential means a credential issued by the Division, as certification of competency attainment by an apprentice.
Journeyworker means a worker who has attained a level of skill, abilities and competencies recognized within an industry as required for the occupation. In the case of licensed professions, Journeyworker shall mean a worker who is licensed as required by the laws and/or regulations of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Massachusetts Apprenticeship Council means the entity established to assist the Division of Apprentice Standards and to provide advice and guidance on the operation of the state apprenticeship system.
Office of Apprenticeship means the office designated by the U.S. Employment and Training Administration to administer the National Apprenticeship System or its successor organization.
Pre-apprentice means any person who is attending classes to learn an apprenticeable occupation in an approved schedule of related instruction and who is participating in a registered pre-apprentice program registered with the Division of Apprentice Standards.
Pre-apprentice Sponsor means any person, association, committee, or organization operating a pre-apprenticeship program and in whose name the program is registered or approved.
Provisional Registration means the one year initial provisional approval of newly registered programs that meet the required standards for program registration, after which program approval may be made permanent, continued as provisional, or rescinded following a review by the Division.
Quality Assurance Assessment means a comprehensive review conducted by the Division regarding all aspects of an apprenticeship program's performance, including but not limited to review of program completion rates; and determining if apprentices are receiving: on-the-job training in all phases of the apprenticeable occupation; scheduled wage increases consistent with the registered standards; related instruction through appropriate curriculum and delivery systems; and that the Division is receiving notification of all new registrations, cancellations, and completions as required in 454 CMR 26.00.
Ratio means the allowable number of apprentices to the number of journey workers as established by the Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards working on the same jobsite and registered with the same sponsor in the same occupation.
Registration of an Apprenticeship Agreement means the acceptance and recording of an apprenticeship agreement by the Division as evidence of the apprentice's participation in a particular registered apprenticeship program.
Registration of an Apprenticeship Program means the registration and/or approval by the Division, as meeting the basic standards and requirements of the U.S. Department of Labor for approval of such program for Federal purposes. Approval is evidenced by a Certificate of Registration or other written indicia.
Registration of a Pre-apprenticeship Program means the registration and/or approval by the Division, as meeting the basic standards and requirements of the Division, including but not limited to, a written agreement with a registered apprentice program as specified in 454 CMR 26.05.
Related Instruction means an organized and systematic form of instruction designed to provide the apprentice with knowledge of the theoretical and technical subjects related to the apprentice's occupation. Such instruction may be given in a classroom, through occupational or industrial courses, or by correspondence courses of equivalent value, electronic media, or other forms of self-study approved by the Division, or in the case of licensed occupations, as approved by the licensing entity.
Sponsor means any person, association, committee, or organization operating an apprenticeship program and in whose name the program is registered or approved.
Technical Assistance means guidance provided by Division staff in the development, revision, amendment, or processing of a potential or current program sponsor's Standards of Apprenticeship or Apprenticeship Agreements, or advice or consultation with a program sponsor to further compliance with these regulations or guidance from the Office of Apprenticeship to the Division on how to remedy nonconformity with these regulations.
Transfer means a shift of apprenticeship registration from one program to another or from one employer within a program to another employer within that same program, where there is agreement between the apprentice and the affected apprenticeship committees or program sponsors.
