On Jan. 17, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor published a proposed rule that would make significant and controversial revisions to the National Apprenticeship System, which will affect ABC members, chapters, apprentices and other industry stakeholders participating in government-registered apprenticeship programs. Take action now by submitting comments through ABC’s Action Center and app to tell the DOL to withdraw or improve this costly new rule!

ABC supports government-registered apprenticeship programs and offers more than 450 such education programs across the country as part of its all-of-the-above approach to meet the workforce needs of the construction industry. Unfortunately, the proposed rule implements dozens of burdensome and costly new recordkeeping requirements and reduces flexibility for GRAP sponsors and employers that will only exacerbate the construction industry’s workforce shortage.

Results from ABC’s February 2024 survey confirmed that the proposed rule would strongly discourage GRAP participation, with 96% of respondents stating new recordkeeping and reporting requirements will make them less likely to participate in or start their own GRAP. Further, ABC’s analysis of DOL data confirmed that GRAPs are already not keeping up with construction industry workforce needs.

For more information on the proposed rule, see ABC’s Newsline article.

ABC is available to help members and chapters interested in submitting more detailed comments to the DOL, prior to the proposal’s March 18 comment deadline.

Please reach out to Michael Altman at [email protected] to receive a customizable template and instructions on how to submit comments.