Breakdown of a Registered Apprenticeship Program

In Louisiana, the State Apprenticeship Agency (SAA) is Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC). Through our ApprenticeshipLouisiana Initiative, we’re working to improve both quality and quantity of our Registered Apprenticeship programs within the State of Louisiana. We will work with you to develop, maintain, or join a Registered Apprenticeship program of success and rigor.

There are five key components to a Registered Apprenticeship program:
  1. Business Involvement (an employer that will put apprentices to work, assigning a mentor to provide one-on-one instruction and guidance to each apprentice)
  2. Structured On-the-Job Training (the full-time employment which provides the hands-on experience)
  3. Related Instruction (classroom based learning to provide technical knowledge)
  4. Rewards for Skill Gains (pay increases for the apprentice throughout the program)
  5. Nationally Recognized Credential (a portable, stackable certificate of completion from an approved Registered Apprenticeship program, recognized across the United States)

There are three important partner roles in a Registered Apprenticeship program: the employer, the training provider, and the program sponsor. An individual entity can fill any combination of these roles, including all three.

  1. The employer provides the full-time employment, the experienced journeyworker mentors, and the salaries of the apprentices
  2. The training provider in responsible for developing a Related Technical Instruction (RTI) curriculum—which complements the On-the-Job Training (OJT)—taught by a subject matter expert who has been trained in teaching techniques and adult learning styles.
  3. The program sponsor is the individual/organization responsible for the operation of the entire program: recruitment, tracking apprenticeship progress, wage increases, outreach, Equal Employment Opportunity, Affirmative Action Plan goals and timetables, and entering all individual apprentice information into the RAPIDS database system as they advance.

There are three different models that can be chosen as to how your apprenticeship program will be executed:
  • Time-Based – Based on an average of 2000 hours of On-the-Job Training and 144 hours of Related Technical Instruction
  • Competency-Based – Rather than based on hours, the apprentice can move through the program at their pace based on demonstrated competencies of different skills necessary to progress
  • Hybrid – A combination of the two, the Hybrid model utilizes both a certain number of minimum hours which are required and competencies which must be achieved