2006 Minnesota Statutes

178.03 DIVISION OF VOLUNTARY APPRENTICESHIP.
    Subdivision 1. Establishment of division. There is established a Division of Labor
Standards and Apprenticeship in the Department of Labor and Industry. This division shall be
administered by a director, and be under the supervision of the commissioner of labor and
industry, hereinafter referred to as the commissioner.
    Subd. 2. Director of labor standards and apprenticeship. The commissioner shall appoint
a director of the Division of Labor Standards and Apprenticeship, hereinafter referred to as
the director, and may appoint and employ such clerical, technical, and professional help as is
necessary to accomplish the purposes of this chapter. The director and division staff shall be
appointed and shall serve in the classified service pursuant to civil service law and rules.
    Subd. 3. Duties and functions. The director, under the supervision of the commissioner,
and with the advice of the Apprenticeship Advisory Council, is authorized: to administer the
provisions of this chapter; to promote apprenticeship and other forms of on the job training; to
establish, in cooperation with the Apprenticeship Advisory Council and with the apprenticeship
committees, conditions and training standards for the approval of apprenticeship programs and
agreements, which conditions and standards shall in no case be lower than those prescribed by
this chapter; to promote equal employment opportunity in apprenticeship and other on the job
training and to establish a Minnesota plan for equal employment opportunity in apprenticeship
which shall be consistent with standards established under Code of Federal Regulations, title 29,
part 30, as amended; to issue certificates of registration to sponsors of approved apprenticeship
programs; to act as secretary of the Apprenticeship Advisory Council; to approve, if of the opinion
that approval is for the best interest of the apprentice, any apprenticeship agreement which meets
the standards established hereunder; to terminate any apprenticeship agreement in accordance
with the provisions of such agreement; to keep a record of apprenticeship agreements and their
disposition; to issue certificates of completion of apprenticeship; and to perform such other duties
as the commissioner deems necessary to carry out the intent of this chapter; provided, that the
administration and supervision of supplementary instruction in related subjects for apprentices;
coordination of instruction on a concurrent basis with job experiences, and the selection and
training of teachers and coordinators for such instruction shall be the function of state and local
boards responsible for vocational education. The director shall have the authority to make wage
determinations applicable to the graduated schedule of wages and journeyman wage rate for
apprenticeship agreements, giving consideration to the existing wage rates prevailing throughout
the state, except that no wage determination by the director shall alter an existing wage provision
for apprentices or journeymen that is contained in a bargaining agreement in effect between an
employer and an organization of employees, nor shall the director make any determination for
the beginning rate for an apprentice that is below the wage minimum established by federal or
state law.
    Subd. 4. Reciprocity approval. The director, if requested by a sponsoring entity, shall
grant reciprocity approval to apprenticeship programs of employers and unions who jointly
form a sponsoring entity on a multistate basis in other than the building construction industry if
such programs are in conformity with this chapter and have been registered in compliance with
Code of Federal Regulations, title 29, part 29, by a state apprenticeship council recognized by
or registered with the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, United States Department of
Labor, when such approval is necessary for federal purposes under Code of Federal Regulations,
title 29, section 29.12(a).
    Subd. 5.[Repealed, 1987 c 403 art 2 s 164]
History: (4260-33) 1939 c 363 s 3; Ex1967 c 1 s 6; 1974 c 144 s 3; 1979 c 130 s 2,3; 1985 c
248 s 70; 1Sp1985 c 14 art 9 s 10; 1986 c 444; 2003 c 128 art 11 s 5,6