2007 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 and consultation of the Apprenticeship Board, is authorized: to administer
the provisions of this chapter; to promote apprenticeship and other forms of on the job training;
to establish, in cooperation and consultation with the Apprenticeship Board 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 Board; 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; 2007 c 135 art 7
s 3; 2007 c 140 art 11 s 3