WAC 296-05-417   Selection of apprentices for approved apprenticeship programs.  In addition to development of a written equal employment opportunity plan, the sponsor must submit a written plan for the selection of apprentices. The selection plan must ensure that minorities and women have an equal opportunity to be selected as apprentices and that full utilization and equal opportunity in apprenticeship is achieved promptly. The selection procedures must use one of the methods specified in this section.

     (1) A sponsor may not implement any selection method until the WSATC approves the program's equal employment opportunity plan. In the equal employment opportunity plan, the sponsor must identify the approved selection method it has adopted. The WSATC allows the following selection methods to be used:

     (a) Selection on basis of rank from pool of eligible applicants. With this method, a sponsor selects apprentices from a pool of eligible applicants based upon a rank ordering of applicant qualifying standard scores. A sponsor adopting this method must create a pool of eligible candidates who have either reached the minimum legal working age and meet the sponsor's minimum physical requirements or who have reached the minimum legal working age and meet the sponsor's qualification standards.

     (b) Random selection from pool of eligible applicants. A pool of eligible applicants must be created from persons who have either reached the minimum legal working age and meet the sponsor's minimum physical requirements or who have reached the minimum legal working age and meet the sponsor's qualification standards. With WSATC approval, a sponsor may randomly select apprentices from a pool of eligible applicants. This method must be supervised by an impartial person(s) not associated with the administration of the apprenticeship program. The time and place of the selection, and the number of apprentices to be selected, must be publicly announced before the selection takes place. The selection process must be open to all applicants and the public. The names of apprentices drawn by this method shall be posted immediately following the selection at the program sponsor's place of business.

     (c) Selection from pool of current employees. A sponsor may select apprentices from an eligibility pool of program employees. The actual selection process may be prescribed by a collective bargaining agreement where one exists, or by the sponsor's established promotion policy.

     (d) Alternative selection methods. In addition to the above specified methods, the WSATC allows a sponsor to select apprentices by alternative methods, including its present selection method. However, the sponsor who adopts an alternative method of selection must submit the following information to the apprenticeship supervisor:

     (i) A detailed discussion of the selection method it proposes to use;

     (ii) A copy of its equal employment opportunity plan;

     (iii) A copy of its enrollment deficiency analysis; and

     (iv) If necessary, its goals and timetables for increasing the number of minority and female applicants and apprentices in the program.

     The sponsor may not implement any such alternative method until the WSATC has approved the method and the equal employment opportunity program (including its goals and timetables).

     When an alternative selection method is used and the training agent selects the apprentices, the employer must sign an agreement with the WSATC, agreeing to comply with the equal employment opportunity requirements of these rules and 29 CFR Part 30.

     (2) Exceptions to selection procedures may be used if:

     (a) An employee of an employer not qualifying as a journey-level worker becomes a training agent, he/she shall be evaluated by the apprenticeship program using constant standard nondiscriminatory means and registered at the appropriate period of apprenticeship based on previous work experience and related training.

     (b) The individual who signs an authorization card during the organizing effort by an employer wherein fifty percent or more of the employees have signed whether or not the individual is approved as a training agent, an individual not qualifying as a journey-level worker shall be evaluated by the sponsor and registered at the appropriate period of apprenticeship based on previous work experience and related training.

     (3) Organizing statements specified in subsection (2) of this section, that result in direct entry into the apprenticeship program, shall be properly placed within the program selection procedure as an exemption.

     (4) If the WSATC or the department fails to act upon the sponsor's selection method and equal employment opportunity program within thirty calendar days of its submission to the department, the sponsor may implement the selection method until acted upon by the WSATC.



[Statutory Authority: Chapter 49.04 RCW and RCW 19.285.040. 11-11-002, § 296-05-417, filed 5/4/11, effective 7/25/11. Statutory Authority: RCW 49.04.010, 2001 c 204, and chapter 49.04 RCW. 01-22-055, § 296-05-417, filed 10/31/01, effective 1/17/02.]