(a) The Department of Labor shall provide for related and supplementary instruction for apprentices employed under apprenticeship programs registered and approved by the Council, and for all on-the-job trainees. To make certain there is statewide access to training opportunities, the Department shall ensure that instruction in the electrical and plumbing trades is offered at each regional CTE center, as defined by 16 V.S.A. § 1522(4). If the Department enters into a single-source contract with an entity to provide apprenticeship training, the contract shall specify that access to programs must be available to all Vermont residents, at least through online courses.

(b) The Department of Labor may charge fees to the employers of apprentices registered in Vermont and to nonregistered individuals to help offset the cost of apprenticeship related instruction provided by the Department. An employer shall not charge any apprentice for any of the fees charged to the employer under this section, nor shall an employer reduce an employee's compensation in any manner in order to recover these fees from any apprentice. The fees shall be used, in conjunction with other approved funds, to provide classroom instruction primarily for Vermont registered apprentices. The Vermont Department of Labor may adopt rules to carry out this provision. (Amended 1961, No. 186; 1963, No. 85, § 2, eff. May 10, 1963; 1995, No. 47, § 10, eff. April 20, 1995; 1997, No. 143 (Adj. Sess.), § 5; 2001, No. 50, § 1, eff. June 12, 2001; 2005, No. 103 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 5, 2006; 2009, No. 146 (Adj. Sess.), § G15, eff. June 1, 2010; 2013, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 302, eff. Feb. 14, 2014; 2017, No. 74, § 45.)