106.01 Apprentice contracts.
(1) Formation of apprentice contract. Any person 16 years of age or over may enter into an apprentice contract binding himself or herself to serve as an apprentice as provided in this section. The term of service of an apprenticeship shall be for not less than one year. Every apprentice contract shall be in writing and shall be signed by the apprentice, the department, and the sponsor or an apprenticeship committee acting as the agent of the sponsor. If the apprentice has not reached 18 years of age, the apprentice contract shall also be signed by one of the apprentice's parents or, if both parents are deceased or legally incapable of giving consent, by the guardian of the apprentice or, if there is no guardian, by a deputy of the department. The department shall specify the provisions that are required to be included in an apprentice contract by rule promulgated under sub. (11).
(5m) Assignment of apprentice contract.
(a) Upon entering into an apprentice contract, a sponsor that is not the proposed employer of the apprentice, or an apprenticeship committee that is acting as the agent of a sponsor, shall, with the acceptance of the apprentice contract by the proposed employer, assign the apprentice contract to the proposed employer, and the proposed employer and the apprentice named in the assignment shall be bound by the terms of the apprentice contract.
(b) The department shall furnish a copy of an acceptance described in par. (a) to each party that has signed the apprentice contract. A sponsor or apprenticeship committee that enters into an apprentice contract shall have the exclusive right to assign or reassign the apprentice contract to another sponsor, and the apprentice shall not be permitted to enter into any other apprentice contract. The period transpiring before assignment to an employer or reassignment to another employer shall not be credited toward the term of apprenticeship. The approval of the department is required in each transaction.
(c) A sponsor or apprenticeship committee that enters into an apprentice contract may reassign the apprentice contract to a different employer, but the apprentice shall not be bound by a reassignment unless that employer accepts the terms of the apprentice contract and agrees to perform the unperformed obligations of the apprentice contract. After a reassignment, the new employer shall perform the unperformed obligations of the apprentice contract. The department shall continue to have jurisdiction over an apprentice contract reassigned under this paragraph and the parties bound after the reassignment.
(5p) Termination of apprentice contract. The department, on its own motion or on the complaint of any person, and after due notice, investigation, and, if requested by the apprentice, employer, or sponsor, a hearing under sub. (9), may make findings and issue an order terminating an apprentice contract if it is proved that any apprentice, employer, or sponsor that is a party to the apprentice contract is unable to continue with the obligations under the apprentice contract or has breached the apprentice contract. Upon termination of the apprentice contract, the released apprentice may enter into a new apprentice contract under any terms and conditions approved by the department that are consistent with this section.
(6) Related instruction.
(a) An employer shall pay an apprentice for the time that the apprentice is receiving related instruction as provided in this paragraph. An employer shall pay an apprentice for not less than the number of hours of related instruction specified in par. (b) or the number of hours of related instruction specified in the apprentice contract, whichever is greater, at the same rate per hour as the employer pays the apprentice for services performed.
(b) During the first 2 years of an apprenticeship, the sponsor shall provide for the apprentice not less than 144 hours per year of related instruction. If the apprenticeship is for longer than 2 years, the sponsor shall provide for the apprentice not less than a total of 400 hours of related instruction over the term of the apprenticeship. If the apprentice is receiving classroom instruction, the sponsor shall provide for the apprentice not less than 4 hours of related instruction or the equivalent during each week that the school providing the classroom instruction is in session. The total number of hours of related instruction and work that a sponsor may assign to an apprentice may not exceed 55 per week, except that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to forbid overtime work as provided in sub. (7).
(c) This subsection does not prohibit an agreement between the parties requiring the apprentice to take additional instruction on the apprentice's own time in excess of the number of hours required under par. (b) or the apprentice contract, whichever is greater.
(d) The provider of related instruction to an apprentice shall submit reports on the grades and attendance of the apprentice to the department and the sponsor in accordance with standards set by the department.
(e) All school officers and public school teachers shall cooperate with the department and employers and sponsors of apprentices to furnish, in a public school or any school supported in whole or in part by public moneys, any related instruction that may be required to be given apprentices.
(7) Overtime. An apprentice may be allowed to work overtime. All time in excess of the hours of labor that are paid at an employee's regular rate of pay in the particular craft, industry, or business and by the particular employer shall be considered overtime. An apprentice's rate of pay for overtime shall be increased by the same percentage as the journey worker's rate of pay for overtime is increased in the same industry or establishment.
(8) Nonperformance of apprentice contract. If the apprentice or sponsor that is a party to an apprentice contract or an assignee employer fails to perform any of the stipulations of the apprentice contract, the apprentice, sponsor, or assignee employer may be required to forfeit not less than $100 nor more than $1,000, which is to be collected on complaint of the department and paid into the state treasury. In addition, the department may terminate an apprentice contract under sub. (5p) upon application of any party and for good cause shown.
(9) Authority of department. The department, subject to s. 106.015, may investigate, fix reasonable classifications, issue rules and general or special orders, and hold hearings, make findings, and render orders upon its findings as necessary to carry out the intent and purposes of this section. The investigations, classifications, hearings, findings, and orders shall be made as provided in s. 103.005. Except as provided in sub. (8), the penalties specified in s. 103.005 (12) apply to violations of this section. Orders issued under this subsection are subject to review under ch. 227.
(11) Rules. The department, subject to s. 106.015, shall promulgate rules to implement this section, including rules providing for all of the following:
(a) The provisions that are required to be included in an apprentice contract.
(b) Procedures for approving and for rescinding approval of apprenticeship programs.
History: 1971 c. 228 s. 43; 1977 c. 29 s. 1651; 1977 c. 273; 1993 a. 492; 1995 a. 27; 1999 a. 83; 2001 a. 16; 2003 a. 33; 2009 a. 291; 2015 a. 258; 2017 a. 148; 2017 a. 365 s. 111.
The department was a necessary party to an action by a city employee for an allegedly discriminatory annulment of his apprentice indenture. Tillman v. City of Milwaukee, 715 F.2d 354 (1983).