Become a Trainer

ABC of WI requires that every sponsoring employer comply with all applicable local, state, and federal laws, as well as apprenticeship and licensing requirements.

The recruitment, selection, employment, and training of apprentices during the apprenticeship shall be without discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, cred, handicap, marital status, ancestry, sexual orientation, arrest record, conviction record, or membership in the military forces of the United States, or this state.

The sponsor will take affirmative action to provide equal employment opportunity in apprenticeship and will operate the apprenticeship program and required under title 290 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 30 and the Equal Opportunity Regulations of the State of Wisconsin.

Trainers must:

1. Be financially reliable and have at least one year in business as an employer in the trade for they wish to train.
2. Be able to furnish the equivalent diversified training and work experiences required of the apprenticeship, to result in normal advancement for the apprentice.
3. Work at the trade full-time or employ full-time skilled workers, to ensure safe and quality training always.
4. Hold credentials for the trade(s) in which they train apprentices as required by state and local laws.
5. Be available to meet with the apprenticeship committee at designated intervals to keep it informed as to the apprentice’s progress, conduct, schooling, etc. You may also be required to provide information in writing.
6. Have formal written Safety and Hazardous Communication (HazCom) programs as required by OSHA. The employer is responsible to train apprentices in accordance with OSHA standards as described in Public Law 91-596 dated December 29, 1970.
7. Allow apprentices to attend all paid related instruction. Work is not an excuse for missing class.
8. Pay the apprentice at least the minimum progressive skilled wage rate set by the DWD Bureau of Apprenticeship Standards. 
9. Pay the apprentice while attending school at the same rate for working on the job.
10. For those trades that require licenses, trainers must ensure apprentices have valid licenses at all times.

Apprentices must be trained under the supervision of a skilled trade person employed by the sponsoring employer in the respective trade. Apprentices require on-the-job supervision to ensure thorough, safe training and continuity of employment by the sponsoring employer.

No. Apprentices are not allowed to supervise other apprentices.

All apprentices attend paid-related instruction as part of his/her training. Apprentices are required by state law to be paid by the sponsoring employer to attend class on a per-hour basis.

Apprentices are required to be paid during paid-related instruction but not during unpaid-related instruction.

Paid-related instruction is the regular apprenticeship classes apprentices attend, either in the traditional classes or the block classes.

All apprentices attend unpaid-related instruction as part of his/her training, including in-person First Aid, CPR and an OSHA 10-Hour classes during the first 12 months of the program and a Transition-to-Trainer class in the final year of the apprenticeship. Some trades require the apprentice to also complete additional unpaid related instruction courses relevant to the trade.

Traditional Classes:

• Most apprentices have paid-related instruction one day, every two weeks, for 8 hours each class. Some paid-related instruction is held one night per week, for 4 hours each class. These classes are held from August to May.
• The apprentice application deadline for these classes, which start in the fall semester (Aug/Sept), is July 15.

Block Classes:

• Apprentices attend school in non-consecutive week-long blocks during the winter months. Class is held for approximately 4 weeks each year. This schedule allows apprentices from around the state to attend.

The apprentice application deadline for these classes is November 15.

Yes, depending on the trade.

When apprentices work outside their normal geographic area where there is a higher skilled wage rate, the employer must use the higher skilled wage rate for determining apprentice wages while working in the higher rate areas. If the rate for the region is lower than the region he/she was contracted in, then that higher “home” rate must be used, not the rate in the region with the lower rate.

When an apprentice reaches his/her contract date anniversary AND successfully completes the number of combined work/paid/unpaid related instruction hours as indicated on his/her Trade Information (contract), he/she must be raised to the next percentage level of the skilled wage rate. Employers can contact an ABC of Wisconsin Education Coordinator at any time to verify if an apprentice Is eligible for the increase in pay for the respective region.

There is an online application to get the process started. Apply Here