Labor Dept Ends Affirmative Action Mandates for Apprenticeships

The U.S. Department of Labor issued a final rule Thursday that strips affirmative-action and related equal-employment mandates from registered apprenticeship sponsors, according to a Federal Register public-inspection document scheduled for formal publication Friday.

Titled “Prohibiting Illegal Discrimination in Registered Apprenticeship Programs,” the rule revises 29 CFR parts 29 and 30. The Employment and Training Administration said sponsors will no longer face apprenticeship-specific affirmative-action duties and instead must comply with federal and state laws that already ban illegal discrimination.

Affirmative action and training mandates removed

Under the prior part 30 framework, sponsors had a general duty to engage in affirmative action and meet equal employment opportunity obligations. That package included designating an equal-opportunity manager, conducting anti-harassment training and posting an equal-opportunity pledge, the rule says.

Sponsors with five or more apprentices also faced utilization analyses and numerical hiring goals based on race, sex and ethnicity. The final rule rescinds those requirements, along with related recordkeeping, selection-procedure and retaliation provisions tied to the old part 30 scheme, the Department said.

In their place, the rule imposes a streamlined duty that every registered apprenticeship sponsor follow applicable federal and state nondiscrimination laws and use revised complaint pathways for alleged discrimination.

Legal rationale and timing

The Department cited administrative burden on sponsors and legal risk after the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which limited race-conscious admissions. Officials said the apprenticeship affirmative-action mandate dated to 1971 and may not survive challenge, according to the rule’s preamble.

Bloomberg Law reported Thursday that the change is part of a broader Labor Department effort to unwind diversity goals in workforce programs. The final rule takes effect 60 days after its Federal Register publication date. States seeking recognition from the Office of Apprenticeship as State Apprenticeship Agencies must meet the revised framework.

Related: U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Fall to 189,000.

Sources: Federal Register (public inspection), DOL final rule PDF, Bloomberg Law