§ 32–1431. Registration of apprenticeship program required.

(a)(1) All prime contractors and subcontractors who contract with the District of Columbia government to perform construction, renovation work, or information technology work with a single contract, or cumulative contracts, of at least $500,000, let within a 12-month period shall be required to register an apprenticeship program with the District of Columbia Apprenticeship Council; and

(2) All beneficiaries of projects in excess of $1 million funded in whole or in part with funds which, in accordance with a federal grant or otherwise, the District of Columbia government administers, and in which the District of Columbia is a signatory to any agreement of a contractual nature, shall be required to register an apprenticeship program with the District of Columbia Apprenticeship Council.

(b) Beginning July 1, 2005, 35% of all apprenticeship hours performed pursuant to apprenticeship programs required by subsection (a) of this section shall be performed by District of Columbia residents.

(c)(1) Any prime contractor, subcontractor, or beneficiary that fails to comply with subsection (b) of this section shall be subject to a monetary fine in the amount of 5% of the direct and indirect labor costs of the contract.

(2) Fines for a violation of subsection (b) of this section shall be imposed by the Department of Employment Services. The Department of Employment Services may waive or reduce any fine if the Department of Employment Services finds that:

(A) A good faith effort to comply with the requirements of this section has been demonstrated by the prime contractor, subcontractor, or the beneficiary;

(B) The prime contractor, subcontractor, or the beneficiary enters into a special workforce development training or placement arrangement with the Department of Employment Services or the DC Workforce Investment Council;

(C) The Department of Employment Services certifies that there is an insufficient number of District residents in the labor market possessing the skills required for the apprenticeship positions needed under the contract; or

(D) The prime contractor, subcontractor, or the beneficiary is located outside the Washington Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area and none of the contract work is performed inside the Washington Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is comprised of the District of Columbia, Calvert, Charles, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties in Maryland, Arlington, Fairfax, Loudon, Prince William and Stafford Counties in Virginia and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park in Virginia.

(3) Any fine resulting from a violation of this subsection shall be remitted to the Department of Employment Services to be used solely for the support of vocational education programs.

(d) The prime contractor, subcontractor, or the beneficiary shall submit to the Department of Employment Services, for every month following the execution of the contract, a compliance report for the project that includes:

(1) The apprenticeship programs required by subsection (a) of this section that are registered with the District of Columbia Apprenticeship Council;

(2) The total number of apprenticeship hours required for the project;

(3) The total number of apprenticeship hours performed by District of Columbia residents; and

(4) The total number of apprentices hired for the reporting period and the cumulative total number of apprentices hired, including, for each, the:

(A) Name;

(B) Residence;

(D) Hire date.

(e) Nonprofit organizations with 50 employees or less shall be exempt from subsections (a) and (b) of this section.

(f) For purposes of this section, the term:

(1) “Beneficiary” means a signatory to a contract for a project in excess of $1 million funded in whole or in part with funds which, in accordance with a federal grant or otherwise, the District of Columbia government administers, and in which the District of Columbia is a signatory to any agreement of a contractual nature.

(2) “Information technology work” means the occupations of computer programmer, programmer analyst, desktop specialist, technical support specialist, data base specialist, network support specialist, and any other related occupation as the District of Columbia Apprenticeship Council may designate by regulation.

(Mar. 6, 1979, D.C. Law 2-156, § 5, 25 DCR 6991; Apr. 3, 2001, D.C. Law 13-257, § 2, 48 DCR 764; Apr. 8, 2005, D.C. Law 15-295, § 2; Oct. 22, 2015, D.C. Law 21-36, § 2013, 62 DCR 10905; Nov. 13, 2021, D.C. Law 24-45, § 4042, 68 DCR 010163.)

Prior Codifications

1981 Ed., § 36-409.

1973 Ed., § 36-127.1.

Section References

This section is referenced in § 34-1262.02.

Effect of Amendments

D.C. Law 13-257 designated the existing text as subsec. (a) and added subsecs. (b) and (c).

D.C. Law 15-295 rewrote this section.

The 2015 amendment by D.C. Law 21-36 substituted “Department of Employment Services” for “Contracting Officer” throughout (c)(2).

Cross References

Franchise apprentice programs, need for approval, see § 34-1262.02.

Emergency Legislation

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 4042 of Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2021 (D.C. Act 24-159, Aug. 23, 2021, 68 DCR 008602).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 3 of the Apprenticeship Modernization Emergency Amendment Act of 2014 (D.C. Act 20-579, Jan. 13, 2015, 62 DCR 1258, 21 STAT 724).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 3 of the Apprenticeship Modernization Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2015 (D.C. Act 21-16, Mar. 26, 2015, 62 DCR 3847, 21 DCSTAT 843).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2013 of the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2015 (D.C. Act 21-127, July 27, 2015, 62 DCR 10201).

Temporary Legislation

For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 3 of the Apprenticeship Modernization Temporary Amendment Act of 2015 (D.C. Law 20-256, Apr. 30, 2015, 62 DCR 2259).