Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations Act - United States

Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations Act of 1992

This Act gives a definition of what is to be understood by "nontraditional occupations" - they are occupations in which women make up 25% or less of the total number of workers (29 USC §2509).

The purpose of the Act is to provide technical assistance to employers and labour unions to encourage employment of women as apprentices in all occupations, notably by preparing employers to successfully recruit, train, and retain women(29 USC §2501). This is also designed to expand the employment and self-sufficiency options of women.

This goal is to be achieved through the following means:

• Promotion of the technical assistance program:
• Employers and labour unions must be informed by the Secretary of Labor of the availability of technical assistance available under the Act which will assist them in preparing the workplace to employ women as apprentices (29 USC §2502).

Provision of technical assistance grants to community-based organizations:

The Secretary of Labor must make grants to these organizations to deliver technical assistance to employers and labour unions (29 USC §2503). Each community-based organisation that desires to receive a grant must submit an application to the Secretary of Labor. The latter will give priority to applications in accordance with 29 USC §2504. In order to be eligible to be selected to receive technical assistance, employers and labour unions must also apply, in accordance with 29 USC §2505. The technical assistance may include such actions as:

1. developing outreach and orientation sessions to recruit women;
2. developing pre-apprenticeship occupations or nontraditional skills training to prepare women for apprenticeships;
3. providing ongoing orientation for employers, unions, and workers on creating a successful environment for women apprentices and women in nontraditional occupations;
4. setting up support groups and facilitating networks for women in nontraditional occupations, on or off the job site, to improve their retention;
5. setting up a local computerised data base referral system to maintain a current list of tradeswomen who are available for work;
6. serving as a liaison between tradeswomen and employers and tradeswomen and labour unions to address workplace issues related to gender; and,
7. conducting exit interviews with tradeswomen to evaluate their on-the-job experience and to assess the effectiveness of the program.

Liaison role of the Department of Labour:

The Department must serve as a liaison between employers, labour, and the community-based organizations providing technical assistance, through its national office and its regional administrators (29 USC §2506).

Comprehensive study of the barriers to the participation of women. The Secretary of Labor conducts this study and submits a report to the Congress. The study must include the following:

1. the barriers to participation of women apprentices and women in nontraditional occupations;
2. strategies for overcoming such barriers;
3. the retention rates for women apprentices and women in nontraditional occupations;
4. strategies for retaining women apprentices and women in nontraditional occupations;
5. the effectiveness of the technical assistance provided by the community-based organizations; and,
6. other relevant issues affecting the participation of women apprentices in traditional and nontraditional occupations. (29 USC §2507).