The Labor Department on Friday issued a final rule that removes affirmative action requirements for sponsors of Registered Apprenticeship programs. The Federal Register lists President Donald Trump as the signer. The rule takes effect Jan. 5, 2027.
Registered Apprenticeship programs combine paid on-the-job learning with related instruction. According to the department, 26,628 active programs trained more than 700,000 apprentices at the end of fiscal year 2025. Sponsors, the entities responsible for running the programs, are the ones affected.
The department said the old requirements were burdensome and legally questionable. It said it expects that removing them will significantly reduce administrative burdens for sponsors and support the growth of apprenticeship programs.
Under the rule, sponsors no longer have to meet a general duty to engage in affirmative action. That duty included naming someone to manage the program’s equal opportunity policy, conducting anti-harassment training and posting an equal opportunity pledge. The rule also removes the extra requirements for sponsors with five or more apprentices. Those required utilization analyses and numerical hiring goals based on race, sex and ethnicity.
In their place, all sponsors must comply with applicable Federal and State laws that prohibit illegal discrimination. The rule says violations involving an apprentice or applicant can lead to enforcement action or removal of a program’s registration. The department said the sponsor is responsible for compliance, whether or not it directly employs the apprentices.
The rule also changes recordkeeping. Sponsors no longer must specifically ask apprentices about race, sex, ethnicity and disability status. They need only include “a request for demographic data about the apprentice” in apprenticeship agreements. States that want recognition as State Apprenticeship Agencies must have laws that conform to the revised rule.
The department received public comments on its July 2, 2025, proposal. A couple of commenters supported the change as a way to cut complexity. Other commenters said a general duty to follow existing laws would weaken protections and leave some apprentices uncovered. They pointed to programs run by entities such as non-profit trade associations, and to small sponsors that fall below the employee minimum in Title VII.
The department disagreed that the protections were not robust enough. It acknowledged that some entities with apprentices are not covered by Federal or State nondiscrimination laws, including those with fewer employees than the legal minimums. It said Congress and State legislatures set those thresholds and could amend them, and that it would not use a regulation to go beyond what lawmakers chose.
One commenter asked whether the changes could apply only to employers above a certain size. The department said it considered the idea but chose a uniform rule for all sponsors, which it said gives clearer obligations.