Starting today, a new feature on the Delaware One Stop will enable contractors to make a payment to the Apprenticeship and Training Fund as one way to comply with 29 Del. C. § 6960A-Craft Training Requirements. The Delaware Department of Labor plans to launch this in two phases. In order to meet the September 9, 2022, deadline set in Senate Bill 184 an online form will be available from September through November 2022. By December 2022, the DOL plans to launch Phase 2 which completes implementation and will result in a more sophisticated and integrated system that is built and modeled off Contractor Registration within the Delaware One Stop. It will have the same access, look, and feel, and pull contractor information into the new feature from a company’s Contractor Registration.

Any contracts executed on September 9, 2022, and after, will have the option to meet the Craft Training requirements through a financial payment. There are other changes that go into effect on September 9, 2022, which include the requirement to meet Craft Training requirements for each craft in the project that is listed on DOL’S website under “Occupational Lists.”

The per trade financial contribution may be updated annually in January. Currently, the contribution is $2,000 per trade per awarded contract. There is a maximum financial contribution per calendar year based upon employer size. For employers with 10 through 25 employees, contributions are capped at $10,000. Employers with more than 25 employees have contributions capped at $20,000. Those employers with less than 10 employees are exempt from the Craft Training Requirements.

In addition to the financial support of Delaware’s Apprenticeship Training Fund, contractors have three other means of compliance:

1. Having at least 1 active apprentice in a craft training program for the craft.

2. Having at least 1 active apprentice who completes a craft training program for the craft within the 6 months before the date the contract was executed.

3. Being a member of a consortium that provides craft training for the craft, and all the following apply to the craft training program for the craft:

a. The consortium requires a regular financial contribution.

b. The contractor or subcontractor has access to the craft training program.

c. There is at least 1 active apprentice in the craft training program.

As when the Contractor Registry portal was being tested in 2021, several DCA members have assisted in the testing of this portal as well. No one knows better than DCA’s members how important it is to our industry that we support workers becoming highly skilled in their craft. Like all negotiated legislation, this bill is not perfect but, in the end, its aim is to provide a number of ways to increase Delaware’s skilled workforce. If your company chooses to utilize this avenue of compliance but has issues with the portal, please let me know and I will relay them to DOL.