Towns across Long Island have been adopting legislation to require apprenticeship training programs for commercial projects, and North Hempstead is now the most recent of these.

In October, the North Hempstead town board amended the town code to require building permit applicants to have apprenticeship training agreements for projects of at least 100,000 square feet. These agreements must be registered and approved by the state Department of Labor.

The purpose of such apprenticeship programs is to start training the next generation of workforce: helping skilled tradespeople to pass along their knowledge, so that construction projects can be completed more safely and efficiently.

The town board modeled the legislation after measures adopted in Oyster Bay and Huntington. Babylon, Brookhaven, and Long Beach also have adopted similar measures.

The cost of one person’s apprenticeship training is typically $35,000 to $50,000 and can take up to five years, depending on the trade. An apprentice’s salary and benefits package includes training, so they receive lower wages than journeymen, who have already completed their apprenticeships and have their wages set by the state Department of Labor.

In the past, some contractors have abused their apprentices by neglecting to graduate them, which allows the contractors to continue paying lower wages. To curtail this practice, the city’s new code requires contractors who wish to bid on county contracts to graduate at least one apprentice per year.

For more information on these new requirements, please contact the Long Island office of Milrose Consultants.