Apprentice paperwork is the part of training nobody enjoys. Here’s what New York actually asks registered programs to keep, and the records worth keeping even if you aren’t registered.
If your program is registered
When you register, you sign the Department of Labor’s program agreement (form AT-10). In it, sponsors agree to keep records for each apprentice, including:
- Job assignments, promotions, demotions, layoffs and terminations
- Rates of pay
- Progress in training, as outlined in the work processes for the trade
New York’s rules (12 NYCRR Part 601) also say each sponsor must keep adequate records of every part of the program and report on the state’s forms, and they mention related instruction attendance and class transcripts. Federal rules for registered apprenticeships likewise call for periodic review of each apprentice’s progress and “the maintenance of appropriate progress records.”
What “work processes” means
Each registered trade has a state outline that splits the job into categories with approximate hours. The electrician outline, for example, includes Project Layout and Planning (about 200 hours), Thinwall Conduit (about 1,000 hours) and Lighting System Installation (about 1,050 hours), for about 8,200 hours over five years. Your records should show progress through those categories, not just total hours.
Records worth keeping even if you aren’t registered
- Days and hours worked, approved by you. This is what licensing boards ask about years later.
- What kind of work they did, at least roughly: service calls, new construction, commercial.
- Classes and certificates: OSHA cards, BOCES or trade school courses.
- Pay and raises, which you keep for payroll anyway.
These same records are what wage reimbursement programs audit before paying you back, and what your apprentice needs for an experience letter when they go for their license.
A habit that keeps it easy
- The apprentice records each day while they still remember it.
- You approve the week, every week, while you still remember it too.
- Keep everything in one place that survives a lost notebook or a new phone.
That’s how FirstHand’s logbook works: apprentices log each day from their phone, you approve the week in one tap, and you can download approved hours as a spreadsheet for payroll. The record stays with the apprentice when they move on, so no one has to rebuild it later.