Apprenticeship Agreement Template (US)
Updated on August 8, 2026
An apprenticeship agreement is the written contract between an apprentice and the employer or program sponsor who trains them. It records the occupation, how long the apprenticeship runs, how many hours of on-the-job learning and classroom instruction it involves, who supervises the apprentice, and — the part most templates get wrong — what the apprentice is paid at each stage. An apprenticeship is a job with structured training attached, not an unpaid course, so pay is a term of the agreement rather than an afterthought.
This template covers both routes: a registered apprenticeship, where a sponsor's program is registered with a State Apprenticeship Agency or the US Department of Labor's Office of Apprenticeship and the individual apprentice is registered on the federal agreement form, and a private company training agreement that is not part of a registered program. The document changes wording depending on which you pick, because the obligations are not the same. It is built directly against the list of contents in the federal apprenticeship regulation, and it fixes the defect in the widely copied free template it replaces: that template charges the apprentice a monthly participation fee and contains no wage clause at all.
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Apprenticeship Agreement
This Apprenticeship Agreement is made on between of (the Employer) and of (the Apprentice), born .
The Apprentice is being trained under a registered apprenticeship program sponsored by and registered with . The sponsor's Standards of Apprenticeship apply to this apprenticeship and are incorporated into it. This Agreement records the terms between the Employer and the Apprentice and does not replace the apprenticeship agreement form filed with the registration agency.
1. Occupation and Term
The Apprentice will be trained in the occupation of . Training begins on and is expected to run for . The Apprentice is scheduled to work hours per week.
2. Training and Related Instruction
The apprenticeship comprises of structured on-the-job learning, together with of related technical instruction per year delivered by .
Time spent in related technical instruction is paid at the Apprentice's applicable wage rate and counts as working time.
The Apprentice will be supervised by , who is responsible for day-to-day guidance, safety instruction and periodic review of progress. The schedule of work processes the Apprentice will rotate through is: .
3. Wages
The Apprentice is an employee and is paid for all hours worked. The starting wage rate is , progressing toward the journey-level rate of in accordance with the following graduated wage scale: . Wages are paid .
No fee, deposit, tuition or other charge is payable by the Apprentice to the Employer for participating in this apprenticeship, and no such amount will be deducted from the Apprentice's wages.
The Employer supplies, at its own cost, the tools, equipment and personal protective equipment the Apprentice needs to perform the work safely, together with the safety training required for the tasks assigned.
4. Health and Safety
The Apprentice will follow the Employer's health and safety rules, use protective equipment as instructed, and report accidents, near misses and hazards promptly. The Employer will not assign the Apprentice work for which they have not been trained or which they are not permitted by law to perform.
5. Equal Opportunity
The Apprentice will be given equal opportunity in all phases of apprenticeship employment and training, without discrimination on any ground protected by applicable federal or state law, and the Employer will operate its apprenticeship selection and treatment practices on that basis.
6. Confidentiality and Work Product
The Apprentice will keep the Employer's confidential and proprietary information confidential during and after the apprenticeship. The Apprentice assigns to the Employer all rights in work, materials and inventions created in the course of their duties under this Agreement, excluding anything created before it began and anything created outside working hours without using the Employer's materials, equipment or confidential information.
7. Probation and Ending the Agreement
The first of the apprenticeship is a probationary period, during which either party may end this Agreement by written notice without stating a cause. After probation, either party may end it by giving written notice stating the cause.
Where this Agreement is cancelled, the sponsor will notify the registration agency in writing with the cause stated, so that the Apprentice's registration record is updated and any credit earned can be recognised elsewhere.
8. Completion
On successfully completing the required hours or competencies and the related instruction, the Apprentice will receive: .
Completing the apprenticeship does not by itself create any right to continued employment. Any offer of employment after the apprenticeship will be made separately and on its own terms.
9. Governing Law
This Agreement is governed by the laws of and by the federal and state employment, wage, safety and apprenticeship rules that apply to the Apprentice's work.
Employer
Date:
Apprentice
Date:
Parent or guardian (if applicable)
Date:
Registered apprenticeship or private training agreement?
A registered apprenticeship is a program whose standards have been registered with the Office of Apprenticeship or a recognized State Apprenticeship Agency. Registration brings a defined structure — a schedule of work processes, related technical instruction, a graduated wage scale, a mentor, and a nationally recognized credential when the apprentice completes. For a registered program, the individual apprentice is enrolled using the federal apprenticeship agreement form, and the sponsor's own Standards of Apprenticeship are incorporated into that agreement by reference. This template does not replace that form. It sits alongside it and records the employment terms the parties agree between themselves.
A private training agreement is what most small employers actually sign: a job with structured on-the-job training, a named mentor and an agreed learning plan, but no registration and no nationally recognized credential at the end. That is a perfectly legitimate arrangement, and this template supports it. What it must not do is borrow the language of a registered program — claiming a 'nationally recognized' credential, or referring to registration agency approval, when neither exists. Pick the option that matches reality and the document adjusts.
The apprentice is paid, and the wage progresses
The single largest defect in free apprenticeship templates is that they treat an apprentice like a student who buys training. The source template this page replaces goes further: it makes the apprentice pay a monthly fee, makes them buy their own tools and examination sittings, and never mentions a wage anywhere in the document. An apprentice who works for an employer, on the employer's premises, under the employer's direction, is a worker. Wage and hour law applies to them.
The federal apprenticeship regulation makes the point explicitly for registered programs: the agreement must contain a statement of the graduated scale of wages to be paid to the apprentice, and must say whether the required related instruction is compensated. This template therefore asks for a starting rate, the journey-level rate the scale works toward, the wage progression itself, and a separate yes/no on whether classroom hours are paid. It also carries an express statement that no fee is charged to the apprentice for participating — the mirror image of the clause it replaces.
Whether a particular apprentice wage is lawful is a separate question that depends on federal minimum wage, your state's minimum wage, the occupation, whether prevailing-wage rules apply on public work, and whether any subminimum certificate is in play. The template gives you the fields to state the wage; it does not tell you the wage is lawful. Check the rate before you sign.
Hours, instruction and the training plan
Apprenticeships are measured in three ways: time-based, meaning a set number of on-the-job hours; competency-based, meaning demonstrated skill sets rather than a clock; or a hybrid of both. Whichever you use, the agreement should record the target, the related technical instruction hours that go with it, and who delivers that instruction — a community college, a trade association, an internal training team, or a joint apprenticeship committee.
The agreement should also name a mentor or supervising journeyworker and describe the schedule of work processes: which tasks the apprentice rotates through and roughly how much time each takes. This is where a training plan belongs. A one-line 'the apprentice will receive training in the field' commits nobody to anything and gives the apprentice no basis to complain when they spend eleven months sweeping the shop.
Probation, cancellation and what happens at the end
Every apprenticeship needs an exit route that both sides understand in advance. The template sets a probationary period during which either party may end the agreement without cause, and then a post-probation process: notice in writing, with cause stated. For a registered apprenticeship the agreement also records that cancellation is notified to the registration agency, because the apprentice's registration record has to be updated — a step that is easy to forget and that affects the apprentice's ability to carry credit to another program.
At completion, the document records what the apprentice receives: a completion certificate from the registration agency for a registered program, or an employer-issued statement of training and hours for a private one. It also states plainly whether completion creates any right to continued employment, because silence on that point is a common source of dispute.
Clause-by-clause guide
- Parties, date of birth and guardian signature
- Identifies the employer, the sponsor if different, and the apprentice. Where the apprentice is a minor, a parent or guardian signs as well, and child-labor limits on hours and equipment apply on top of this agreement.
- Occupation, start date and term
- States the trade or occupation being learned, when training begins, and how long it is expected to run. Vague occupations make the whole training plan unenforceable.
- Program type and registration
- Records whether this is a registered apprenticeship with a sponsor and registration agency, or a private company training agreement with no registration and no nationally recognized credential.
- Hours and related technical instruction
- Sets the on-the-job learning target, the classroom or online instruction hours, who provides that instruction, and whether those hours are paid.
- Graduated wage scale
- The clause the source template omits entirely. Gives the starting rate, the journey-level rate, and the progression between them, plus an express statement that the apprentice is charged no participation fee.
- Supervision and training plan
- Names the mentor or supervising journeyworker and sets out the schedule of work processes so the apprentice knows what they will actually be taught.
- Equal opportunity
- Commits the employer to selecting and treating apprentices without discrimination, which for registered programs is a condition of the program itself.
- Probation, cancellation and completion
- Sets the probationary period, the notice and cause required afterwards, notification to the registration agency where relevant, and what the apprentice receives on completion.
- Safety, confidentiality and work product
- Health and safety duties, protective equipment supplied at the employer's cost, confidentiality that survives the apprenticeship, and an actual assignment of work created in the course of duties rather than a bare assertion of ownership.
US compliance checklist
Work through this before signing. Registered programs have obligations that private training agreements do not.
Cover the items the federal regulation lists
For a registered apprenticeship the agreement must contain the parties and signatures, the apprentice's date of birth, sponsor and registration agency contact details, the occupation, start date and term, the hours or competencies and related instruction hours, the schedule of work processes, a graduated wage scale and whether instruction is paid, the probationary period, the program standards by reference, an equal-opportunity statement, and where to take a dispute.
29 CFR 29.7 - contents of the apprenticeship agreementUse the federal agreement form for a registered apprentice
Registering an individual apprentice is done on the Department of Labor's apprenticeship agreement form, which incorporates the sponsor's Standards of Apprenticeship. This template supplements that form; it does not replace it.
ETA Form 671 - apprenticeship agreementTreat the apprenticeship as paid employment
Registered apprenticeships are jobs: the apprentice earns from day one and the wage rises as skills increase. Never charge an apprentice a participation fee and never leave the wage out of the agreement.
apprenticeship.gov - registered apprenticeship program componentsCheck the wage against federal and state minimums
The starting rate must satisfy the higher of the federal and state minimum wage for the hours worked, and prevailing-wage rules may set a floor on public works. Confirm the rate for the occupation and the location before signing.
Apply child-labor rules where the apprentice is a minor
Age, permitted hours, school-hours restrictions and prohibited hazardous equipment are set by federal and state child-labor law and are not waived by a parent's signature on this agreement.
Confirm workers' compensation and safety coverage
An apprentice is generally covered by the employer's workers' compensation insurance and by workplace safety duties in the same way as other employees. Protective equipment and required training are the employer's cost, not the apprentice's.
Notify the registration agency when a registered agreement ends
Cancellation of a registered apprenticeship is notified to the registration agency with the cause stated, so the apprentice's record reflects what happened and credit can transfer.
29 CFR part 29 - apprenticeship programs, labor standards
How to complete this apprenticeship agreement
- Choose the program type. Select registered apprenticeship or private company training agreement. The document rewrites the registration, credential and cancellation wording to match.
- Enter the occupation, dates and hours. Give the occupation, start date, expected term, on-the-job hours, related instruction hours and who delivers that instruction.
- Set the wage progression. Enter the starting rate, the journey-level rate, the progression steps, and whether related instruction hours are paid.
- Name the mentor and the training plan. Record who supervises the apprentice day to day and what the schedule of work processes covers.
- Set probation and sign. Fix the probationary period, add a parent or guardian signature if the apprentice is a minor, then download the DOCX or PDF and give the apprentice a copy.
Frequently asked questions
Can an apprentice be charged a fee for the apprenticeship?
No employer-side template should be built that way. An apprentice who works for you is a worker who is paid for that work. The widely copied free template this page replaces charges the apprentice a monthly participation fee and has no wage clause at all — that is the defect, not the model. Genuine third-party tuition costs, where they exist, belong in a separate education contract with the training provider, not in the employment agreement.
Is an apprenticeship agreement the same as an employment contract?
It overlaps but is not identical. An apprenticeship agreement adds a training obligation, a learning plan, a mentor, an instruction component and a wage progression on top of the ordinary employment terms. Many employers use both: this agreement for the training relationship and a standard offer letter or employment contract for the general terms.
Do I need to register the apprenticeship?
No. A private company training agreement is legitimate and common. Registration brings structure, a nationally recognized credential and access to some funding and support, but it also brings program standards and reporting. Choose the private option in the template if you are not registered, and do not describe the outcome as a nationally recognized credential.
What is a graduated wage scale?
A schedule showing what the apprentice earns at each stage of the program, rising as they complete hours or demonstrate competencies, working toward the journey-level rate for the occupation. For registered programs the federal regulation requires the agreement to state that scale, and to say whether related instruction time is paid.
Does the apprentice have to be paid for classroom time?
The agreement has to answer the question either way — that is what the regulation requires for registered programs — and the answer affects your hours calculations. Whether unpaid instruction time is lawful in a given case depends on wage and hour rules and on how closely the instruction is tied to the job, so confirm it for your program rather than assuming.
Can either side end an apprenticeship early?
Yes, and the template sets out how. During probation either party may end the agreement without cause. Afterwards, notice in writing with cause stated is required, and for a registered apprenticeship the registration agency is notified so the apprentice's record is accurate.
Who owns work the apprentice produces?
The template includes an actual assignment of work created in the course of the apprentice's duties, with pre-existing and personal work carved out — rather than the bare 'will be the property of the Employer' sentence used in the source template, which asserts ownership without transferring anything.
Does completing the apprenticeship guarantee a job?
Not unless the agreement says so. The template makes you state the position explicitly, because leaving it unsaid is a frequent source of dispute at the end of a program. If you intend to offer employment on completion, say so and set out the terms; if you do not, say that instead.
Related templates
Disclaimer
This template and guide are for general information only and are not legal, employment, tax or immigration advice, and are not reviewed or approved by any registration agency. Apprenticeship, wage, child-labor and safety rules vary by state and occupation — check them before you sign.
