Wage Management covers the ability to set occupation-specific wage schedules that trigger notifications for wage progressions & allows the tracking of apprentice step and wage increases.
User Types: Regulators, Sponsors, Administrators, Supervisors & Mentors
Wage Schedules
- Currently wage schedules apply only to participants with an apprentice or youth apprentice user type.
- Registered apprenticeships generally require that apprentices receive at least 1 wage increase during their program. A wage schedule sets the standards by which it is determined when an apprentice is eligible to receive an increase for a given occupation and the wage increase. Once an occupation's wage schedule is set, it will:
- trigger a wage progression notification when an apprentice is eligible,
- allow for the approval or denial of that progression by authorized non-participants &
- track each apprentice's wage progression history.
- Any occupation can be assigned a default wage schedule and, as needed, additional wage schedule versions. Participants in an occupation are automatically assigned to the default schedule; if they require a different wage version, it must be assigned to them.
- Wages can be set at $0 if you only want to track steps but not actual wages. However, if you plan to use ApprentiScope to generate & college e-signatures for Federal and State apprentice agreements, you will need to include actual wages.
Setting a Wage Schedule(s)
- Each wage schedule includes the following elements:
- Schedule Type - The metric upon which the wage progression eligibility & notification will be triggered. The 4 options are:
- month-based - set # of months since participant's program start date
- ojt hour-based - # of on-the-job training hours submitted by/for an apprentice
- rti hour-based - # of related technical instruction hours submitted by/for an apprentice
- competency-based - # of ojt competencies completed by an apprentice
- Schedule Type - The metric upon which the wage progression eligibility & notification will be triggered. The 4 options are:
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- Rate Type - Whether wage increases will be set as a dollar amount or a percentage of the journey worker wage.
- Step 1 (Entry Wage) - Default entry wage for an apprentice.
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- Wage Step(s) - Each scheduled progression is called a Step. Each step is given a consecutive number & includes:
- a metric required for an apprentice to be eligible for that step &
- the wage they can be given when that metric is met.
- Journey Worker Wage - Default wage upon successful completion of the program. This is not set at a step.
- Wage Step(s) - Each scheduled progression is called a Step. Each step is given a consecutive number & includes:
- Wage Schedule Example: An apprentice in an occupation with the wage schedule listed below would have a starting wage of $16. 6 months after their program start date, the system will trigger a wage notification, signaling that the apprentice is eligible for a wage increase to $18. If the wage increase is approved, the system will document a Step & Wage increase to Step 2 with a wage of $18. After an additional 6 months since the apprentice's program start date (so 1 year total), the next wage notification will be triggered, & again, if approved, it will document an increase to Step 3 with a wage of $20.
- Schedule Type: month-based
- Rate Type: dollar amount
- Step 1 (Entry Wage) - $16
- Steps
- Step 2: 6 months - $18
- Step 3: 6 months - $20
- Journey Worker Wage - $24
- How to Set Program Wage Schedules
Approving a Wage Schedule Progression
- An authorized, non-participant will receive notification of an apprentice's wage progression eligibility when they meet the required metric for a Wage Step. The notification will include a link to their Activity-Wages page, where they can Approve or Deny the increase.
- When a wage progression is approved for an apprentice:
- that apprentice's STEP & WAGE are increased according to the wage schedule, unless you type in an alternative wage on the approval page,
- the system will schedule the next progression notification based on the metric for the next step, &
- the following information will show on the apprentice's WAGES tab on their Profile Details - General tab:
- New Step & Wage,
- When they are eligible for their next progression based on the schedule's metric for the next Wage Step, &
- Wage Progression History
- When a wage progression is denied, the system will continue to send notifications of eligibility each time the required metric is updated. So if the metric is OJT hours, every time additional hours are submitted, a new wage progression notification will appear, since it has technically been met. If the metric is 6 months, a new wage progression notification will appear after 6 months has elapsed.
Alternative Wage Schedule Progressions
These options should only be used if changes need to be made to steps or wages outside the set wage schedule. Please be aware of how such changes impact an apprentice's next wage progression before using.
- Trigger Increase
- This allows a wage progression to the next step and wage to be triggered manually without the apprentice meeting the wage schedule metric required for that step & wage.
- Result:
- The new wage and step are approved on the Wages page and will increase as usual.
- The apprentice's next Wage Progression will not be automatically triggered until the metric required for all preceding steps & the next step is met.
- Example: Apprentice is on Step 1 (entry wage) and 1000 OJT hours is required for Step 2 and another 500 hours is required for Step 3. If you use Trigger Increase, you can approve the apprentice to go to the next step (Step 2) and receive the Step 2 wage without them meeting the 1000 OJT hours. However, they will not be eligible for Step 3 until they have 1500 OJT hours (total hours for Step 2 and Step 3).
- Advance Step
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- This is designed primarily for instances when a participant needs to start at an advanced step or skip steps. When used, you can choose whether or not:
- to increase the apprentice's Wage to the new step's wage, and/or
- how the advance will impact the apprentice's next wage progression.
- Option 1: Do NOT Update Next Increase Trigger means the next progression will occur when the apprentice meets the metric required for what would have been their next step if they had not been advanced.
- Example: Apprentice is on Step 1 (entry wage) and is Advanced to Step 3. Apprentice will be eligible for next progression (to Step 4) when they meet the metric for Step 2. This means their progressions will be on a schedule that will not match their Step.
- Option 2 - Update Next Increase Trigger means the next progression will occur when the apprentice meets the metric required for all preceding steps & the next step.
- Example: Apprentice is on Step 1 (entry wage) and is Advanced to Step 3. Apprentice will be eligible for next progression (Step 4) when they meet the metric for Step 2, Step 3 and Step 4 combined.
- Option 1: Do NOT Update Next Increase Trigger means the next progression will occur when the apprentice meets the metric required for what would have been their next step if they had not been advanced.
- Advance Steps can be done one apprentice at a time or as a batch action.
- This is designed primarily for instances when a participant needs to start at an advanced step or skip steps. When used, you can choose whether or not:
- Add Hold (only available for month-based wage schedules)
- For wage schedules with month-based metrics, apprentices become eligible for progressions when they meet the required number of months since their program start date regardless of whether or when a previous progression is approved.
- "Add Hold" is used to unofficially add months to the program start date in order to delay future wage progressions by the number of months set for the hold, & to document why the hold was placed. Holds remain in place until or unless a different hold is set.
- Example: Wage schedule calls for progressions every 6 months. Apprentice is on Step 1 (entry wage) and reaches their Step 2 metric of 6 months since program start date. However, the apprentice's progression will not be approved until month 7. Based on the wage schedule, they would still be eligible for their next progression 12 months from their program start date (only 5 months after their last progression was approved). By placing a 2 month-hold, the next progression will not occur until 14 months from the program start date.