National Apprenticeship Act of 1957

June 22, 1957

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1826

AN ACT ESTABLISHING AN APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING SYSTEM AND A NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP COUNCIL, DEFINING THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE SAID COUNCIL AND PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR ^*

SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as the "National Apprenticeship Act of 1957." aisa dc

SECTION 2. In order to meet adequately the progressively increasing demand for a skilled-labor force necessary to the industrialization of the Philippines and to increase productivity, it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Government: (1) to establish a national apprenticeship system through the voluntary cooperation of employers and workers and interested governmental and non-governmental agencies; and (2) to provide for the establishment and furtherance of apprenticeship standards to safeguard and promote the welfare of apprentices.

SECTION 3. The Department of Labor shall, in addition to its duties and functions, perform the following:

(a) To implement the policy on apprenticeship training as now or may hereafter be declared by Congress;

(b) To organize and develop an apprenticeship training program by which the requirements for trained labor may be met;

(c) To secure the cooperation of government agencies and private organizations and institutions, including those providing vocational guidance and training, in effecting coordination in the development of apprenticeship training;

(d) To recommend appropriate measures for the promotion of apprenticeship training;

(e) To assist and cooperate in determining the number of apprentices and skilled workers needed for each trade and occupation, and in promoting the proper distribution of manpower to meet the needs of the national economy and the labor requirements of employers so as to achieve the fullest and most effective utilization of manpower resources;

(f) To enable workers to advance their opportunities or steady employment and to make full use of their natural talents and abilities;

(g) To establish minimum standards of training in apprenticeable trades and occupations;

(h) To formulate and adopt standards for effecting the employment of apprentices under different conditions, by setting out their qualifications for employment, number of apprentices, required education, age limitations, aptitudes, terms of apprenticeship, wages, working hours, overtime, vacation with pay, and other matters;

(i) To lay down minimum standards and procedures for the examination of apprentices, the execution and registration of apprentices and apprenticeship agreements, the methods of supervision and the duration of the apprentices' work on the job and at school, and the methods of examination of apprentices at the end of their training;

(j) To approve, disapprove, suspend or revoke plant apprenticeship programs and agreements, issue certificates of apprentices, required education, age limitations, apti-occupations in accordance with the rules, regulations and standards promulgated under this Act;

(k) To promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the interests and purposes of this Act, including the denial of apprentices to any employer that has violated any provision of this Act, rule or regulation promulgated thereunder, or of any apprentice agreement; and

(l) To make and submit, not later than February first of each year, a report through the Secretary of Labor of its activities, accomplishments and findings to the President and to the Congress of the Philippines.

SECTION 4. The Department of Labor shall:

(a) Develop and supervise standards in apprenticeship that may be formulated by it and to carry out the apprenticeship program envisioned by this Act;

(b) Assist and cooperate in the development and formulation of policies, rules, regulations, standards, and plans;

(c) Promote the purposes of this Act by bringing employers and workers together and assisting them in working out appropriate apprenticeship programs;

(d) Conduct research in matters affecting apprenticeship and compile and disseminate such research currently;

(e) Provide technical and advisory services to the several apprenticeship committee, employers, associations of employers, employees, associations of employees, and other interested parties, in the development, maintenance and operation of apprenticeship programs;

(f) Provide services for the review and appraisal of proposed apprenticeship programs and apprenticeship agreements; aisa dc

(g) Maintain a register of apprentices, apprenticeship agreements, and apprenticeship programs;

(h) Maintain currently a record of all apprenticeship committees and management-labor committees and all employers operating under approved apprenticeship programs;

(i) Approve, disapprove, suspend, revoke or terminate plant apprenticeship programs and apprenticeship agreements, and issue certificates of apprenticeship;

(j) Act as a clearing house for the operation of apprenticeship programs in different areas, industries, and occupations;

(k) Disseminate such information regarding apprenticeship as may be necessary to bring about a better understanding of the purposes of the apprenticeship programs provided by this Act and to arouse public interest in such programs; and

(l) Protect and promote the welfare of apprentices.

SECTION 5. Any employer may enter into an apprenticeship agreement with a qualified apprentice. Each apprenticeship agreement shall contain:

(a) The full names of the contracting parties;

(b) The date of birth of the apprentice;

(c) A statement of the trade, craft, or business in which apprenticeship is sought, and the date on which the apprenticeship will begin and end;

(d) A statement showing the number of hours to be spent by the apprentice in work and the number of hours to be spent in related and supplemental instruction, the total of which hours shall, in no case, be less than those established by the Department of Labor pursuant to this Act: Provided, That the combined weekly hours of work and of the required related and supplemental instruction of the apprentice shall not exceed the maximum number of hours of work prescribed by law for a worker of the age and sex of the apprentice;

(e) A statement setting forth a schedule of the processes in the trade or industry in which the apprentice is to be taught and the approximate time to be spent in instruction in each process;

(f) A statement of the graduated scale of wages to be paid the apprentice, the provisions of Republic Act Numbered Six hundred two to the contrary notwithstanding, and whether or not the required school time shall be compensated; cd

(g) A statement fixing a period of probation of not more than five hundred hours of employment and of instruction extending not more than four months, during which time the apprenticeship agreement may, at the request of either party in writing, be terminated upon approval of the Department of Labor for good and sufficient cause;

(h) A provision that an employer who is unable to fulfill his obligation under an apprenticeship agreement may, with the approval of the Department of Labor, transfer such contract to any other employer, if the apprentice consents and such other employer agrees to assume the obligation of said apprenticeship agreement;

(i) Such additional terms and conditions not inconsistent with this Act, which the Department of Labor determines are necessary and proper to effectuate the purposes of this Act; and

(j) A clause stating that a copy of the apprenticeship agreement shall be issued without cost to the apprentice.

SECTION 6. Every apprenticeship agreement shall be signed by the employer or his agent, or by an authorized representative of an association or group of employers or employees, or by an apprenticeship committee, and by the apprentice; and, if the apprentice is a minor, by the minor's parent or guardian. Where a minor enters into apprenticeship agreement under this Act for a period of training which shall extend into his majority, the apprenticeship agreement shall likewise be binding for such a period as may be covered during the apprentice's majority.

Every apprenticeship agreement entered under this Act shall be approved by the parties to the appropriate existing collective bargaining agreement. Each such apprenticeship agreement shall also be approved by the appropriate apprenticeship committee. Where there is no appropriate apprenticeship committee or no collective bargaining agreement, each such apprenticeship agreement shall be approved by the Secretary of Labor, and a copy of each such agreement shall be filed with the Department of Labor.

SECTION 7. Upon the complaint of any interested person or upon his own initiative, the Secretary of Labor or his representatives shall investigate any violation of the terms of an apprenticeship agreement made under this Act, and for such purpose he shall hold hearings, inquiries, and other proceedings necessary to such investigations and determinations and issue subpoena and subpoena duces tecum. The parties to such agreement shall, upon reasonable notice thereof, be given a fair impartial hearing. All such hearings, investigations and determinations shall be made pursuant to such rules and procedures as may be prescribed by the Department of Labor.

SECTION 8. Any party to an apprenticeship agreement aggrieved by an order or decision of the Secretary of Labor may bring the appropriate proceedings in the courts. The decision of the Secretary of Labor shall be conclusive and final, if action thereon is not filed in court within thirty days after the date of notice of such order or decision.

No person shall institute any action for the enforcement of any apprenticeship agreement, or damages for the breach of any such agreement, made under this Act unless he shall first have exhausted all administrative remedies provided by this Act. aisa dc

SECTION 9. To ensure the effective implementation of the policy laid down in section two hereof;

(A) The National Employment Service shall develop and prepare economic analysis with respect to the several apprenticeship occupations and with respect to the industries involved, and provide appropriate aptitude tests in the selection of apprentices.

(B) The Department of Education shall:

(a) Provide related and supplemental instruction for apprentices, secure and furnish facilities, instructional materials, and supplies necessary for such instruction;

(b) Develop and prepare courses of instruction for apprentices, correlate such instruction with job experience and administer and supervise such instructions;

(c) Enroll apprentices in schools and keep individual attendance and progress records of such apprentices;

(d) Employ or otherwise obtain and train apprentice instructors and coordinators;

(e) Advise and assist the Secretary of Labor and apprenticeship committees regarding training programs;

(f) Designate, when so required, members of educational advisory committees to the Department of Labor and apprenticeship committees; and

(g) Assist in the selection of apprentices by the development of appropriate aptitude tests or by providing pre-apprenticeship courses, or both.

The Department of Education, with the approval of the Department of Labor, may delegate all or any of the foregoing duties to an appropriate public or private agency: Provided, That the Department of Education shall have a continuing responsibility for the effective performance of such delegated duties.

SECTION 10. As used in this Act. —

(a) The term "apprentice" means a worker at least sixteen years of age who is covered by a written apprenticeship agreement with an employer, an association of employers, an organization of workers, or an apprenticeship committee registered with the Apprenticeship Division, which contract provides for not less than two thousand hours of reasonably continuous employment for such worker and for his participation in an approved schedule of work experience through employment and supplemented by related classroom instruction.

No person shall work or be engaged as apprentice unless he is at least sixteen years of age; has completed the high school course or such course or courses as the Secretary of Labor may prescribe; and shows his fitness for the employment by means of a certificate of his school attendance, demonstration of his capacities and aptitudes, and presentation of a certificate of his physical fitness by a medical officer of the Bureau of Labor Standards or Bureau of Health.

(b) The term "apprenticeship" means a system of trained systematically in an apprenticeable occupation for contract to employ a worker and to train him or have him trained systematically in an apprenticeable occupation for a certain period, the duration of which has been fixed in advance and in the course of which the apprentice is bound to work in the service of such employer or employers.

(c) The term "apprenticeable occupation" means an occupation which: (1) is customarily learned in a practical way through training on the job; (2) is clearly identified and commonly recognized throughout the industry as a skilled trade or craft; (3) requires two thousand or more hours of work experience to learn; (4) requires related instruction to supplement the work experience; (5) is not a part of a more extensive occupation recognized as apprenticeable by the Department of Labor; (6) involves the development of skills and the use of tools and equipment sufficiently broad to be applicable in like occupations throughout an industry rather than of restricted application to the products of one or more employees in such industry; and (7) is not concerned with selling or distribution of goods; or with managerial, clerical, professional and semiprofessional activities, or with agriculture as defined by Republic Act Numbered Six hundred two, as amended.

(d) The term "employ" includes to suffer or permit to work;

(e) The term "employee" includes any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee.

(f) The term "industry" includes a trade, business, industry, or branch thereof, or group of industries, in which individuals are gainfully employed.

(g) The term "person" includes an individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, legal representatives, or any organized group of persons.

SECTION 11. This Act shall not apply to seamen. cd i

SECTION 12. If any provision of this Act or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance shall be held invalid, the remainder of this Act, or the application of any provision thereof to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

SECTION 13. The sum of one hundred fifty thousand pesos or so much thereof as may be necessary is hereby appropriated out of any funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to carry out the purposes of this Act and as a special scholarship fund for the expenditure of apprentices for the fiscal year nineteen hundred fifty-seven to nineteen hundred fifty-eight. Nothing in this Act shall, however, be construed to prevent the acceptance by the Department of Labor of voluntary contributions for the support of apprenticeship and labor-management committees.

SECTION 14. All Acts or part of Acts inconsistent with any provision of this Act are hereby repealed.

SECTION 15. This Act shall take effect upon its approval. cd

Approved: June 22, 1957

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 53, No. 18, p. 5955 on September 30, 1957