Chris Fryxell
February 8, 2021
Worker-hungry contractors say rules limiting apprentice hires stymies business
PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED
Workers at Manchester-based electrical contracting company Dyna Electric Inc. on a job site.
Contractors are allowed to have one apprentice for every licensed journeyman on a job site in Connecticut.
PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED
By Sean Teehan
Connecticut officials have touted workforce development as key to the state's economic recovery from COVID-19, but some contractors say restrictions on apprenticeship hires is hurting their ability to bring on new employees, even as the industry faces a worker shortage.
The state Department of Consumer Protection imposes a so-called "hiring ratio" on contracting companies in electrical, plumbing and metal-working trades. The rule is a bit technical but it essentially requires contractors to have a certain number of licensed journeymen on staff for each apprentice they hire.
The ratio allows contractors to hire up to three apprentices on a 1:1 ratio. That means a company must have three licensed journeymen on staff if it wants three apprentices. It would need two journeymen for two apprentices.
After the first three hires, employers must abide by a 3:1 ratio. That means for each new apprentice, a company must have three additional journeymen.
So, a company with 12 licensed journeymen can only have six apprentices on staff.
The rule has support from labor unions and at least one Democratic state lawmaker who says it ensures less experienced and unlicensed workers are properly supervised. Supporters say the ratio also prevents contractors from hiring a large number of apprentices who can serve as cheaper labor compared to more experienced workers, some of whom belong to unions.
But Stillman Jordan, a vice president at Stratford-based Environmental Control LLC (ENCON), said the mandate places real-world burdens on his company’s ability to hire new workers.
ENCON installs and maintains heating, air conditioning and solar power systems for residential and commercial buildings. At any given time, the company has a backlog of five to 10 prospective apprentices who are ready to work, but can’t until ENCON hires enough journeymen. Apprentices typically start at between $16 and $19 per hour.
The ratio is forcing contractors to fiercely compete for more experienced tradespeople as the industry faces a worker shortage. Some companies are offering major perks including up to $10,000 signing bonuses, Jordan said, which is increasing the cost to do business and ultimately leading to higher prices for customers.
"We talk about the jobs crisis. I have high-paying jobs but can't hire people," Jordan said. "The reason we haven't hired people who want to work here is the hiring ratio."
Meantime, a Republican state lawmaker recently introduced a bill in the General Assembly that would ease the hiring ratio, something that has support from the business community.
Workforce development
Even though Connecticut’s economy has faltered amid the pandemic, demand for trade jobs remains strong.
Julie Kushner
For example, in Connecticut there are currently 700 open HVAC-technician positions and 3,200 available electrician jobs, according to data from Build Your Future, a nonprofit focused on recruiting workers to the trades.
Connecticut's apprentice-to-journeyman hiring ratio applies to companies in both of those specialties as well as plumbing, sprinkler-fitting and sheet-metal trades, said Russell Jarem, an attorney who represents employers for labor and employment law firm Jackson Lewis PC.
After companies hire their first three apprentices at the 1:1 ratio, they may apply for a waiver to continue hiring at that rate, Jarem said.
But contractors say the red tape is still stifling and it’s an issue they’ve been trying to reform for years. Lawmakers did respond in 2017 by tweaking the regulations and establishing a working group that meets regularly to discuss the industry’s challenges.
However, it’s not enough and the policy seems incongruent with the state's workforce-development goals, said Chris Fryxell, president of construction industry trade association Associated Builders and Contractors of Connecticut.
Gov. Ned Lamont has made workforce development a top priority, and even established a new unit within state government to oversee workforce strategies and programs.
"We don't believe states should be limiting how many apprentices contractors can hire," Fryxell said. "We need to bring young people into the industry, and the state's making it harder to do that."
State Rep. Tim Ackert (R-Coventry) said he recently filed a bill that would permanently set the hiring ratio at 1:1, which matches the ratio companies are allowed to have on an actual job site. He said the current hiring ratio harms workforce development in the state.
Tim Ackert
"I see young people going through trade schools, and then there are no jobs for them," said Ackert, a licensed electrical contractor who owns Coventry-based Ackert Electric LLC. "There are people who want to hire them, but they can't because there's a ratio."
Safety and training
Among the ratio’s supporters is the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Hartford chapter.
Chris Brown, training director of the Hartford Electricians Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee and treasurer of IBEW's Hartford chapter, said the ratio requirements are an important safeguard against companies relying too much on inexperienced workers. Lifting them could make job sites more dangerous, and the job market less hospitable to higher-paid licensed workers with more experience, Brown said.
Further, Brown said, a cutout already exists in companies' ability to apply for a waiver.
"They should be required to show they really have that need [for a waiver]," Brown said. "I just don't see the need to change the ratio … and flood the market with too many apprentices."
State Sen. Julie Kushner (D-Danbury) chairs the General Assembly's Labor & Public Employees Committee and said the hiring ratio ensures apprentices receive adequate training. If a company has just a few licensed professionals training a large number of apprentices, they could receive subpar instruction.
"It's important that they're trained well so that when they do become licensed journeymen they're really well qualified to do the work," Kushner said. "It's really important to all of us, as consumers, that if we're going to license journeymen that they're well trained."
Kushner noted that the nationwide unemployment rate for journeymen is about 30%, which suggests that contractors already have a pool of experienced workers from which they can hire.
Stillman Jordan
Jordan said easing the restrictions will help the state achieve its workforce-development goals.
"The challenge is when you're running a business, the pain gets to the point where we're going to struggle if we don't solve this," Jordan said.
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Anonymous
February 20, 2021
This is Connecticut. What the unions want, the unions get. It is always that simple.
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