How to Fill Out and Submit the Apprenticeship Agreement Form (ETA-671)

The ETA-671 is the federal apprenticeship agreement form that registers an individual apprentice with either the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship or a recognized State Apprenticeship Agency, locking in the occupation, term length, wage schedule, and training terms both sides commit to follow.¹ The sponsor prepares and submits it; the apprentice provides personal information, reviews the terms, and signs. Everything below walks through what goes on the form and where it goes next.

Where to Get the Form and Who Fills Out What

The ETA-671 has two sections. Section I handles program-level registration, filed once by the sponsor when the apprenticeship program itself is established or updated. Section II is the individual apprenticeship agreement, completed each time a new apprentice enters the program.² Section II is also posted as a standalone fillable PDF.³

Both are available at apprenticeship.gov and from the sponsor’s training coordinator or human resources office. If you are the apprentice, you will only interact with Section II. If you are a sponsor building a new program, you will complete both.

Part A: Apprentice Information

Part A of Section II collects identifying details:

Full legal name and current mailing address, including zip code.
Date of birth. Federal rules set the minimum age at 16, and many programs and state laws set it higher, particularly for hazardous occupations.⁴
Social Security Number. The form requests it, but disclosure is voluntary. The Privacy Act notice on the form explains that the Department of Labor uses the SSN to verify employment and wages through the Wage Record Interchange System and to confirm registered-apprentice status for Davis-Bacon purposes. Declining to provide it will not affect your right to be registered.²
Gender, race, ethnicity, and veteran status. Sponsors must keep these records under the equal employment opportunity rules in 29 CFR Part 30, which require utilization analyses comparing program demographics against the civilian labor force.⁵

Part B: Program and Training Details

Part B is where the sponsor writes down the terms of the apprenticeship itself, and it is the section registration agencies scrutinize most closely. Errors here are the most common reason a form gets sent back.

Occupation and Program Number

The sponsor enters the program’s registration number and the official occupation title. The occupation must match one recognized in the approved program standards, and the form states that “the work processes listed in the standards are part of this agreement.”³ The sponsor also selects the training approach: time-based, competency-based, or hybrid.

Term Length

Duration is recorded in hours, months, or years depending on the training model. Time-based programs require at least 2,000 hours of on-the-job learning. Competency-based programs measure progress by skill attainment rather than clock hours, and hybrid programs blend both. The Department of Labor also recommends a minimum of 144 hours of related technical instruction per year.⁶

Wage Schedule

Federal regulations require a “progressively increasing schedule of wages to be paid to the apprentice consistent with the skill acquired.” The entry wage cannot fall below the federal minimum wage, and if a state minimum wage, a collective bargaining agreement, or any other federal law sets a higher floor, that higher rate applies.⁶ The sponsor must spell out the specific dollar amounts or percentages of the journey-level rate the apprentice will earn at each stage. These steps are built into the approved program standards and become binding once the form is signed.

Credit for Prior Experience

Item 6 records any credit the sponsor grants for previous experience, measured in hours, months, or years. Item 7 then shows the remaining term after that credit is subtracted. For veterans, the form specifically contemplates those who completed a military technical training school, participated in the Helmets to Hardhats program, or trained in a related occupation while in service.² Getting this right matters both ways. Undercount, and the apprentice trains longer than necessary. Overcount, and skill gaps open up.

Probationary Period

Every apprenticeship agreement includes a probationary period during which either the apprentice or the sponsor can cancel the agreement without adverse consequences, simply by notifying the registration agency in writing.⁷ Federal regulations cap the probationary period at 25 percent of the total program length or one year, whichever is shorter.⁶ A four-year, 8,000-hour program tops out at a one-year probation. A two-year program maxes at six months. Time served during probation counts toward completing the apprenticeship.

After probation, the apprentice can still cancel at any time. The sponsor, however, can only suspend or cancel for good cause, and must give the apprentice notice and a reasonable chance to correct the issue before finalizing the action.⁷

Signatures

The form requires signatures from the apprentice and an authorized representative of the sponsor, along with the date. If the apprentice is under 18, a parent or legal guardian must also sign.³ Missing or incomplete signatures will get the form returned and delay the apprentice’s official start date. Physical and verified electronic signatures are both accepted in programs that use electronic filing.

Submitting the Completed Form

The sponsor handles submission. Where the form goes depends on the state. Roughly 30 states and territories operate their own recognized State Apprenticeship Agencies that process registrations independently. The rest are served by regional offices of the federal Office of Apprenticeship.⁸

Many programs submit electronically through the Registered Apprenticeship Partners Information Database System (RAPIDS), the Department of Labor’s case management platform that tracks apprentice records, occupations, and program data nationwide.⁹ Not every state uses RAPIDS. Some State Apprenticeship Agencies maintain their own systems, and in jurisdictions where electronic filing is unavailable, the signed original goes to the appropriate state or federal office by mail. The apprenticeship.gov state offices page lists contact information for every jurisdiction.⁸

What Happens After Submission

The registration agency reviews the agreement to confirm that all terms line up with the program’s approved standards and with federal regulations. Officials check the wage schedule, term length, training approach, and required signatures. Processing timelines vary by state and by volume. Some agencies turn forms around in a few weeks; others take longer during busy periods.

Once approved, the apprentice is officially registered. When the apprentice completes the full program, the Office of Apprenticeship or applicable State Apprenticeship Agency issues a Certificate of Completion, a nationally recognized credential certifying journey-level status in the trade.¹⁰ Replacement copies are requested from the same agency that issued it.

Why Proper Registration Matters on the Job

For anyone working on a federally funded construction project, having an approved ETA-671 on file is what allows the contractor to pay the apprentice rate under the Davis-Bacon Act. Contractors can pay registered apprentices a percentage of the prevailing journeyworker wage as specified in the approved program. Workers who are not properly registered must be paid the full journeyworker prevailing wage.¹¹

A first-90-days exception exists: a person in probationary employment who is not yet individually registered can still be paid at the apprentice rate, provided they have been certified as eligible for probationary employment by the Office of Apprenticeship or a State Apprenticeship Agency.¹¹ Contractors must also observe the apprentice-to-journeyworker ratio set by the registered program. Excess apprentice hours on any given day must be paid at the full prevailing wage rate. Separately, sponsors and contractors on qualifying clean-energy projects rely on active ETA-671 registrations to meet the apprenticeship requirements that unlock Inflation Reduction Act tax credit multipliers.¹²

If a Dispute Arises Later

Disagreements under the agreement, whether about training hours, wages, or working conditions, should first go through whatever local grievance procedures the program has in place. If the issue cannot be resolved locally and is not covered by a collective bargaining agreement, the apprentice or an authorized representative can submit the complaint to the registration agency that processed the ETA-671.¹³

Discrimination complaints follow a different track. Allegations based on race, sex, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, genetic information, or disability are handled under the equal opportunity provisions in 29 CFR Part 30 or the applicable state equal opportunity plan, not through the general complaint process.¹³

1
U.S. Department of Labor. History and Fitzgerald Act
2
U.S. Department of Labor. ETA-671 Program Registration and Apprenticeship Agreement
3
U.S. Department of Labor. ETA-671 Apprenticeship Agreement and Registration Section II
4
Apprenticeship.gov. Requirements for Apprenticeship Sponsors Reference Guide
5
U.S. Department of Labor. 29 CFR Part 30 – Equal Employment Opportunity in Apprenticeship
6
eCFR. 29 CFR 29.5 – Standards of Apprenticeship
7
eCFR. 29 CFR 29.7 – Apprenticeship Agreement
8
Apprenticeship.gov. State Offices
9
U.S. Department of Labor. Privacy Impact Assessment – ETA – Registered Apprenticeship Partners Information Data System 2.0 (RAPIDS 2.0)
10
Apprenticeship.gov. How Do I Request a Copy of My Certificate of Completion for Registered Apprenticeship
11
U.S. Department of Labor. Davis-Bacon Compliance Principles
12
Internal Revenue Service. Frequently Asked Questions About the Prevailing Wage and Apprenticeship Under the Inflation Reduction Act
13
eCFR. 29 CFR 29.12 – Complaints