Labor and Public Employees Committee
AN ACT CONCERNING BARBERSHOPS AND APPRENTICESHIPS
SUMMARY: This act authorizes the Department of Public Health (DPH) to grant a barber license to an applicant who successfully completes a Labor Department-approved apprenticeship program and meets other requirements.
Under prior law, an applicant for a barber's license had to:
1. successfully complete eighth grade;
2. complete a barber course of study of at least 1,000 hours at a school approved by the Connecticut Examining Board for Barbers, Hairdressers, and Cosmeticians or an equivalent out-of-state school; and
3. pass a written examination that satisfies DPH requirements.
Under the act, completing an approved apprenticeship (presumably for barbers) can substitute for the 1,000-hour course of study.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2015
BARBER APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM
The act requires the barber apprenticeship program to conform to existing apprenticeship law, which requires:
1. each apprentice to work at and learn a specific trade under a written agreement with an employer or an employer-employee joint apprenticeship committee;
2. the agreement to be for at least 2,000 hours of work in approved trade training consistent with the industry or joint labor-industry standards, plus supplemental hours of related instruction;
3. the Connecticut State Apprenticeship Council to oversee all apprenticeship programs and issue certificates of completion for those who successfully complete a program; and
4. participating employers and apprentices to annually register with the Labor Department.
Related regulations also require an employer's apprenticeship program to meet numerous requirements (Conn. Agencies Reg. §§ 31-51d-1 to -12).
OLR Tracking: JM; JSB; VR; BS