The regular period for advancement is after one thousand hours. The committee, however, may require apprentices to appear before it and present their work progress records. The examinations will cover both the on-the-job and related instructional subjects. Apprentices may be required to repeat a certain process if they cannot prove during the examination that the subject is fully understood. If they show that they do not have the ability to become competent craft workers, their apprenticeship agreements may be terminated.
Responsibilities of Employers
The apprentice is not the only one who has obligations to the program. The employer is an integral part and has some responsibilities, too. The employer's duties were developed by the Automotive Service Association in its former apprentice program (now inactive). Similar duties are incorporated into some of the new school-to-work programs being developed by auto manufacturers. For example, each employer designates a journeyman or supervisor to act as a supervisor of apprentices on the job and be responsible for seeing that apprentice is given the variety of work experience on the job required to get them skilled in all aspects of their trade.
Hours of Employment
Friday and workweek for an apprentice is the same as for the journey he or she is subject to the same conditions. The employer is not to have overtime or out-of-town work interfere with the apprentice’s instruction in the theory part of the learning program. The apprentice has to work alone. He or she must work under the supervision of the supervisor, or designated journeyman at all times.
Certification of Completion
Upon completing the entire apprenticeship program, the apprentice will be awarded a certificate of completion from the appropriate registration agency, either federal or state.
SAMPLE WORK PROCESSES
The following is the recommended program that the Automotive Service Councils suggested in years past. It is still a good model for apprenticeships. Not all programs will be the same, but all of the essential items on this list should be a part of the apprentice's obligations before being awarded his or her certificate and being advanced to journeyman technician. These recommendations for a four-year apprenticeship are a guide that should be followed as closely as conditions permit:
Automobile Technician
Recommended Work-Experience Schedule Approximate Hours
- Shop routine (new vehicle service, body service, installing accessories, and keeping shop clean and orderly) 500hrs
- Brakes (adjusting, relining and repairing, hydraulic systems, power-operated, air, and vacuum brakes) 500hrs
- Chassis (frames, steering units, front suspension systems, shock absorbers, and springs) 750hrs
- Clutches and transmissions (standard and automatic transmissions, overdrives and shift controls, and power take-off) 1,250hrs
- Rear axle assembly (differential, universal joints, drivelines, rear axle) 750hrs
- Power plants (valves, timing gears and chains, piston and ring assembly, bearing and crankshaft, cylinder reconditioning) 1,500hrs
- Electric system (wire and light system, alternator, generator and regulator, starting motors, windshield wipers, instruments and gauges, ignition and battery, transmission controls) 1,000hrs
- Motor analyzing (carburetors, fuel systems, distributors, troubleshooting, fuel injectors, tune-up) 1,000hrs
- Exhaust emission controls (exhaust analyzers, catalytic converters, controls, pumps) 300hrs
- 10. Miscellaneous (exhaust systems, welding, auxiliary devices, shop operations, service, selling, and supervision review) 450hrs
For every three journeymen employed, there should be one apprentice. For example, if the shop employs from one to three journeymen, it should have one apprentice. If the shop employs four to six journeymen, it should employ two apprentices, and so on. Pay is based on a percentage of the journeyman's scale and rises from 55 percent to 90 percent of scale through the four years of apprenticeship.
Auto Body Technician
A four-year apprenticeship program for automobile body technicians might be arranged as follows:
Recommended Work-Experience Schedule Approximate Hours
- Shop Routine: using and maintaining typical shop tools and equipment, shop safety practices, and exposure to basic mechanical concepts and procedures. 500hrs
- Basic Metal: disassembling, assembling, and aligning; roughing small dents with a hammer and dolly; dinging small dents with a pick and file, metal shrinking, welding and brazing, soldering, plastic filling and repairing larger dents using all of the above procedures. 1,500hrs
- Advanced Metal Work: repairing door panels, rocker panels, quarter panels, trunk lids, and hoods installing doors, trunk lids, and hoods and transferring all necessary parts. 1,500
- Refinishing: compounding, polishing, and waxing automotive finishes; feather-edging metal finished areas properly using masking tape, applying primer surface and glazing putty and sanding these materials refinishing body panels with enamel type paint two phase painting (color and clear) refinishing non-steel body panels including polyurethane, aluminum, and fiberglass. 1,000hrs
- Basic Auto Body Rebuilding: repairing top cowl panels, cowl posts, and firewalls repairing body and trunk floors and seats, repairing turret tops, including rear glass and windshield openings installing quarter panels, door panels, and rocker panels.
- Major Auto Body Rebuilding: repairing frame horns, repairing frames from under rear seat to rear cross member on unibody structures and conventional frames, repairing frame from cowl forward to frame horns, repairing bumpers and mounting structures, transferring and being responsible for major component and subassemblies, such as suspensions, engines, and related parts drivetrain, rear axle, and braking, air-conditioning and cooling systems.
The recommended wage schedule for the apprentice auto body technician is the same as for the automotive technician. The program, which takes four years (eight thousand hours), is divided by one thousand hour increments with the apprentice's wages being the same percentage of the journeyman's as shown for the auto mechanic. The average wage percentage over the course of the program is 72.5 percent.
Recommended Apprentice Ratio
Just as for the automobile mechanic, the recommended ratio of apprentices to journeymen is one to three. For example, if the shop employs from one to three journeymen, it should have one apprentice. If the shop employs seven to nine journeymen, it should employ three apprentices.
Automobile Painter or Refinisher
The final category covers the automobile painter. The apprenticeship program takes only three years or six thousand hours to complete. Following is the breakdown of the time and schedule of experiences for the auto painter.
APPRENTICESHIP TODAY
Here is an apprenticeship program (2001) that's worked in St. Louis, Missouri. It was developed by car dealers, truck dealers, and the International Association of Machinists, along with the U.S. Department of labor. The program has an enrollment of 50 to 70 a year, but it can place as many as 150 to 200 apprentices!
