1.  Registration; eligibility.  A sponsor may apply with the Maine Apprenticeship Program for review and approval of an apprenticeship program or apprenticeship agreement. To be eligible for registration, the apprenticeship program or apprenticeship agreement must meet the requirements of this chapter, must involve training in an apprenticeable occupation and must comply with state and federal law regarding equal employment opportunity in apprenticeship and training. An apprenticeship program is registered upon its acceptance and recording by the Maine Apprenticeship Program as meeting the basic standards and requirements for approval of such a program for federal purposes, as evidenced by a certificate of registration or other written indicia. An apprenticeship agreement is registered upon its acceptance and recording by the Maine Apprenticeship Program as evidence of an apprentice's participation in a particular registered apprenticeship program.  

2.  Apprentices registered.  Except as provided under subsection 3, apprentices must be individually registered under a registered sponsor and in a registered apprenticeship program. Such individual registration may be effected by filing copies of each individual apprenticeship agreement with the Maine Apprenticeship Program.  

3.  Probationary employment.  A sponsor shall submit the name of a person in a period of probationary employment under section 3203, subsection 1, paragraph H as an apprentice under a registered apprenticeship program within 45 days of employment to the Maine Apprenticeship Program for certification and to establish the apprentice in probationary status.  

4.  Certificate.  If the Maine Apprenticeship Program approves an apprenticeship program, it shall register that apprenticeship program and issue a sponsor approval certificate.  

5.  Review.  The Maine Apprenticeship Program shall review an application for registration of an apprenticeship program. An apprenticeship program that meets the standards for registration must be given provisional registration for a period of one year. The Maine Apprenticeship Program shall review an apprenticeship program for quality and conformity with the requirements of this chapter at the end of the first year after registration. A program that conforms to the requirements may have its registration be made permanent or may continue to be provisionally registered through the first full training cycle. An apprenticeship program that is not in operation or does not conform to the requirements must be deregistered pursuant to section 3206.  

6.  Change of program.  A sponsor may not make a change to a registered apprenticeship program unless the change is approved by the Maine Apprenticeship Program. To make a change to a registered apprenticeship program, a sponsor must submit a request to the Maine Apprenticeship Program. The Maine Apprenticeship Program shall approve or disapprove the requested change within 90 days from receipt of the request. If approved, the change must be recorded and acknowledged by the Maine Apprenticeship Program within 90 days of approval. If not approved, the Maine Apprenticeship Program shall notify the sponsor of the disapproval and the reason for the disapproval and provide the appropriate technical assistance.  

7.  Union participation.  An apprenticeship program may be proposed for registration by an employer or group of employers or an employers association. An employer or employers association with respect to which there exists a standard or a collective bargaining agreement or other instrument that provides for participation by a union in any aspect of the operation of the substantive matters of an apprenticeship program must, if such participation is exercised, include in the apprenticeship program proposed for registration written acknowledgment of union agreement or no objection to the registration. If such participation is not so provided for or practiced, the employer or employers association must simultaneously furnish to an existing union, if any, that is the collective bargaining agent of the employees to be trained a copy of its application for registration and of the apprenticeship program. The registration agency shall provide for receipt of union comments within 45 days before final action on the application for registration.