For Employers

It is your discretion. One year you may need three and the next year you may not need any. We encourage as much participation as an employer can reasonably manage. There are no obligations—even if you interview at Matching Day you are not obligated to take any of the candidates if they do not meet your expectations.

NYS Labor laws are very specific about “Restricted Occupations.” Many of the skilled trades are NOT on the “Restricted Trades Occupation List,” so liability would be the same as any other full-time employee. The only difference is that under the NYS Workers’ Compensation laws, if an employee under the age of 18 in injured while conducting work in a “Restricted Occupation” then any claim that is paid out would be double that of someone 18 years of age or older. Job shadow candidates are not performing any work and fall under your general liability insurance for visitors and or vendors.

At this time the Finger Lakes Youth Apprenticeship program is not requiring that employers offer a NYS registered apprenticeship program. We do however educate the students, parents and educators on the benefits of entering into a registered apprenticeship program. We also notify the students of employers that offer a registered apprenticeship and those that do not so that they can make their best decisions on career opportunities.

There is no obligation. Obviously the intent of the program is to allow you to see the Youth Apprentice’s work in your environment, ultimately leading to full time employment. If however the Youth Apprentice demonstrates below average work or your business conditions do not allow for additional employees, then upon completion of the program you do not have to offer the candidate a full time job.

There may be circumstances where a student meets all of your expectations and in the end chooses to not accept your offer of employment, just as there are no guarantees to the student that you can offer him or her a full-time position upon completion. With strong mentoring within your organization, the offer of a registered apprenticeship program and with tuition at no cost to the student, we expect this this to be a rare occurrence.

There is no cost to participate in the Finger Lakes Youth Apprenticeship Program. In the future we may ask for a voluntary sponsorship to help with student events (like Matching Day and Signing Day), however at this time we have secured funding for those events.

For senior-year co-ops, yes, at a minimum of $15.00 per hour (NYS Minimum Wage Requirements). Job shadows are not paid.