SECTION 11T. Voluntary deregistration of apprentice programs; program investigation; deregistration for cause; notice to interested persons; appeals; program reinstatement

(a) An apprentice program sponsor may voluntarily deregister its program by providing written notice to the division and its apprentices and otherwise complying with provisions established by the division.

(b) The deputy director, on his own initiative, or upon the complaint of an interested person, may investigate and determine whether there has been a violation of the terms of an apprentice agreement or apprentice program and may hold hearings, inquiries and other proceedings necessary to such investigations and determination. All hearings, investigations and determinations shall be made under authority of reasonable rules and procedure approved by the director.

The deputy director may deregister an apprentice program upon finding sufficient cause. Any of the following shall constitute sufficient cause for deregistration: (1) false statements or material omissions in the application for registration or documentation submitted; (2) violation of any of the requirements of this chapter; or (3) violation of a state or federal law which the deputy director determines to be of such serious and compelling nature to warrant suspension or deregistration of the apprentice program. The apprentice program sponsor shall be given a fair and impartial hearing, after reasonable notice of the hearing has been provided. If the proposed deregistration is for a specific period of time, the duration of the deregistration and any conditions that shall be met in order to be re-registered shall be provided with the notice.

An apprentice program sponsor of a deregistered program shall comply with provisions established by the division. Such provisions shall include, but not be limited to, the requirement that within 10 business days of the effective date of any deregistration, the apprentice program sponsor shall provide written notice to all apprentices in its program that, for the period of such deregistration, all apprentice agreements shall be automatically terminated.

The determination of the deputy director shall be filed with the director and notice of the determination shall, at the same time, be mailed, postage prepaid, to each person known by the division to be an interested person, at his last address as shown by the division's records. A person aggrieved by a determination or action of the deputy director may, within the 10 business day period, appeal to the director, who shall hold a hearing after due notice to all interested parties. If no appeal is filed with the deputy director within 10 business days after the date of such filing and notice, the determination shall become the decision of the director.

A party to an apprentice program aggrieved by an order or decision of the director may appeal to the superior court; provided, however, that such order or decision shall be conclusive if the appeal shall not be filed within 30 days after the date of the order or decision. The order or decision shall be reviewed in accordance with the standards for review provided in section 14 of chapter 30A.

No person shall institute an action for the deregistration of an apprentice program unless he shall first have exhausted all administrative remedies provided by this section.

(c) Within 30 days of the date of the deregistration, whether voluntary or involuntary, of an apprentice program, the apprentice program sponsor shall send to the division a copy of all documents demonstrating the number of hours of hands-on training and related instruction obtained by all apprentices in the program.

(d) The division may reinstate the registration of an apprentice program in its discretion upon presentation of adequate evidence that the condition that gave rise to the deregistration has been remedied.