Title 29, LaborRelease 119-110

§2501 Findings; Statement of Purpose

Title 29 › CHAPTER 27 — WOMEN IN APPRENTICESHIP AND NONTRADITIONAL OCCUPATIONS › § 2501

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Provides technical help to employers and labor unions so they can recruit, train, and keep women in apprenticeable occupations and other jobs where women are underrepresented. Congress found that American businesses will face a very different labor market for the remainder of the 20th century, that two in every three new workers will be women who must work in all kinds of jobs, that women face big barriers to entering these occupations, and that few resources exist to help employers and unions. To meet this goal, the law will promote the program to employers and unions, give grants to community-based groups to deliver technical help, let the Department of Labor act as a link between employers, labor, and those groups, and require a full study of the barriers women face with recommendations to remove them.

Full Legal Text

Title 29, §2501

Labor, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Findings
The Congress finds that—
(1)American businesses now and for the remainder of the 20th century will face a dramatically different labor market than the one to which they have become accustomed;
(2)two in every three new entrants to the work force will be women, and to meet labor needs such women must work in all occupational areas including in apprenticeable occupations and nontraditional occupations;
(3)women face significant barriers to their full and effective participation in apprenticeable occupations and nontraditional occupations;
(4)the business community must be prepared to address the barriers that women have to such jobs, in order to successfully integrate them into the work force; and
(5)few resources are available to employers and unions who need assistance in recruiting, training, and retaining women in apprenticeable occupations and other nontraditional occupations.
(b)Purpose
It is the purpose of this chapter to provide technical assistance to employers and labor unions to encourage employment of women in apprenticeable occupations and nontraditional occupations. Such assistance will enable business to meet the challenge of Workforce 2000 by preparing employers to successfully recruit, train, and retain women in apprenticeable occupations and nontraditional occupations and will expand the employment and self-sufficiency options of women. This purpose will be achieved by—
(1)promoting the program to employers and labor unions to inform them of the availability of technical assistance which will assist them in preparing the workplace to employ women in apprenticeable occupations and nontraditional occupations;
(2)providing grants to community-based organizations to deliver technical assistance to employers and labor unions to prepare them to recruit, train, and employ women in apprenticeable occupations and nontraditional occupations;
(3)authorizing the Department of Labor to serve as a liaison between employers, labor, and the community-based organizations providing technical assistance, through its national office and its regional administrators; and
(4)conducting a comprehensive study to examine the barriers to the participation of women in apprenticeable occupations and nontraditional occupations and to develop recommendations for the workplace to eliminate such barriers.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Short Title

Pub. L. 102–530, § 1, Oct. 27, 1992, 106 Stat. 3465, provided that: “This Act [enacting this chapter] shall be cited as the ‘Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations Act’.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

29 U.S.C. § 2501

Title 29, Labor

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110