U.S. Department of Labor 
Employment Standards Administration
Wage and Hour Division
Washington, D.C. 20210
MEMORANDUM NO. 148
TO: All Government Contracting Agencies of the
Federal Government and the District of Columbia
FROM: PAULA V. SMITH 
Administrator
SUBJECT: Allowable ratio of apprentices to journeymen on
Davis-Bacon and related Act covered projects
It has recently come to our attention that contracting agencies
may not be aware of the Department's policy concerning the
allowable ratio of apprentices to journeymen on contracts
subject to the Davis-Bacon labor standards provisions.
The attached copy of section 15e01(b)(2) of the Wage and Hour
Division Field Operations Handbook has been distributed to
all staff and the policy enunciated therein has been
implemented. Accordingly, contracting agencies should not allow
contractors to use "fractions thereof" in determining the ratio
of apprentices to journeymen unless the apprenticeship agreement
itself provides for "fractions thereof".
Attachment




(b) Allowable ratio - apprentices to journeymen
(1) The allowable ratio of apprentices to journeymen
employed on the contract work in any craft
classification shall not be greater than the ratio
permitted the contractor as to his entire work force
under the registered program. (See Regs
5.5(a)(4)(i).) The allowable ratio is to be applied
on a daily basis. However, BW's will not be assessed
for minor, temporary, and inadvertent ratio
imbalances which are promptly corrected. If a
contractor has both apprentice and a trainee
program, the trainees must be counted together with
the apprentices in determining compliance with the
allowable ratio (i.e., the journeymen may not be
counted twice).
(2) For the purpose of illustration only, assume that a
contractor is allowed a ratio of one apprentice to
every three journeymen under the terms of the
approved plan. This same ratio wodid apply on DBRA
covered jobs. .Thus, in this example, the allowable
number of apprentices is illustrated by the following
chart:
Journeymen         Allowable Apprentices
0-2                     0
3-5                     1
6-8                     2
9-11                    3
NOTE: The ratios are applied in terms of whole number
increments for the journeymen (as reflected in
the preceding chart) and at in terms of
"fractions thereof", unless a different
standard is specified in the approved plan.
Also, the allowable ratio will vary from plan
to plan.