Number 12 July 22, 1975

Number 12 July 22, 1975 Mrs. Evvajean Mintz, Director Division of Registration Leverett Saltonstall Building 100 Cambridge Street Boston, Massachusetts 02202 Dear Mrs. Mintz: Your predecessor requested my opinion as to whether Chapter 582, Sec- tion 3 of the Acts of 1962, which amended G. L. c. 141, §§ 1 and 8, permits a licensed journeyman electrician, who is also a licensed instructor of the Department of Education, to supervise electrical work performed by stu- dents in public or nonprofit institutions if such work is performed without financial remuneration. My opinion is that the statute permits such activity. The students involved are enrolled at local vocational high schools and, as part of their curriculum, do on-the-job training without pay, for example, at the local town hall or Y.M.C.A. The journeyman electrician acts as an instructor and supervisor of the students while on the job. Section 3 of Chapter 582 provides as follows: "The provisions of sections one and eight of chapter one hundred and forty-one of the General Laws, as amended by sections one and two, respectively, of this act, in so far as they restrict the working by learners or apprentices with and under the direct personal supervision of journeymen electricians shall not apply to employees while they are engaged in an on-the-job training program, so called, conducted in cooperation with an accredited university, college or secondary school . . . ." The provisions of the General Laws referred to in the quoted passage limit the number of apprentices who may work for a master electrician and a journeyman electrician. See 13 Op. Atty. Gen. 70 (1963); 4 Op. Atty. Gen. 496 (1915). However, Chapter 582 of the Actsof 1962 created an exception to such limitations by permitting the employment of any number of appren- tices if they are supervised by a journeyman electrician and are engaged in the on-the-job training program of an accredited .school. It is my opinion that the exception applies to this situation. Since the instructor is licensed by the Department of Education and the program is presumably operated in conjunction with an accredited state vocational high school, the only possible objection to the operation of this 84 P.D. 12 type of program would be the contention that the students are not "employees," under Chapter 582. Since Chapter 141 itself does not require licensure for work done without remuneration, Op. Atty. Gen., Sept. 5, 1973, G. L. c. 141, § 1, it would be pardoxical to require that persons covered by Chapter 582 be employees. Therefore, it is my opinion that the term "employees" does not restrict the operation of Chapter 582, as long as the other requirements of the chapter are met. Very truly yours, FRANCIS X. BELLOTTI Attorney General