Requirements for Contracts with OJT Training Provisions

The On-the-Job Training (OJT) program exists to help expand the pool of qualified women, minorities, and disadvantaged persons in the highway construction industry. At its core it simply provides training for those groups in highway construction related fields (e.g., welder, electrician, highway surveyor). ADOT Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) funded projects sometimes require that contractors have an OJT program goal to train a certain number of OJT trainees for a certain minimum number of hours.

OJT Goals

As of February 2020, ADOT’s OJT Program is a project-based program. Each FHWA construction project that has a minimum of 120 working days and is valued at $3 million or more is evaluated for a project specific OJT goal. Projects located on Tribal lands will not be assessed as an OJT goal.

OJT goals are set by the Business Engagement and Compliance Office (BECO) and are based on the size of the specific project and the opportunities for training within the scope of the project. BECO assesses OJT training hours and monitors the project to ensure that trainees receive the required number of training hours.

Contractors working on FHWA funded construction projects may be required to provide training for some number of women, minority, veteran and disadvantaged trainees specified in the contract. As of February 2020. Contractors working on FHWA construction projects without an OJT goal may participate in training and reimbursement of training hours achieved on a project

OJT Program Guidelines

ADOT updated its OJT Program in the fall of 2019, transitioning back to a project- based OJT Program structure.

The new program is effective on projects advertised after February 1, 2020.

Projects awarded prior to February 1, 2020 fall under the Contractor-Based OJT Program.

The new OJT project-based program guidelines set requirements for acceptable training programs, trainee wages, trainee recruitment, program reporting and other aspects of the OJT program. For information on OJT program guidelines visit the ADOT OJT Website.