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**One apprentice over the ratio can cost you full journeyman back wages.**

###### FREE SESSION

Apprenticeship enforcement is ramping up in every state. The auditors got faster. The rules did not get simpler.

One bad ratio. One unregistered apprentice. One training fund contribution you forgot about. That's all it takes to turn a routine certified payroll review into back wages, penalties, and a genuinely bad week.

**Here's the part nobody warns you about:** when an apprentice isn't covered right, they get bumped to the full journeyman rate. Retroactively. You eat the difference, sometimes across the whole project. And no, sadly, "good faith" is not a defense that holds up. We checked.

On July 9, two people who live in this stuff every day break down exactly where contractors get nailed in 2026, and how to keep your name off the audit list.

**What we're covering:**

*   The ratio slip that quietly reclassifies your apprentices to journeyman scale
*   The wage classification mistakes that trigger full prevailing wage liability
*   The training fund contributions everyone forgets until an auditor finds them
*   How audits actually start (hint: it's usually your own certified payroll)
*   What audit-ready documentation looks like before the request letter shows up

**Who should be here:** Contractors, payroll managers, and compliance leads on prevailing wage or public works projects.

Got apprentices on any crew? This is for you. Still tracking ratios in a spreadsheet you update after the fact? This is *really* for you.

60 minutes, including live Q\&A. Can't make it live? Register anyway and we'll send you the recording.
