Bill Text: CA AB1870 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Public works: prevailing wage: multiemployer apprenticeship program grants.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2014-09-30 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 890, Statutes of 2014. [AB1870 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB1870-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1870 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 890
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 30, 2014
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 30, 2014
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 19, 2014
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 21, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 4, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Alejo
FEBRUARY 19, 2014
An act to amend Section 1777.5 of the Labor Code, relating to
public works.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1870, Alejo. Public works: prevailing wage: multiemployer
apprenticeship program grants.
Existing law requires that, except as specified, not less than the
general prevailing rate of per diem wages, determined by the
Director of Industrial Relations, be paid to workers employed on
public works projects. Under existing law, an apprentice employed
upon public works is required to be paid the prevailing rate of per
diem wages for apprentices in the trade to which he or she is
registered and to be employed only at the work of the craft or trade
to which he or she is registered, as specified.
Under existing law a contractor to whom a contract is awarded,
who, in performing any of the work under the contract, employs
journeymen or apprentices in any apprenticeable craft or trade is
required to contribute to the California Apprenticeship Council the
same amount that the director determines is the prevailing amount of
apprenticeship training contributions in the area of the public works
site. Existing law requires the California Apprenticeship Council to
distribute the training contributions by making a grant to an
approved multiemployer apprenticeship program serving the same craft
or trade and geographical area for which the training contributions
were made to the council, for the purpose of training apprentices.
Under existing law, if there are 2 or more approved multiemployer
apprenticeship programs serving the same craft or trade and
geographical area for which the training contributions were made to
the council, the grant is required to be divided among all those
programs based on the number of apprentices registered in each
program.
This bill would, if there are two or more approved multiemployer
apprenticeship programs serving the same craft or trade and county
for which the training contributions were made to the council,
require the grant to be divided among those programs based on the
number of apprentices from that county registered in each program.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1777.5 of the Labor Code is amended to read:
1777.5. (a) Nothing in this chapter shall prevent the employment
of properly registered apprentices upon public works.
(b) Every apprentice employed upon public works shall be paid the
prevailing rate of per diem wages for apprentices in the trade to
which he or she is registered and shall be employed only at the work
of the craft or trade to which he or she is registered.
(c) Only apprentices, as defined in Section 3077, who are in
training under apprenticeship standards that have been approved by
the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards and who are
parties to written apprentice agreements under Chapter 4 (commencing
with Section 3070) of Division 3 are eligible to be employed at the
apprentice wage rate on public works. The employment and training of
each apprentice shall be in accordance with either of the following:
(1) The apprenticeship standards and apprentice agreements under
which he or she is training.
(2) The rules and regulations of the California Apprenticeship
Council.
(d) When the contractor to whom the contract is awarded by the
state or any political subdivision, in performing any of the work
under the contract, employs workers in any apprenticeable craft or
trade, the contractor shall employ apprentices in at least the ratio
set forth in this section and may apply to any apprenticeship program
in the craft or trade that can provide apprentices to the site of
the public work for a certificate approving the contractor under the
apprenticeship standards for the employment and training of
apprentices in the area or industry affected. However, the decision
of the apprenticeship program to approve or deny a certificate shall
be subject to review by the Administrator of Apprenticeship. The
apprenticeship program or programs, upon approving the contractor,
shall arrange for the dispatch of apprentices to the contractor. A
contractor covered by an apprenticeship program's standards shall not
be required to submit any additional application in order to include
additional public works contracts under that program.
"Apprenticeable craft or trade," as used in this section, means a
craft or trade determined as an apprenticeable occupation in
accordance with rules and regulations prescribed by the California
Apprenticeship Council. As used in this section, "contractor"
includes any subcontractor under a contractor who performs any public
works not excluded by subdivision (o).
(e) Prior to commencing work on a contract for public works, every
contractor shall submit contract award information to an applicable
apprenticeship program that can supply apprentices to the site of the
public work. The information submitted shall include an estimate of
journeyman hours to be performed under the contract, the number of
apprentices proposed to be employed, and the approximate dates the
apprentices would be employed. A copy of this information shall also
be submitted to the awarding body if requested by the awarding body.
Within 60 days after concluding work on the contract, each contractor
and subcontractor shall submit to the awarding body, if requested,
and to the apprenticeship program a verified statement of the
journeyman and apprentice hours performed on the contract. The
information under this subdivision shall be public. The
apprenticeship programs shall retain this information for 12 months.
(f) The apprenticeship program that can supply apprentices to the
area of the site of the public work shall ensure equal employment and
affirmative action in apprenticeship for women and minorities.
(g) The ratio of work performed by apprentices to journeymen
employed in a particular craft or trade on the public work may be no
higher than the ratio stipulated in the apprenticeship standards
under which the apprenticeship program operates where the contractor
agrees to be bound by those standards, but, except as otherwise
provided in this section, in no case shall the ratio be less than one
hour of apprentice work for every five hours of journeyman work.
(h) This ratio of apprentice work to journeyman work shall apply
during any day or portion of a day when any journeyman is employed at
the jobsite and shall be computed on the basis of the hours worked
during the day by journeymen so employed. Any work performed by a
journeyman in excess of eight hours per day or 40 hours per week
shall not be used to calculate the ratio. The contractor shall employ
apprentices for the number of hours computed as above before the end
of the contract or, in the case of a subcontractor, before the end
of the subcontract. However, the contractor shall endeavor, to the
greatest extent possible, to employ apprentices during the same time
period that the journeymen in the same craft or trade are employed at
the jobsite. Where an hourly apprenticeship ratio is not feasible
for a particular craft or trade, the Administrator of Apprenticeship,
upon application of an apprenticeship program, may order a minimum
ratio of not less than one apprentice for each five journeymen in a
craft or trade classification.
(i) A contractor covered by this section who has agreed to be
covered by an apprenticeship program's standards upon the issuance of
the approval certificate, or who has been previously approved for an
apprenticeship program in the craft or trade, shall employ the
number of apprentices or the ratio of apprentices to journeymen
stipulated in the applicable apprenticeship standards, but in no
event less than the 1 to 5 ratio required by subdivision (g).
(j) Upon proper showing by a contractor that he or she employs
apprentices in a particular craft or trade in the state on all of his
or her contracts on an annual average of not less than one hour of
apprentice work for every five hours of labor performed by
journeymen, the Administrator of Apprenticeship may grant a
certificate exempting the contractor from the 1 to 5 hourly ratio, as
set forth in this section for that craft or trade.
(k) An apprenticeship program has the discretion to grant to a
participating contractor or contractor association a certificate,
which shall be subject to the approval of the Administrator of
Apprenticeship, exempting the contractor from the 1 to 5 ratio set
forth in this section when it finds that any one of the following
conditions is met:
(1) Unemployment for the previous three-month period in the area
exceeds an average of 15 percent.
(2) The number of apprentices in training in the area exceeds a
ratio of 1 to 5.
(3) There is a showing that the apprenticeable craft or trade is
replacing at least one-thirtieth of its journeymen annually through
apprenticeship training, either on a statewide basis or on a local
basis.
(4) Assignment of an apprentice to any work performed under a
public works contract would create a condition that would jeopardize
his or her life or the life, safety, or property of fellow employees
or the public at large, or the specific task to which the apprentice
is to be assigned is of a nature that training cannot be provided by
a journeyman.
(l) When an exemption is granted pursuant to subdivision (k) to an
organization that represents contractors in a specific trade from
the 1 to 5 ratio on a local or statewide basis, the member
contractors shall not be required to submit individual applications
for approval to local joint apprenticeship committees, if they are
already covered by the local apprenticeship standards.
(m) (1) A contractor to whom a contract is awarded, who, in
performing any of the work under the contract, employs journeymen or
apprentices in any apprenticeable craft or trade shall contribute to
the California Apprenticeship Council the same amount that the
director determines is the prevailing amount of apprenticeship
training contributions in the area of the public works site. A
contractor may take as a credit for payments to the council any
amounts paid by the contractor to an approved apprenticeship program
that can supply apprentices to the site of the public works project.
The contractor may add the amount of the contributions in computing
his or her bid for the contract.
(2) At the conclusion of the 2002-03 fiscal year and each fiscal
year thereafter, the California Apprenticeship Council shall
distribute training contributions received by the council under this
subdivision, less the expenses of the Department of Industrial
Relations for administering this subdivision, by making grants to
approved apprenticeship programs for the purpose of training
apprentices. The funds shall be distributed as follows:
(A) If there is an approved multiemployer apprenticeship program
serving the same craft or trade and geographic area for which the
training contributions were made to the council, a grant to that
program shall be made.
(B) If there are two or more approved multiemployer apprenticeship
programs serving the same craft or trade and county for which the
training contributions were made to the council, the grant shall be
divided among those programs based on the number of apprentices from
that county registered in each program.
(C) All training contributions not distributed under subparagraphs
(A) and (B) shall be used to defray the future expenses of the
Department of Industrial Relations for the administration and
enforcement of apprenticeship standards and requirements under this
code.
(3) All training contributions received pursuant to this
subdivision shall be deposited in the Apprenticeship Training
Contribution Fund, which is hereby created in the State Treasury.
Upon appropriation by the Legislature, all moneys in the
Apprenticeship Training Contribution Fund shall be used for the
purpose of carrying out this subdivision and to pay the expenses of
the Department of Industrial Relations.
(n) The body awarding the contract shall cause to be inserted in
the contract stipulations to effectuate this section. The
stipulations shall fix the responsibility of compliance with this
section for all apprenticeable occupations with the prime contractor.
(o) This section does not apply to contracts of general
contractors or to contracts of specialty contractors not bidding for
work through a general or prime contractor when the contracts of
general contractors or those specialty contractors involve less than
thirty thousand dollars ($30,000).
(p) An awarding body that implements an approved labor compliance
program in accordance with subdivision (b) of Section 1771.5 may,
with the approval of the director, assist in the enforcement of this
section under the terms and conditions prescribed by the director.
