Bill Text: CA AB1425 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Apprentices.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-09-07 - Ordered to inactive file at the request of Senator Bradford. [AB1425 Detail]
Download: California-2017-AB1425-Amended.html
|
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 28, 2017 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION
| Assembly Bill | No. 1425 |
| Introduced by Assembly Member Kalra |
February 17, 2017 |
An act to amend Section Sections 1777.5 and 1777.7 of the Labor Code, relating to public works.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1425, as amended, Kalra.
Prevailing wage: apprentices. Apprentices.
Existing law requires contractors on public works projects to comply with various requirements for employing apprentices, including, among others, requiring every contractor to submit contract award information to an applicable apprenticeship program that can supply apprentices to the site of the public work. Existing law imposes penalties for a violation of requirements relating to apprentices.
This bill would require a contractor, within a designated time period, to provide specific written information to applicable apprenticeship committees whose geographic area of operation includes the area of the public works project. The bill would impose additional
penalties for a violation of these various requirements, including, among others, prohibiting a contractor who knowingly commits 4 or more violations within a 3-year period to be ineligible to bid on or to be awarded or perform work on any public works contract for one year.
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.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to the above provision.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee:Bill Text
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) This chapter does not prevent the employment of properly registered apprentices upon public works.(b) (1) 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.
(2) Unless otherwise provided by a collective bargaining agreement, when a contractor requests the dispatch of an apprentice pursuant to this section to perform work on a public works project and requires the apprentice to fill out an application or undergo
testing, training, an examination, or other preemployment process as a condition of employment, the apprentice shall be paid for the time spent on the required preemployment activity, including travel time to and from the required activity, if any, at the prevailing rate of per diem wages for apprentices in the trade to which he or she is registered. Unless otherwise provided by a collective bargaining agreement, a contractor is not required to compensate an apprentice for the time spent on preemployment activities if the apprentice is required to take a preemployment drug or alcohol test and he or she fails to pass that test.
(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) If 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) Before 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 supplying apprentices to the area of the site of the public work shall ensure equal employment and affirmative action in apprenticeship programs 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 if the contractor agrees to be bound by those standards.
However, 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. When 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 that the apprentice is to be assigned to is of a nature that training cannot be provided by a journeyman.
(l) If 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.
(q) (1) (A) A contractor shall provide
contract award information to the apprenticeship committee for each applicable apprenticeable craft or trade in the area of the site of the public works project that has approved the contractor to train apprentices.
(B) A contractor who is not approved to train an apprentice by an apprenticeship program sponsor shall provide contract award information to all of the applicable apprenticeship committees whose geographic area of operation includes the area of the public works project.
(C) A contractor shall provide the information required by subparagraphs (A) and (B) within 10 days of the date of the execution of the prime contract or subcontract, but in no event later than the first day in which a contractor has workers employed upon the public work.
(2) (A) A contractor shall provide the information required by paragraph (1) in a writing that contains all of the following information:
(i) Contractor’s name, address, telephone number, and state license number.
(ii) Full name and address of the public work awarding body.
(iii) Exact location of the public work site.
(iv) Date of the contract award.
(v) Expected start date of the work.
(vi) Estimated journeyman hours.
(vii) Number of apprentices to be employed.
(viii) Approximate dates apprentices will be employed.
(B) The Department of Industrial Relations may create a form for a contractor to use to comply with subparagraph (A).
(3) A contractor’s failure to provide contract award information that is known by the contractor shall be deemed a continuing violation for the duration of the contract, ending when a Notice of Completion is filed by the awarding body, for the purpose of determining the accrual of penalties under Section 1777.7 of the Labor Code.
SEC. 2.
Section 1777.7 of the Labor Code is amended to read:1777.7.
(a) (1) If the Labor Commissioner or his or her designee determines after an investigation that a contractor or subcontractor knowingly violated Section 1777.5, the contractor and any subcontractor responsible for the violation shall forfeit, as a civil penalty to the state or political subdivision on whose behalf the contract is made or awarded, not more than one hundred dollars ($100) for each full calendar day of noncompliance. The amount of this penalty may be reduced by the Labor Commissioner if the amount of the penalty would be disproportionate to the severity of the violation. A contractor or subcontractor that knowingly commits a second or subsequent violation within a three-year period, if the noncompliance results in apprenticeship training not being provided as required by this chapter, shall forfeit as a civil penalty the sum of not more than three hundred dollars ($300) for each full calendar day of noncompliance. A contractor or subcontractor that knowingly commits four or more violations within a three-year period shall be ineligible to bid on or to be awarded or perform work as a subcontractor on any public works contract for one year from the date the determination of noncompliance by the Labor Commissioner becomes a final order.(2) In lieu of the penalty provided for in this subdivision, the Labor Commissioner may, for a first-time violation and with the concurrence of an apprenticeship program described in subdivision (d) of Section 1777.5, order the contractor or subcontractor to provide apprentice employment equivalent to the work hours that would have been provided for apprentices during the period of
noncompliance.
(b) The Labor Commissioner shall consider, in setting the amount of a monetary penalty, all of the following circumstances:
(1) Whether the violation was intentional.
(2) Whether the party has committed other violations of Section 1777.5.
(3) Whether, upon notice of the violation, the party took steps to voluntarily remedy the violation.
(4) Whether, and to what extent, the violation resulted in lost training opportunities for apprentices.
(5) Whether, and to what extent, the violation otherwise harmed apprentices or apprenticeship programs.
(c) (1) The Labor Commissioner or his or her designee shall issue a civil wage and penalty assessment, in accordance with the provisions of Section 1741, upon determination of penalties assessed under subdivisions (a) and (b). Review of a civil wage and penalty assessment issued under this subdivision may be requested in accordance with the provisions of Section 1742. The regulations of the Director of Industrial Relations, which govern proceedings for review of civil wage and penalty assessments and the withholding of contract payments under Article 1 (commencing with Section 1720) and Article 2 (commencing with Section 1770), shall apply.
(2) For purposes of this section, a determination issued pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) includes a determination that has been approved by the Labor Commissioner and issued by an awarding body that has been authorized to assist the director in the enforcement of Section
1777.5 pursuant to subdivision (p) of that section. The Labor Commissioner may intervene in any proceeding for review of a determination issued by an awarding body. If the involvement of the Labor Commissioner in a labor compliance program enforcement action is limited to a review of the determination and the matter is resolved without litigation by or against the Labor Commissioner or the department, the awarding body shall enforce any applicable penalties, as specified in this section, and shall deposit any penalties and forfeitures collected in the General Fund.
(d) The determination of the Labor Commissioner as to the amount of the penalty imposed under subdivisions (a) and (b) shall be reviewable only for an abuse of discretion.
(e) If a subcontractor is found to have violated Section 1777.5, the prime contractor of the project is not liable for any penalties under
subdivision (a) unless the prime contractor had knowledge of the subcontractor’s failure to comply with the provisions of Section 1777.5 or unless the prime contractor fails to comply with any of the following requirements:
(1) The contract executed between the contractor and the subcontractor for the performance of work on the public works project shall include a copy of the provisions of Sections 1771, 1775, 1776, 1777.5, 1813, and 1815.
(2) The contractor shall continually monitor a subcontractor’s use of apprentices required to be employed on the public works project pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 1777.5, including, but not limited to, periodic review of the certified payroll of the subcontractor.
(3) Upon becoming aware of a failure of the subcontractor to employ the required number of apprentices, the
contractor shall take corrective action, including, but not limited to, retaining funds due to the subcontractor for work performed on the public works project until the failure is corrected.
(4) Prior to making the final payment to the subcontractor for work performed on the public works project, the contractor shall obtain a declaration signed under penalty of perjury from the subcontractor that the subcontractor has employed the required number of apprentices on the public works project.
(f) The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement shall notify the contractor on a public works project within 15 days of the receipt by the division of a complaint that a subcontractor on that public works project knowingly violated Section 1777.5.
(g) The interpretation of Section 1777.5 and the substantive requirements of this
section applicable to contractors or subcontractors shall be in accordance with the regulations of the California Apprenticeship Council.
(h) The Director of Industrial Relations may adopt regulations to establish guidelines for the imposition of monetary penalties.
