20250SB__106598AMD INTRODUCED 2026-02-12 AMENDED_SENATE 2026-03-25 2025 SB AMD Introduced by Senator Wiener LEAD_AUTHOR SENATE Wiener

An act to amend

Section 1777.5 of the Labor Code, relating to employment. employment Public works: apprenticeship. Existing law requires payment of the general prevailing rate of per diem wages be paid to workers employed on public works, except as specified, and generally requires a contractor or subcontractor to be registered with the Department of Industrial Relations to be qualified to bid on, to be listed in a bid proposal, or to engage in the performance of any public work contract. Existing law authorizes the department to adopt rules and regulations for this purpose.

Existing law requires contractors on public works projects to comply with various requirements for employing apprentices. Among other things, existing law requires contractors to pay the prevailing rate of per diem wages for apprentices in the trade to which the apprentice is registered and to employ apprentices only at the work of the craft or trade to which the apprentice is registered, as specified.

This bill would authorize every apprentice to perform any of the tasks or duties of a journeyperson of the same craft or trade in accordance with the scope of work for the craft or trade established by the Director of Industrial Relations. Existing law also requires contractors on public works projects that employ workers in an apprenticeable craft or trade to employ apprentices in a specified ratio.

Existing law defines “apprenticeable craft or trade” for this purpose to mean a craft or trade determined as an apprenticeable occupation in accordance with rules and regulations prescribed by the California Apprenticeship Council. This bill would, instead, define “apprenticeable craft or trade” to mean a craft or trade as determined by the Director of Industrial Relations pursuant to existing public works law that is identified as an apprenticeable occupation in accordance with rules and regulations prescribed by the California Apprenticeship Council.

Existing law establishes within the Department of Industrial Relations the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement under the direction of the Labor Commissioner and requires the division to enforce provisions relating to employment of property service workers. Existing law requires an employer, as defined, to keep accurate records of certain information regarding its employees for years, and to register with the commissioner annually. Existing law imposes civil penalties on an employee for failure to register with the commissioner.

Existing law requires all registration fees and civil fines collected pursuant to these provisions to be deposited in the Labor Enforcement and Compliance Fund.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to that provision.</xhtml:p>"?> MAJORITY NO YES NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION

Section 1777.5 of the Labor Code is amended to read: 1777.5. (a)

(1) This

chapter does not prevent the employment upon public works of properly registered apprentices who are active participants in an approved apprenticeship program.

(2) For purposes of this chapter, “apprenticeship program” means a program under the jurisdiction of the California Apprenticeship Council established pursuant to

Section 3070. (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 they are registered, and shall be employed only at the work of the craft or trade to which they are registered. Every apprentice may perform any of the tasks or duties of a journeyperson of the same craft or trade in accordance with the scope of work for the craft or trade established by the Director of Industrial Relations.

(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 they are 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 they fail 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 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 they are 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 as determined by the Director of Industrial Relations pursuant to this

chapter that is identified 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 journeyperson 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 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 journeyperson and apprentice hours performed on the contract. The information under this subdivision shall be public. The apprenticeship programs shall retain this information for 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 for women and minorities. (

g) The ratio of work performed by apprentices to journeypersons 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 journeyperson work. (

h) This ratio of apprentice work to journeyperson work shall apply during any day or portion of a day when any journeyperson is employed at the jobsite and shall be computed on the basis of the hours worked during the day by journeypersons so employed. Any work performed by a journeyperson in excess of hours per day or 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 journeypersons 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 journeypersons 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 journeypersons 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 they employ apprentices in a particular craft or trade in the state on all of their contracts on an annual average of not less than one hour of apprentice work for every five hours of labor performed by journeypersons, 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 percent.

(2) The number of apprentices in training in the area exceeds a ratio of to 5.

(3) There is a showing that the apprenticeable craft or trade is replacing at least one-thirtieth of its journeypersons 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 their 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 journeyperson. (

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 journeypersons 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 their bid for the contract. (2) (

A) 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 grant funds shall be distributed as follows: (

i) 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. (ii) 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. (iii) All training contributions not distributed under clauses (

i) and (ii) shall be used to defray the future expenses of the Department of Industrial Relations for the administration and enforcement of apprenticeship and preapprenticeship standards and requirements under this code. (

B) An apprenticeship program shall only be eligible to receive grant funds pursuant to this subdivision if the apprenticeship program agrees, prior to the receipt of any grant funds, to keep adequate records that document the expenditure of grant funds and to make all records available to the Department of Industrial Relations so that the Department of Industrial Relations is able to verify that grant funds were used solely for training apprentices.

For purposes of this subparagraph, adequate records include, but are not limited to, invoices, receipts, and canceled checks that account for the expenditure of grant funds. This subparagraph shall not be deemed to require an apprenticeship program to provide the Department of Industrial Relations with more documentation than is necessary to verify the appropriate expenditure of grant funds made pursuant to this subdivision. (

C) The Department of Industrial Relations shall verify that grants made pursuant to this subdivision are used solely to fund training apprentices. If an apprenticeship program is unable to demonstrate how grant funds are expended or if an apprenticeship program is found to be using grant funds for purposes other than training apprentices, then the apprenticeship program shall not be eligible to receive any future grant pursuant to this subdivision and the Department of Industrial Relations may initiate the process to rescind the registration of the apprenticeship program.

(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. <caml:Num>SECTION 1.</caml:Num><caml:ActionLine action="IS_AMENDED" xlink:type="locator" xlink:href="urn:caml:codes:LAB:caml#xpointer(%2Fcaml%3ALawDoc%2Fcaml%3ACode%2Fcaml%3ALawHeading%5B%40type%3D'DIVISION'%20and%20caml%3ANum%3D'2.'%5D%2Fcaml%3ALawHeading%5B%40type%3D'PART'%20and%20caml%3ANum%3D'4.2.'%5D%2Fcaml%3ALawSection%5Bcaml%3ANum%3D'1433.'%5D)" xlink:label="fractionType: LAW_SECTION">Section of the <caml:DocName>Labor Code</caml:DocName> is amended to read:</caml:ActionLine><caml:Fragment><caml:LawSection id="id_0BEF7AD7-0FA8-456C-90CF-59E1E99CA1E8"><caml:Num>1433.</caml:Num><caml:LawSectionVersion id="id_9675CEF9-B5AA-4750-9903-7D895F3C0A77"><caml:Content><xhtml:p>(a)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>All registration fees collected pursuant to

Section 1427, all civil fines collected pursuant to

Section 1432, and any other moneys as are designated by statute or order shall be deposited in the Labor Enforcement and Compliance Fund.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(b)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>Moneys deposited in the fund pursuant to Sections and shall be used only for the following purposes:</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(1)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>The reasonable costs of administering the registration of janitorial contractors pursuant to this part by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(2)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>The costs and obligations associated with the administration and enforcement of this part by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(c)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>The annual employer registration renewal fee specified in

Section 1427, and any adjusted application renewal fee, shall be set in amounts that are sufficient to support the direct costs and a reasonable percentage attributable to the indirect costs of the division for administering this part.</xhtml:p></caml:Content></caml:LawSectionVersion></caml:LawSection></caml:Fragment></caml:BillSection>"?>