Administration of Apprenticeship Programs in California

Labor Code Division 3, Chapter 4, Article 1 establishes the administration of apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs in California. Section 3070 establishes the Division of Apprenticeship Standards and the California Apprenticeship Council, which is appointed by the Governor, composed of six representatives each from employers or employer organizations and employee organizations, that sponsor apprenticeship programs.

Section 3071 requires the California Apprenticeship Council to meet quarterly at a designated date and special meetings may be held at the call of the chair. The council must issue rules and regulations which establish standards for minimum wages, maximum hours, and working conditions for apprentice agreements in the building and construction trades and for firefighter occupations, hereinafter in this chapter referred to as apprenticeship standards.

Section 3071.5 provides that there is the Division of Apprenticeship Standards the Interagency Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship. The membership and duties of this committee are specified in law.

Section 3071.7 defines the terms “current foster youth,” “former foster youth,” “foster you,” and “homeless youth.”

Section 3072 provides that the Director of Industrial Relations is ex officio the Administrator of Apprenticeship and is authorized to appoint assistants as necessary to effectuate the purposes of this chapter.

Section 3073 requires the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, or their duly authorized representative, to administer the provisions of this chapter; act as secretary of the California Apprenticeship Council and the Interagency Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship.

In addition, the chief is required to issue rules and regulations that establish standards for minimum wages, maximum hours, and working conditions for apprentice agreements in all industries other than the building and construction trades and firefighter occupations, as well as standards governing pre-apprenticeship programs.

Section 3073.1 requires the division to evaluate apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs to ensure that the program evaluated is complying with its standards, that all on-the-job training is supervised by journeypersons, that all classroom instruction required by the apprenticeship or pre-apprenticeship standards is being provided, that all work processes in the standards are being covered, that graduates have completed the program’s requirements, and that any funds received under this chapter were properly obtained and are being expended appropriately.

Section 3073.3 said that the division may fund the programs established pursuant to this chapter by means of grants, reimbursements, or other appropriate funding mechanisms rather than contracts. The grants are not subject to the review or approval specified in Section 10295 of the Public Contract Code.

Section 3073.3 sets forth that the Legislature intends that the DIR will encourage greater participation for women, ethnic minorities, and the disabled in programs administered pursuant to this chapter.

Section 3073.5 requires annual report be made by the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, the California Apprenticeship Council, and the Interagency Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship.

Section 3073.6 provides that every person who willfully discriminates in any recruitment or apprenticeship program on any basis is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.

Section 3073.7 states that the Division of Apprenticeship Standards may cooperate in the provision of, or provide, services to the Employment Development Department, and to service delivery areas, as designated pursuant to the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. And, the Division of Apprenticeship Standards must exert maximum effort to persuade sponsors of its registered, non-federally funded, voluntary apprenticeship and on-the-job training programs 

Section 3073.9 prohibits any building and construction trades apprenticeship program from discriminating against any apprentice or applicant for apprenticeship on the basis of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age for individuals over forty years of age, military or veteran status, or sexual orientation with regard to specified actions.

In implementing this section, the division and the Administrator of Apprenticeship must look to the legal standards, defenses, and exceptions applied under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. In addition, each building and construction trades apprenticeship program must take affirmative steps to provide equal opportunity in apprenticeship.

Section 3074 provides that the preparation of trade analyses and development of curriculum for instruction, and the administration and supervision of related and supplemental instruction for apprentices, coordination of instruction with job experiences, and the selection and training of teachers and coordinators for this instruction shall be the responsibility of, and shall be provided by, state and local boards responsible for vocational education upon agreement with the program sponsor.

Section 3074.1 states that, in compliance with the affirmative action requirements of California’s plan for equal opportunity in apprenticeship, school districts maintaining high schools, community colleges districts, and apprenticeship program sponsors, must provide students with information as to the availability of apprenticeship programs.

Section 3074.2 defines the terms “career fair,” “college fair,” and “school.” A school district or school that is planning to hold a college or career fair is required to notify each apprenticeship program in the same county as the school district or school of the college or career fair.

Section 3074.3 provides that the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges must recognize registration in an apprenticeship program approved by the Division of Apprenticeship Standards in the Department of Industrial Relations as an acceptable prerequisite to enrollment into such related and supplemental classes.

Section 3074.7 states that the governing board of a school district which offers classroom instruction in postgraduate and upgrading courses of this code may impose a fee upon individuals receiving instruction in such postgraduate and upgrading courses.