Apprenticeship Programs under the Labor Code

California’s Labor Code provides for Apprenticeship Programs in Article 2 of Chapter 4 of Division 3. Article 2 was added in 2018 by Chapter 704. Section 3075 authorizes an apprenticeship program to be administered by a joint apprenticeship committee, unilateral management or labor apprenticeship committee, or an individual employer.

Programs may be approved by the chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards in any trade in the state or in a city or trade area, whenever the apprentice training needs justify the establishment. Where a collective bargaining agreement exists, a program will be jointly sponsored unless either party to the agreement waives its right to representation in writing. Joint apprenticeship committees are to be composed of an equal number of employer and employee representatives.

The chief’s decisions regarding applications for new apprenticeship programs are required to be posted to the division’s Internet Web site, which constitutes the only form of notice and service. Appeals to the California Apprenticeship Council under this section must be filed within 30 days after notice of the chief’s decision.

The chief is prohibited from approving a new apprenticeship program that includes a substantial number of work processes covered by a program in the building and construction trades or firefighters, or approve the amendment of apprenticeship standards to include those work processes, unless specified conditions exist.

Section 3075.1 states that it is the public policy of California to encourage the utilization of apprenticeship as a form of on-the-job training, when such training is cost-effective in developing skills needed to perform public services. State and local public agencies must make a diligent effort to establish apprenticeship programs for apprenticeable occupations in their respective work forces.

In furtherance of this policy, public agencies are required to take into consideration (a) the extent to which a continuous supply of trained personnel is readily available to public agencies to meet their skill requirements in the various occupations which are determined to be apprenticeable, and (b) the application of established programs in the private sector, where appropriate. Public sector apprenticeship programs should be fully compatible with affirmative action goals for the participation of minorities and women in apprenticeship programs.

Section 3075.5 provides that this section applies when a building and construction trades industry program applies to the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards for approval of a new apprenticeship program or for the expansion of an existing apprenticeship program into a new occupation or geographic area. The requirements of this section are in addition to other requirements that may be imposed by statute or regulation.

Section 3075.6 requires each building and construction trades apprenticeship program to provide to each apprentice, on at least a semiannual basis, a statement showing the number of hours of on-the-job training and related and supplemental instruction that the apprentice has acquired toward graduation, the total number of hours of on-the-job training and related and supplemental instruction that are necessary for graduation, and the apprentice’s expected graduation date.

Section 3075.7 requires every building and construction trades industry apprenticeship program to submit apprentice registration, change of address, graduation, and termination data to the Division of Apprenticeship Standards on a monthly basis in an electronic format acceptable to the division.

Section 3076 requires the function of a joint apprenticeship committee, when specific written authority is delegated by the parent organizations represented, to be to establish work processes, wage rates, working conditions for apprentices, the number of apprentices which must be employed in the trade under apprentice agreements, and aid in the adjustment of apprenticeship disputes in accordance with standards for apprenticeship set up by the California Apprenticeship Council for programs in the building and construction trades and for firefighters or by the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards for other programs. Disciplinary proceedings resulting from disputes must be duly noticed to the involved individuals.

Section 3076.3 requires program sponsors to establish selection procedures which specify minimum requirements for formal education or equivalency, physical examination, if any, subject matter of written tests and oral interviews, and any other criteria pertinent to the selection process; specify the relative weights of all factors which determine selection to an apprenticeship program; submit in writing to the chief an official statement of each selection procedure including the filing date and location of the program sponsor, among other requirements.

Section 3076.5 provides that a program sponsor may provide in its selection procedures for an additional 10 points credit in the selection of veteran applicants for apprenticeship. The term “veteran” is defined. Section 3077 defines the term “apprentice” to mean a person at least 16 years of age who has entered into a written agreement, in this chapter called an “apprentice agreement,” with an employer or program sponsor.

Section 3077.5 prohibits a program sponsor from administering an apprenticeship program from providing a maximum age for apprentices. Section 3078 requires every apprentice agreement entered into under this chapter to directly, or by reference, contain specified items. Section 3078.5 states that the term of apprenticeship may be measured either through the completion of the industry standard for hours of on-the-job learning and related and supplemental instruction, attainment of competency, or a hybrid blend of the time-based and competency-based approaches. However, programs in the building and construction trades and for firefighters must use the time-based approach.

Section 3079 requires every apprentice agreement to be approved by the local joint apprenticeship committee or the parties to a collective bargaining agreement, or by the administrator where there is no collective bargaining agreement or joint committee, Section 3080 specifies that, for the purpose of providing greater diversity of training or continuity of employment, any apprentice agreement may in the discretion of the California Apprenticeship Council for programs in the building and construction trades and for firefighters or of the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards for other programs, be signed by an association of employers or an organization of employees instead of by an individual employer

Section 3080.5 requires an apprentice registered in an approved apprenticeship program in any of the building and construction trades to be be employed only as an apprentice when performing any construction work for an employer that is a party, individually or through an employer association, to any apprenticeship agreement or standards covering that individual.

Section 3081 provides that, upon the complaint of any interested person or upon his or her own initiative, the administrator may investigate to determine if there has been a violation of the terms of an apprentice agreement, and he or she may hold hearings, inquiries, and other proceedings necessary to such investigations and determinations.

Section 3082 requires the determination of the administrator to be in writing and sent by regular mail to the parties’ last known addresses. Appeals may be filed with the council, which must then review the entire record and may hold a hearing thereon after due notice to the interested parties.

Section 3083 requires all findings of fact in a final determination or decision issued to be conclusive if supported by substantial evidence, and all orders and decisions are prima facie lawful and reasonable. Section 3084 states that any party to an apprentice agreement aggrieved by final order, determination, or decision of the council, may maintain appropriate proceedings in the courts on questions of law.

Section 3084.5 specifies that, in any case in which a person or persons have willfully violated any of the laws, regulations, or orders governing apprenticeship programs, funding provided to apprenticeship programs and associated entities, applicants for apprenticeship, or apprentices registered under this chapter, the Division of Apprenticeship Standards may obtain in a court of competent jurisdiction, an injunction against any further violations of any such laws, regulations, or orders by such person or persons. The division is to be awarded reasonable attorney’s fees and costs in seeking an injunction.

Section 3085 prohibits any person instituting any action for the enforcement of any apprentice agreement, or damages for the breach of any apprentice agreement, made under this chapter, unless all administrative remedies provided by this chapter have first been exhausted. Section 3086 states that nothing in this chapter or in any apprentice agreement approved under this chapter is to operate to invalidate any apprenticeship provision in any collective bargaining agreement between employers and employees setting up higher apprenticeship standards.

Section 3088 provides that, if any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the remainder of the chapter and the application of such provision to other persons and circumstances, is not affected. Section 3089 states that this chapter is known as the Shelley-Maloney Apprentice Labor Standards Act of 1939, as amended.

Section 3090 requires the Division of Apprenticeship Standards to investigate, approve or reject applications from establishments for apprenticeship and other on-the-job training, and for that purpose, may cooperate, or contract with, and receive reimbursements from the appropriate agencies of the Federal Government.

Section 3091 states that the acceptance of an application for entrance into an apprenticeship training program is not to be predicated on the payment of any fee. Section 3091.5 authorizes in the State Treasury a Special Deposit Fund Account, which consists of moneys collected from the sale of instructional material to persons enrolled in any apprenticeship training program under this chapter.

Section 3092 provides that a successful graduate of a training program in a particular apprenticeable occupation of a vocational education program meeting the standards of the California State Plan for Vocational Education may receive credit toward a term of apprenticeship if the program is jointly established and approved by a school district, a county superintendent of schools, a public entity conducting a regional occupational center or program, or a private postsecondary vocational school accredited by a regional or national accrediting agency.