BILL NUMBER: SB 56	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  696
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  OCTOBER 9, 2011
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  OCTOBER 9, 2011
	PASSED THE SENATE  SEPTEMBER 1, 2011
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 30, 2011
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 20, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Corbett

                        DECEMBER 21, 2010

   An act to amend Section 3073.1 of, and to add Sections 3075.5,
3075.6, and 3075.7 to, the Labor Code, relating to apprenticeships.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 56, Corbett. Apprenticeship oversight.
   Existing law requires the Division of Apprenticeship Standards
within the Department of Industrial Relations to randomly audit all
apprenticeship programs during each 5-year period commencing January
1, 2000, to ensure compliance with specified requirements, including
any industry-specific training criteria established by the California
Apprenticeship Council.
   This bill would eliminate the requirement that the division
conduct random audits during 5-year periods and would instead direct
the division to conduct audits of apprenticeship programs generally.
The bill would further require the division to audit a new or newly
expanded building and construction trades apprenticeship program one
year after its approval for creation or expansion, and would require
the division to immediately conduct an investigation of an
apprenticeship program of this type to determine whether an audit is
necessary if the division finds evidence that the program has
purposely misstated information provided to the division. In
addition, the bill would require the division to schedule an audit of
a program of this type within 3 months if the program has been the
subject of 2 or more meritorious apprentice complaints within a
5-year period or if the program's annual apprentice completion rate
is below 50% of the average completion rate for the applicable trade.

   Existing law authorizes the Chief of the Division of
Apprenticeship Standards to approve an apprenticeship program in any
trade when specified conditions are met.
   This bill would prescribe requirements for an application by a
building and construction trades program for approval of a new or
expanded apprenticeship program. The bill would require the program
to submit a written plan to the chief listing the number of
apprentices to be enrolled in a new program, occupation, or
geographic area during the subsequent 5 years and evidence of
sufficient commitments from employers. The bill would also require
that an applicant submit to the chief a plan for selection and
recruitment of new apprentices, including information on advertising
and outreach programs. If the chief does not approve an application,
the chief would be required to provide the applicant, within 90 days,
a detailed explanation of the deficiencies in the application, and
the applicant would be authorized to submit a new application within
90 days.
   This bill would require that each building and construction trades
industry apprenticeship program provide a semiannual statement to
the apprentice listing the number of hours of training received and
the number of hours remaining for graduation from the program.
   This bill would also require that every building and construction
trades industry apprenticeship program submit monthly specified data
relating to apprentices in an electronic format to the Division of
Apprenticeship Standards.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 3073.1 of the Labor Code is amended to read:
   3073.1.  (a) The division shall audit apprenticeship programs to
ensure that the program audited is complying with its standards, that
all on-the-job training is supervised by journeymen, that all
related and supplemental instruction required by the apprenticeship
standards is being provided, that all work processes in the
apprenticeship standards are being covered, and that graduates have
completed the apprenticeship program's requirements. The division
shall examine each apprenticeship program to determine whether
apprentices are graduating from the program on schedule or dropping
out and to determine whether graduates of the program have obtained
employment as journeymen. During the audit, the division shall
attempt to contact a statistically valid sample of apprentices who
have dropped out of the program prior to completion to determine the
apprentices' reasons for leaving the program. Every apprenticeship
program sponsor shall have a duty to cooperate with the division in
conducting an audit.
   (b) Audit reports shall be presented to the California
Apprenticeship Council and shall be made public, except that the
division shall not make public information that would infringe on the
privacy of individual apprentices. The division shall recommend
remedial action to correct deficiencies recognized in the audit
report, and the failure to follow division recommendations or to
correct deficiencies within a reasonable period of time shall be
grounds for withdrawing state approval of a program. Nothing shall
prevent the division from conducting more frequent or random audits
of apprenticeship programs where deficiencies have been identified.
   (c) The division shall give priority in conducting audits to
programs that have been identified as having deficiencies. The
division may conduct simplified audits for programs with fewer than
five registered apprentices.
   (d) For new and newly expanded building and construction trades
apprenticeship programs, the division shall audit each program one
year after approval of the creation or expansion of the program.
   (e) If the division finds evidence that information provided to it
by a building and construction trades apprenticeship program has
been purposefully misstated, the division shall immediately
investigate and determine whether an audit of the program is
necessary. The division shall report its investigatory findings to
the California Apprenticeship Council and make them available to the
public, except that the division shall not make public information
that would infringe upon the privacy of individual apprentices.
   (f) If the division determines that a building and construction
trades apprenticeship program has been the subject of two or more
meritorious complaints that concern the recruitment, training, or
education of apprentices within a five-year period, the division
shall schedule the program for an audit within three months of the
determination.
   (g) If the division determines that a building and construction
trades apprenticeship program that has had at least two graduating
classes has an annual apprentice completion rate below 50 percent of
the average completion rate for the applicable trade, the division
shall schedule the program for an audit within three months of the
determination.
  SEC. 2.  Section 3075.5 is added to the Labor Code, to read:
   3075.5.  (a) 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.
   (b) (1) An applicant for a new or expanded apprenticeship program
under subdivision (a) shall submit to the chief a written plan that
sets out the number of new apprentices the applicant seeks to enroll
during the next five years in the new or expanded program, new
occupation, or new geographic area. The plan must include the
applicant's budget for training the new apprentices and a detailed
explanation of how the applicant intends to provide sufficient
funding to meet that budget.
   (2) The applicant shall submit to the chief a written plan
providing a reasonable timetable to obtain sufficient commitments
from employers to employ the new apprentices so as to ensure, to the
extent feasible, consistent with the rates of employment for existing
programs in good standing in the applicable trade, that the new
apprentices will be employed continuously throughout the entire term
of apprenticeship.
   (3) The applicant shall submit to the chief verifiable evidence
that the applicant has obtained, or will obtain, suitable and
adequate facilities to train the new apprentices. The chief, or his
or her representative, shall personally inspect the facilities within
six months after the final approval of the program.
   (4) The applicant shall submit to the chief a plan for the
recruitment and selection of the new apprentices. The plan shall
include advertising of the new apprenticeship opportunities within
the geographic area and outreach to organizations that promote
apprenticeship opportunities to women and underrepresented
minorities.
   (c) The chief shall not approve an application that fails to meet
any of the requirements of this section. If the chief does not
approve an application because of its failure to comply with this
section, the chief shall within 90 days provide the applicant with a
detailed explanation of the deficiencies in the application and
recommendations for addressing those deficiencies to obtain program
approval. The applicant may submit a new or amended application to
the chief within 90 days of receipt of the chief's recommendations.
The chief shall provide a detailed response to a new or amended
application within 90 days of its receipt.
  SEC. 3.  Section 3075.6 is added to the Labor Code, to read:
   3075.6.  Each building and construction trades apprenticeship
program shall 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.
  SEC. 4.  Section 3075.7 is added to the Labor Code, to read:
   3075.7.  Every building and construction trades industry
apprenticeship program shall 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.