SB 1162: Public contracts: employment compliance reports: apprenticeship programs.

Existing law establishes requirements that apply when a public entity is required by statute or regulation to obtain an enforceable commitment that a bidder, contractor, or other entity will use a skilled and trained workforce to complete a contract or project. Existing law requires the enforceable commitment to provide that the contractor, bidder, or other entity will provide to the public entity or other awarding body a report on a monthly basis demonstrating its compliance with these requirements. Existing law defines skilled and trained workforce for purposes of these provisions to mean that at least 60% of the skilled journeypersons employed to perform work on the contract or project by every contractor and each of its subcontractors at every tier are graduates of an apprenticeship program for the applicable occupation, except for specified occupations.

This bill would require the monthly compliance report to include the full name of, and identify the apprenticeship program name, location, and graduation date of, all workers relied upon to satisfy the apprenticeship graduation percentage requirement.

Existing law authorizes the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards of the Department of Industrial Relations to approve apprenticeship programs in any trade in the state or in a city or trade area, whenever the apprentice training needs justify the establishment.

This bill would require the division, on or before July 1, 2025, to create and maintain a public online database to verify that a worker graduated from a California apprenticeship program. The bill would require the database to be searchable by using the first name, last name, and the graduation date of the worker.