Apprentice Training Is Mandatory

TIP #5

When a contractor tells me, they are not hiring apprentices, that indicates they did not read their contract. Labor Code 1777.5 mandates apprentices train on Public Works projects at a ratio of 5 to 1. Every 5 hours of Journeyman equals one hour of Apprenticeship. All trades do not have an apprentice program. Remember I mentioned reading all the footnotes. The “#” symbol next to the trade title indicates the occupation has an apprentice program. Take the number of journeyman hours estimated in your bid to complete the work and divide it by 5. That will give you the estimated apprentice hours. Example 500 journeyman hours divided by 5 equals 100 apprentice hours. If those apprentice hours are complete by the end of your contract, you comply. Figure out how many apprentices you will need based on the length of time on the job site. Add this additional workforce into your bid. I recommend that my clients budget the apprentice at the journeyman rate of pay because you can’t choose what apprentice-level is sent. It could be Level 1 or the last stop to journeyman status. If a higher-level apprentice is a dispatch, you have accounted for it in your bid.

FINDING AN APPRENTICE PROGRAM

The apprentice must already have registered in a California-approved apprentice program. Your nephew is not an apprentice unless already enrolled in a program, and no, you can’t have him registered now because he will not dispatch to you. There are other people ahead of him. If the apprentice is unregistered in an approved apprentice program, you will later pay them the journeyman rate. The www.dir.ca.gov under Apprenticeship, find an apprenticeship program. Find the county where the job site located in the drop-down menu and the trade(s) you perform. Send a DAS 140 form to all programs that appear.

DAS 140 & 142

The DAS 140 is an announcement to the apprentice programs you have been awarded a public works contract and may need apprentices. Complete and send the form 10 days after you have signed your agreement or no later than the first day you start work on the job site. If you missed this window, complete it ASAP. Please keep a copy of the confirmation you sent, i.e., fax confirmation or e-mail receipt that the apprentice program received. Send the form and confirmation receipt to your prime contractor or agency of the project as part of your labor compliance requirements.

The DAS 142 form is the actual request for the dispatch of an apprentice. Send the DAS 142 form at least 72 business hours before the day you want the apprentice to start. Send the form to the same programs you sent the DAS 140. The same rule applies; keep the confirmation it was sent as proof.

MUST BE SUPERVISED

A journeyman from the trade the apprentice is registered must supervise at all times. An apprentice unsupervised by a journeyman the apprentice gets paid the journeyman rate. The apprentice can only work in the trade that he is registered. Download proof from the DIR website that the apprentice is in an approved California Apprenticeship program. Send the certificate to the prime contractor or agency. There are many training programs, California Apprentice Council doesn’t support all. An unregistered apprentice requires payment at the journeyman rate. If no apprentice is dispatch to the job site, you have met your apprentice obligation for the project. Always keep documentation as proof.