AB 1926 requires California apprentices to be paid for pre-employment activities effective January 1, 2017. What this means to you as an employer is that if an approved Division of Apprenticeship Standards program dispatches an apprentice to the employer due to a DAS 142 submittal to the apprenticeship program and the employer requires the employee to submit to any pre-employment activities prior to dispatch to a California public works project, the employee MUST BE paid the prevailing rate for said pre-employment activities.
Examples:
1) A union apprenticeship program dispatches to either a union or non-union employer due to a DAS 142 submittal, the employer will be required to pay the employee the applicable prevailing wage rate for the project to which the employer submitted the DAS 142 request.
2) An employer already registered with a merit shop program like the ABC, WECA or AGC submits a DAS 142 request for a California public works project and the program dispatches an apprentice where the employer requires pre-employment activities prior to dispatch to the specific public works project the employee must be paid the prevailing rate for the project to which he is to be dispatched.
3) An employer already registered with a merit shop program like the ABC, WECA or AGC interviews a potential employee who is not already registered with the merit shop program but intends to enroll him in the merit shop apprenticeship program after they are hired WILL NOT be required to compensate the potential employee for any pre-employment activities. However, the one exception to this law is if the employee fails a drug or alcohol test, the employer will not be required to pay for any pre-employment activities.
Have questions? Please do not hesitate to contact the consultants at Contractor’s Prevailing Wage for further assistance!