WECA apprentices are expected to abide by the rules of the employing Member Contractor and respect the contractor's property at all times.
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PRE-HIRE DRUG TESTING
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Before indenture and throughout their Term of Apprenticeship, WECA apprentices/applicants shall be subject to the drug-free workplace policies and pre-hire testing requirements of all member contractors as well as those of WECA ATC.
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| | In the event an apprentice/applicant is unable to pass a contractor's pre-hire drug test, the contractor is required to notify WECA and give the circumstances, but not the details, of the test results.
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| | The Dispatch Administrator (DA) will then check with the contractor whether or not the result was reviewed and reported by a Medical Review Officer (MRO). If it was not, the DA will advise the contractor that WECA cannot take any action until the results have been confirmed by an MRO, and to report back once the MRO has done so.
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| | After confirmation from the contractor that the results are confirmed by an MRO, WECA will immediately remove the apprentice/applicant from consideration for dispatch. He or she will be notified that he or she is considered unfit for duty and will not be dispatched until he or she has met the WECA ATC Drug-Free Workplace Policy conditions, which are contained in all Student Handbooks.
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TRAINING AND SUPERVISION
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| | A WECA apprentice must be supervised at all times on the job by a Member Contractor-employed, qualified journeyman who has completed 8,000 hours or more of on-the-job training, and all current regulations regarding the ratio of journeyman-to-apprentice supervision must be observed.
It is a Member Contractor's obligation to make sure he or she is in compliance with the ratio. Although the journeyman is not required to constantly watch the apprentice, he or she is required to lay out work assignments, train, and permit an apprentice to perform work at his or her level of ability. Journeyman supervision should encourage and develop an apprentice's initiative and responsibility.
Supervising journeymen are responsible for helping ensure that, as the opportunities arise, WECA apprentices receive OJT work experience within the required work processes of their apprenticeships.
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WORKING CONDITIONS
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| | WECA apprentices who have comments and/or concerns with the supervision provided by journeymen, the diversity of the OJT provided or the work assigned are encouraged to contact the WECA Sacramento Office immediately without fear of reprisal from a Member Contractor.
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| | An apprentice has the right to refuse to work under unsafe conditions without fear of reprisal from a member contractor. Apprentices are to call the WECA Sacramento Office immediately and speak with the Training Director. An apprentice must follow up with a written report within 48 hours.
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| | An apprentice who believes the California Labor Code is being violated on the job site has the right to call the Training Director to discuss his or her concerns without fear of reprisal from a member contractor.
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| | Representatives from the ATC, or WECA staff, may visit a job site unannounced to ensure that training is being provided, in accordance with this Handbook and with the Training Program Standards.
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WORK ASSIGNMENTS
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| | A WECA apprentice may be dispatched to several Member Contractors during his or her Term of Apprenticeship.
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| | An apprentice will be dispatched only to those contractors who are approved to train.
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| | A contractor who is approved to train agrees to abide by the Training Program Standards and make every effort possible to provide opportunities for apprentices or trainees to receive the minimum hours required in each of the work processes identified within their Training Programs (see Work Processes).
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| | Contractors will have discretion in deciding whether to use apprentices on Private Work (in accordance with California Code of Regulations, Title 8, Division 1, Chapter 2, Sub-Chapter 1, Article 3, Section 208) and on Public Work (in accordance with Section 1777.5 of the California Labor Code).
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SHARED WORKFORCE PROGRAM
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| | The WECA Shared Workforce Program is designed to allow approved-to-train Member Contractors to borrow or loan apprentices or journeymen from other member contractors if they have a short-term need for additional labor.
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| | The contractor who wishes to borrow should call the WECA Dispatch Administrator (DA) to find out which other members may have apprentices they are willing to loan. After the two members agree upon an arrangement, the "loaning" contractor notifies the DA, who will document the loan. At the end of the arrangement, the borrowing contractor notifies the DA of the return of the borrowed apprentices.
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| | To protect apprentices, WECA mandates that whoever employs the apprentices must be the recognized employer and must hire them as employees, no matter how brief a time the apprentices are employed.
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| | The same principle applies if member contractors agree to loan/borrow Electrician Trainees, journeymen or foremen. However, for tracking purposes, WECA only needs to be notified and involved in the loan/borrow of apprentices.
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WORK HOURS
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WECA apprentices shall work the same scheduled shifts as
their supervising journeymen.
Member Contractors are discouraged from scheduling apprentices
to work if it interferes with classroom instruction hours.
Apprentices
must successfully attend and complete 160 hours
of classroom instruction each class year to
advance academically within their Programs.
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VEHICLE INSURABILITY
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| | A WECA apprentice is responsible for informing his or her Member Contractor of his or her current vehicle insurability status.
Apprentices are informed that members must be able to obtain standard vehicle insurance on company vehicles driven by apprentices. "Standard vehicle insurability" is defined as a contractor's ability to secure and maintain company vehicle insurance without paying higher-risk premiums or risking insurance cancellation due to an apprentice's inability to be insured.
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COMMUTING TO WORK
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| | A WECA apprentice is required to commute up to 80 miles each way from his or her home, without compensation, to his or her current daily job site.
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| | Declining a Dispatch That is Within the Commute Distance
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If an apprentice declines a dispatch by the Dispatch Administrator, or a work assignment by his or her Member Contractor, that is within this 80-mile one-way commuting distance:
- He or she will be placed at the bottom of the Out-of-Work (OOW) list, and
-
He or she
will have twenty (20) points deducted from his or her points
account.
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WAGES
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| | All approved-to-train Member Contractors should thoroughly review the approved Standards (included in this Handbook) for the occupation in which they wish to train WECA
Apprentices.
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| | Contractors must pay Apprentices according to the published apprentice rate as defined in this Handbook's Private Work and Public Work sections. In conformity with
Apprenticeship Standards, minimum wages and benefits are determined by both the
Apprentice's Wage Period and the type of work he or she is performing. Wages shall be paid to an
Apprentice on the contractor's regularly scheduled paydays.
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An Apprentice’s advancement from one Wage Period to the next and
to each subsequent Wage Period thereafter, depends upon him/her
completing all of the following:
-
Successfully completing a minimum 1,600 OJT hours within
his/her class year
-
Successfully completing a minimum of 160 classroom
instruction hours within his/her two (2) week semesters
(four (4) weeks) within each class year.
-
Achieving a grade of 70 percent or greater by the end of
his/her second two (2) week semester within each year.
WECA notifies contractors of their
Apprentice(s)
semester end dates and that a wage increase may be
warranted. If you have any questions as to what rate
Apprentices should
be paid, please call the Customer Consultant.
.
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| | As provided by law, WECA ATC, or any authorized representative of WECA ATC, may request certified payroll reports from contractors.
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| | Private Work
|
| | | WECA ATC shall provide Member Contractors with a current (Section 208) Private Work wage schedule in March of each year. This wage schedule is to be used to determine the minimum hourly rate for each WECA
Apprentice performing Private Work. The wages indicated on the schedule shall be minimums; nothing herein shall prevent contractors from paying
Apprentices higher amounts.
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The current wage schedule is included in this Handbook in the State Standards-Commercial section. The wage schedule is also available on the Resources web page (Wage Resources/ Private Wage Rates and Information).
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| | Public Work
|
| | | It is a Member Contractor's responsibility to ensure correct Public Work Prevailing Wage is paid to his or her WECA
Apprentice(s). Minimum hourly rates for apprentices employed on Public Work shall be in accordance with both the Standards and the State of California Prevailing Wage laws.
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| | | Apprentices have the right to report violations of Prevailing Wage laws to the WECA Sacramento Office without fear of reprisal from a member contractor.
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To receive advice and information regarding appropriate Prevailing Wage calculations from our trained staff, a member may contact WECA and must sign a waiver/disclaimer before being advised. Information on Prevailing Wage is also available via links on the Resources web page (Wage Resources/ Prevailing Wage Rates
and Information/Journeyman or Apprentice Determinations by County)
to the State Department of Industrial Relations Division of Labor Statistics and Research web site.
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| | Federal Davis-Bacon Work
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Member Contractors must pay WECA Apprentices the published Federal Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wage on all Federal Davis-Bacon project work. (Federal wage determinations should also be included in your project work bid packets.) Information on Federal Davis-Bacon project wages is available on the Resources web page (Wage Resources/ Federal Davis Bacon Wage Determinations).
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APPRENTICE MONTHLY TIME CARDS
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| | All WECA apprentices are required to fill out and submit WECA Monthly Time Cards (MTCs) showing the OJT hours they did or did not work each month. The OJT hours an apprentice records on his or her MTC are then calculated by WECA to ensure that the apprentice is receiving experience in varied work processes.
WECA MTC hours are not used to calculate apprentice wages, graduation requirements or Periods of Apprenticeship. Information from State and Federal Apprentice Monthly Hours Worksheets a contractor submits to WECA is used to calculate hours accumulated in those three areas.
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APPRENTICE EVALUATIONS
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| | A journeyman working for a Member Contractor who has been assigned to supervise a WECA
Apprentice must periodically fill out the numbered evaluation
grid on the MTC and must also sign on the line stating "supervisor signature."
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| | WECA requires this periodic evaluation and signature to be done once every three months and
strongly suggests it be done every month to avoid noncompliance.
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| | An Apprentice is responsible for reminding his or her assigned journeyman of this quarterly evaluation requirement.
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| | An Apprentice who falsifies his or her assigned journeyman's signature or evaluation on an MTC
will be deducted (20) points.
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SEPARATION FROM EMPLOYMENT
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| | No WECA Apprentice shall be allowed to change employment from one Member Contractor to another without the consent of the Training Director.
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| | Quitting/Firing/Layoff
- An Apprentice MAY NOT QUIT his or her member
contractor.
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| | If an apprentice feels that continuing with his or her contractor is not possible, he or she must call the WECA Sacramento Office and speak with the Customer Consultant or the Training Director about being removed from employment with that contractor.
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If an apprentice either quits a contractor or is fired by a
contractor, he or she
will have 20 points deducted from his/her points account.
Whether an
Apprentice quits, is fired or is laid off, the contractor
must submit an ARS to the WECA Sacramento Office.
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