Skilled and trained workforce requirements.

Existing law establishes requirements with respect to public contracts 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, as specified. Existing law requires a public entity subject to skilled and trained workforce requirements to include a specified notice in all bid documents. Existing law specifies that a failure of a public entity to include the required notice that a project is subject to the skilled and trained workforce requirement does not excuse a public entity from those requirements. This bill would expand the circumstances under which those requirements apply to specified instruments and laws, including development agreements and resolutions, as provided. The bill would make various technical and conforming changes. Existing law requires a contractor or bidder, among others, to submit a monthly report to the public entity while the project or contract is being performed demonstrating compliance with skilled and trained workforce requirements, as specified. Existing law authorizes the Labor Commissioner to assess specified civil penalties against a contractor or subcontractor for a violation of the skilled and workforce requirements, and authorizes reduction or waiver of a penalty for specified conditions. Among these conditions is whether a contractor or subcontractor submitted and followed a plan to achieve substantial compliance with the skilled and trained workforce requirements. This bill would prohibit the Labor Commissioner from waiving penalties for an incomplete or absent monthly compliance report and a material misrepresentation. The bill would impose the highest penalty for violations of skilled and trained workforce requirements committed after a noncompliance notice, as specified. The bill would expand the conditions that the Labor Commissioner should consider when setting a monetary penalty for failure to use a skilled and trained workforce, including whether a contractor or subcontractor submitted and followed a substantial compliance plan to remedy noncompliance. The bill defines various terms for these purposes, including "substantial compliance plan" and "material misrepresentation." Existing law provides that if the Labor Commissioner finds a contractor or subcontractor to be in violation of the skilled and trained workforce requirements with the intent to defraud, the contractor or subcontractor, among others, is ineligible to bid on or be awarded a public works contract, as specified. This bill would, instead, provide that whenever a contractor or subcontractor is found by the Labor Commissioner to have committed a material representation under the skilled and trained workforce requirements, the contractor or subcontractor, among others, is ineligible to bid on or be awarded a public works contract, as specified. The bill would require the Labor Commissioner to accept and timely investigate complaints from a labor-management committee, as provided, alleging a skilled and trained workforce violation by a contractor or subcontractor.