(a) Contracts shall only be made for training in job-related vocational skills that are necessary for participants to attain a new job or retain an existing job with definite career potential and long-term job security. The contracts for vocational skills training may include ancillary training for job-related basic and literacy skills training, including soft skills, if the panel finds that the training is necessary to achieve the objectives of the vocational training.

(b) The panel shall not approve any training proposal which facilitates the change in ownership of a business leading to the likelihood that an existing collective bargaining agreement would be declared void.

(c) To encourage a broad and equitable distribution of funds, the panel may require an employer who has previously received funds pursuant to this chapter for retraining of workers at a facility to contribute proportionately more to the cost of training in subsequent panel contracts for training of workers at the same facility.

(d) The panel may delegate to the executive director the authority to approve training contracts of up to one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), provided the contracts meet the requirements of this chapter and the policies established by the panel, and provided that the panel regularly reviews the actions taken by the executive director pursuant to this subdivision.

(e) Payments shall be made in accordance with a performance contract under which partial payments may be made during training, a partial payment may be made on placement or retention of each trainee, and not less than 25 percent of the negotiated fee is withheld until the trainee has been retained in employment for 90 days after the end of training with a single employer, except for those occupations in which it is not customary for a worker to be employed 90 consecutive days with a single employer. In these latter cases, the panel may substitute a period similar to the probationary period customary to the occupation. The probationary period shall not be less than 500 work hours and shall be completed within 272 days of the completion of the training. In no case shall any payment be considered to have been earned until the trainee has been retained in employment for 90 days or the equivalent probationary period for an occupation in which it is not customary for a worker to be employed 90 consecutive days with a single employer.

(f) Contracts for new hire training shall require the contractor to provide the placement services necessary to ensure the trainees are placed in jobs for which they have been trained.

(Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 216, Sec. 3. (AB 2420) Effective January 1, 2019.)