Workforce Apprenticeship Grant Program.

Existing law prescribes comprehensive requirements relating to minimum wages, overtime compensation, and standards for working conditions for the protection of employees applicable to an employment relationship. Existing law prohibits an employer from asking an applicant for employment to disclose information concerning an arrest or detention that did not result in conviction or information concerning a conviction that has been judicially dismissed or ordered sealed, as provided. Existing law requires every private employer regularly employing 25 or more employees to reasonably accommodate any employee who wishes to voluntarily enter and participate in an alcohol or drug rehabilitation program provided that this reasonable accommodation does not impose an undue hardship on the employer. Existing law requires the employer to make reasonable efforts to safeguard the privacy of the employee as to the fact that he or she has enrolled in an alcohol or drug rehabilitation program. This bill would establish the Workforce Apprenticeship Grant Program to be administered by the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. The bill, notwithstanding any other law, for all state purposes, would authorize a private employer, including a nonprofit entity, to, participate in the grant program by hiring, for a period not to exceed 2 years from the date of hire, a person who successfully completed a drug or alcohol rehabilitation program, if the person has been referred to a substance abuse rehabilitation nonprofit or has completed a sentence for conviction of a felony, except a violent felony, or a misdemeanor for an offense involving substance abuse, has no history of violent felony convictions and meets any of 4 specified criteria. The bill would authorize a county department of social services to apply to the grant program to enter into agreements with nonprofits and businesses to hire persons who are eligible for the program.