1198.5.

 (a) (1) Every current and former employee, or their representative, has the right to inspect and receive a copy of the personnel records that the employer maintains relating to the employee’s performance, including education or training records, or to any grievance concerning the employee.

(2) An employer who maintains education or training records shall ensure those records include all of the following:

(A) The name of the employee.

(B) The name of the trainer.

(C) The duration and date of the training.

(D) The core competencies of a training, including skills in equipment or software.

(E) The resulting certification or qualification.

(b) (1) The employer shall make the contents of those personnel records available for inspection to the current or former employee, or their representative, at reasonable intervals and at reasonable times, but not later than 30 calendar days from the date the employer receives a written request, unless the current or former employee, or their representative, and the employer agree in writing to a date beyond 30 calendar days to inspect the records, and the agreed-upon date does not exceed 35 calendar days from the employer’s receipt of the written request. Upon a written request from a current or former employee, or their representative, the employer shall also provide a copy of the personnel records, at a charge not to exceed the actual cost of reproduction, not later than 30 calendar days from the date the employer receives the request, unless the current or former employee, or their representative, and the employer agree in writing to a date beyond 30 calendar days to produce a copy of the records, as long as the agreed-upon date does not exceed 35 calendar days from the employer’s receipt of the written request. Except as provided in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c), the employer is not required to make those personnel records or a copy thereof available at a time when the employee is actually required to render service to the employer, if the requester is the employee.

(2) (A) For purposes of this section, a request to inspect or receive a copy of personnel records shall be made in either of the following ways:

(i) Written and submitted by the current or former employee or their representative.

(ii) Written and submitted by the current or former employee or their representative by completing an employer-provided form.

(B) An employer-provided form shall be made available to the employee or their representative upon verbal request to the employee’s supervisor or, if known to the employee or their representative at the time of the request, to the individual the employer designates under this section to receive a verbal request for the form.

(c) The employer shall do all of the following:

(1) With regard to all employees, maintain a copy of each employee’s personnel records for a period of not less than three years after termination of employment.

(2) With regard to current employees, make a current employee’s personnel records available for inspection, and, if requested by the employee or their representative, provide a copy thereof, at the place where the employee reports to work, or at another location agreeable to the employer and the requester. If the employee is required to inspect or receive a copy at a location other than the place where they report to work, no loss of compensation to the employee is permitted.

(3) (A) With regard to former employees, make a former employee’s personnel records available for inspection, and, if requested by the employee or their representative, provide a copy thereof, at the location where the employer stores the records, unless the parties mutually agree in writing to a different location. A former employee may receive a copy by mail if they reimburse the employer for actual postal expenses.

(B) (i) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), if a former employee seeking to inspect their personnel records was terminated for a violation of law, or an employment-related policy, involving harassment or workplace violence, the employer may comply with the request by doing one of the following:

(I) Making the personnel records available to the former employee for inspection at a location other than the workplace that is within a reasonable driving distance of the former employee’s residence.

(II) Providing a copy of the personnel records by mail.

(ii) Nothing in this subparagraph shall limit a former employee’s right to receive a copy of their personnel records.

(d) An employer is required to comply with only one request per year by a former employee to inspect or receive a copy of their personnel records.

(e) The employer may take reasonable steps to verify the identity of a current or former employee or their authorized representative. For purposes of this section, “representative” means a person authorized in writing by the employee to inspect, or receive a copy of, their personnel records.

(f) The employer may designate the person to whom a request is made.

(g) Before making records specified in subdivision (a) available for inspection or providing a copy of those records, the employer may redact the name of any nonsupervisory employee contained therein.

(h) The requirements of this section do not apply to:

(1) Records relating to the investigation of a possible criminal offense.

(2) Letters of reference.

(3) Ratings, reports, or records that were:

(A) Obtained prior to the employee’s employment.

(B) Prepared by identifiable examination committee members.

(C) Obtained in connection with a promotional examination.

(4) Employees who are subject to the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights (Chapter 9.7 (commencing with Section 3300) of Division 4 of Title 1 of the Government Code).

(5) Employees of agencies subject to the Information Practices Act of 1977 (Title 1.8 (commencing with Section 1798) of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code).

(i) If a public agency has established an independent employee relations board or commission, an employee shall first seek relief regarding any matter or dispute relating to this section from that board or commission before pursuing any available judicial remedy.

(j) In enacting this section, it is the intent of the Legislature to establish minimum standards for the inspection and the receipt of a copy of personnel records by employees. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the establishment of additional rules for the inspection and the receipt of a copy of personnel records that are established as the result of agreements between an employer and a recognized employee organization.

(k) If an employer fails to permit a current or former employee, or their representative, to inspect or copy personnel records within the times specified in this section, or times agreed to by mutual agreement as provided in this section, the current or former employee or the Labor Commissioner may recover a penalty of seven hundred fifty dollars ($750) from the employer.

(l) A current or former employee may also bring an action for injunctive relief to obtain compliance with this section, and may recover costs and reasonable attorney’s fees in such an action.

(m) Notwithstanding Section 1199, a violation of this section is an infraction. Impossibility of performance, not caused by or resulting from a violation of law, may be asserted as an affirmative defense by an employer in any action alleging a violation of this section.

(n) If an employee or former employee files a lawsuit that relates to a personnel matter against their employer or former employer, the right of the employee, former employee, or their representative to inspect or copy personnel records under this section ceases during the pendency of the lawsuit in the court with original jurisdiction.

(o) For purposes of this section, a lawsuit “relates to a personnel matter” if a current or former employee’s personnel records are relevant to the lawsuit.

(p) An employer is not required to comply with more than 50 requests under this section to inspect and receive a copy of personnel records filed by a representative or representatives of employees in one calendar month.

(q) This section does not apply to an employee covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement if the agreement expressly provides for all of the following:

(1) The wages, hours of work, and working conditions of employees.

(2) A procedure for the inspection and copying of personnel records.

(3) Premium wage rates for all overtime hours worked.

(4) A regular rate of pay of not less than 30 percent more than the state minimum wage rate.

14005.

 For purposes of this division:

(a) “Board” means the California Workforce Development Board.

(b) “Agency” means the Labor and Workforce Development Agency.

(c) “Career pathways,” “career ladders,” or “career lattices” are an identified series of positions, work experiences, or educational benchmarks or credentials with multiple access points that offer occupational and financial advancement within a specified career field or related fields over time. “Career pathways,” “career ladders,” and “career lattices” offer combined programs of rigorous and high-quality education, training, and other services that do all of the following:

(1) Align with the skill needs of industries in the economy of the state or regional economy involved.

(2) Prepare an individual to be successful in any of a full range of secondary or postsecondary education options, including apprenticeships registered under the National Apprenticeship Act of 1937 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 50 et seq.), except as in Section 3226 of Title 29 of the United States Code.

(3) Include counseling to support an individual in achieving the individual’s education and career goals.

(4) Include, as appropriate, education offered concurrently with and in the same context as workforce preparation activities and training for a specific occupation or occupational cluster.

(5) Organize education, training, and other services to meet the particular needs of an individual in a manner that accelerates the educational and career advancement of the individual to the extent practicable.

(6) Enable an individual to attain a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent, and at least one recognized postsecondary credential.

(7) Help an individual enter or advance within a specific occupation or occupational cluster.

(d) “Cluster-based sector strategies” mean methods of focusing workforce and economic development on those sectors that have demonstrated a capacity for economic growth and job creation in a particular geographic area.

(e) “Data driven” means a process of making decisions about investments and policies based on systematic analysis of data, which may include data pertaining to labor markets.

(f) “Economic security” means, with respect to a worker, earning a wage sufficient to support a family adequately, and, over time, to save for emergency expenses and adequate retirement income, based on factors such as household size, the cost of living in the worker’s community, and other factors that may vary by region.

(g) “Evidence-based” means making use of policy research as a basis for determining best policy practices. Evidence-based policymakers adopt policies that research has shown to produce positive outcomes, in a variety of settings, for a variety of populations over time. Successful, evidence-based programs deliver quantifiable and sustainable results. Evidence-based practices differ from approaches that are based on tradition, belief, convention, or anecdotal evidence.

(h) “High-priority occupations” mean occupations that have a significant presence in a targeted industry sector or industry cluster, are in demand, or projected to be in demand, by employers, and pay or lead to payment of a wage that provides economic security.

(i) (1) “In-demand industry sector or occupation” means either of the following:

(A) An industry sector that has a substantial current or potential impact, including through jobs that lead to economic self-sufficiency and opportunities for advancement, on the state, regional, or local economy, as appropriate, and that contributes to the growth or stability of other supporting businesses, or the growth of other industry sectors.

(B) An occupation that currently has or is projected to have a number of positions, including positions that lead to economic self-sufficiency and opportunities for advancement, in an industry sector so as to have a significant impact on the state, regional, or local economy, as appropriate.

(2) The determination of whether an industry sector or occupation is “in-demand” under this subdivision shall be made by the board or local board, or through the regional planning process in which local boards participate under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, as appropriate, using state and regional business and labor market projections, including the use of labor market information.

(j) “Individual with employment barriers” means an individual with any characteristic that substantially limits an individual’s ability to obtain employment, including indicators of poor work history, lack of work experience, or access to employment in nontraditional occupations, long-term unemployment, lack of educational or occupational skills attainment, dislocation from high-wage and high-benefit employment, low levels of literacy or English proficiency, disability status, or welfare dependency, including members of all of the following groups:

(1) Displaced homemakers.

(2) Low-income individuals.

(3) Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians, as those terms are defined in Section 3221 of Title 29 of the United States Code.

(4) Individuals with disabilities, including youths who are individuals with disabilities.

(5) Older individuals.

(6) Ex-offenders.

(7) Homeless individuals, as defined in Section 14043e-2(6) of Title 42 of the United States Code, or homeless children and youths, as defined in Section 11434a(2) of Title 42 of the United States Code.

(8) Youth who are in, or have aged out of, the foster care system.

(9) Individuals who are English language learners, individuals who have low levels of literacy, and individuals facing substantial cultural barriers.

(10) Eligible migrant and seasonal farmworkers, as defined in Section 3322(i) of Title 29 of the United States Code.

(11) Individuals within two years of exhausting lifetime eligibility under Part A of Title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 601 et seq.).

(12) Single parents, including single, pregnant women.

(13) Long-term unemployed individuals.

(14) Transgender and gender nonconforming individuals.

(15) Any other groups as the Governor determines to have barriers to employment.

(k) “Industry cluster” means a geographic concentration or emerging concentration of interdependent industries with direct service, supplier, and research relationships, or independent industries that share common resources in a given regional economy or labor market. An industry cluster is a group of employers closely linked by common product or services, workforce needs, similar technologies, and supply chains in a given regional economy or labor market.

(l) “Industry or sector partnership” means a workforce collaborative, convened or acting in partnership with the board or a local board, that does the following:

(1) Organizes key stakeholders in an industry cluster into a working group that focuses on the shared goals and human resources needs of the industry cluster and that includes, at the appropriate stages of development of the partnership:

(A) Representatives of multiple businesses or other employers in the industry cluster, including small and medium-sized employers when practicable.

(B) One or more representatives of a recognized state labor organization or central labor council, or another labor representative, as appropriate.

(C) One or more representatives of an institution of higher education with, or another provider of, education or training programs that support the industry cluster.

(2) The workforce collaborative may include representatives of any of the following:

(A) State or local government.

(B) State or local economic development agencies.

(C) State boards or local boards, as appropriate.

(D) A state workforce agency or entity providing employment services.

(E) Other state or local agencies.

(F) Business or trade associations.

(G) Economic development organizations.

(H) Nonprofit organizations, community-based organizations, or intermediaries.

(I) Philanthropic associations.

(J) Industry associations.

(K) Other organizations, as determined to be necessary by the members comprising the industry sector or partnership.

(m) “Industry sector” means those firms that produce similar products or provide similar services using somewhat similar business processes, and are closely linked by workforce needs, within a regional labor market.

(n) “Local labor federation” means a central labor council that is an organization of local unions affiliated with the California Labor Federation or a local building and construction trades council affiliated with the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California.

(o) “Sector strategies” means methods of prioritizing investments in competitive and emerging industry sectors and industry clusters on the basis of labor market and other economic data indicating strategic growth potential, especially with regard to jobs and income, and exhibit the following characteristics:

(1) Focus workforce investment in education and workforce training programs that are likely to lead to jobs providing economic security or to an entry-level job with a well-articulated career pathway into a job providing economic security.

(2) Effectively boost labor productivity or reduce business barriers to growth and expansion stemming from workforce supply problems, including skills gaps and occupational shortages by directing resources and making investments to plug skills gaps and provide education and training programs for high-priority occupations.

(3) May be implemented using articulated career pathways or lattices and a system of stackable credentials.

(4) May target underserved communities, disconnected youths, incumbent workers, and recently separated military veterans.

(5) Frequently are implemented using industry or sector partnerships.

(6) Typically are implemented at the regional level where sector firms, those employers described in subdivisions (j) and (l), often share a common labor market and supply chains. However, sector strategies may also be implemented at the state or local level depending on sector needs and labor market conditions.

(p) “Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014” means the federal act enacted as Public Law 113-128.

(q) (1) “Earn and learn” includes, but is not limited to, a program that does either of the following:

(A) Combines applied learning in a workplace setting with compensation allowing workers or students to gain work experience and secure a wage as they develop skills and competencies directly relevant to the occupation or career for which they are preparing.

(B) Brings together classroom instruction with on-the-job training to combine both formal instruction and actual paid work experience.

(2) “Earn and learn” programs include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(A) Apprenticeships.

(B) Preapprenticeships.

(C) Incumbent worker training.

(D) Transitional jobs, as described in paragraph (5) of subsection (d) of Section 3174 of Title 29 of the United States Code, as that section read on January 1, 2021, and subsidized employment with an employer of record, which may include, but not be limited to, an employment social enterprise or a worker cooperative, particularly for individuals with barriers to employment.

(E) Paid internships and externships.

(F) Project-based compensated learning.

(r) “High road” means a set of economic and workforce development strategies to achieve economic growth, economic equity, shared prosperity, and a clean environment. The strategies include, but are not limited to, interventions that:

(1) Improve job quality and job access, including for women and people from underserved and underrepresented populations.

(2) Meet the skill and profitability needs of employers.

(3) Meet the economic, social, and environmental needs of the community.

(s) “High road training partnership” means an initiative or project that models strategies for developing industry-based, worker-focused training partnerships, including labor-management partnerships. High Road Training partnerships operate via regional, industry- or sector-based training partnerships comprised of employers, workers, and their representatives including organized labor, community-based organizations, education, training, and social services providers, and labor market intermediaries. High Road Training partnerships demonstrate job quality standards and employment practices that include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) Provision of comparatively good wages and benefits, relative to the industry, occupation, and labor market in which participating workers are employed.

(2) Payment of workers at or above local or regional living wage standards as well as payment at or above regional prevailing wage standards where such standards exist for the occupations in question.

(3) A history of investment in employee training, growth, and development.

(4) Provision of opportunities for career advancement and wage growth.

(5) Safe and healthy working conditions.

(6) Consistent compliance with workplace laws and regulations, including proactive efforts to remedy past problems.

(7) Adoption of mechanisms to include worker voice and agency in the workplace.

(t) “High road construction careers” are high road training partnerships that invest in regional training partnerships comprised of local building trades councils, workforce, community, and education interests that connect to state-approved apprenticeship programs, that utilize the standard Multi-Craft Core preapprenticeship training curriculum and provide a range of supportive services and career placement assistance to women and people from underserved and underrepresented populations.

(u) “Career advancement” means demonstrated progression along a career ladder as evidenced by both wage growth and occupational advancement.

(v) “Employment social enterprise” means a nonprofit or for-profit organization that meets all of the following requirements:

(1) Is organized as a social purpose corporation or a benefit corporation, or as an organization incorporated within a larger organization.

(2) Demonstrates evidence of a mission to provide and to access employment and social supports with on-the-job and life skills training to a direct labor force comprised of individuals with a “barrier to employment,” as that phrase is defined in Section 3102 of Title 29 of the United States Code, as that section read on January 1, 2021.

(3) Is evidence-based and utilizes data-driven policies in implementing procedures and measuring outcomes.

(4) Produces or assembles goods or provides services, or a combination of both.

(w) “Worker cooperative” has the same meaning as defined in Section 12253.5 of the Corporations Code.

(x) “Job quality” or “quality jobs” means jobs that provide family-sustaining wages, employer-provided benefits, including, but not limited to, health insurance, retirement, and paid time off, career advancement opportunities, and collective worker input, and are stable, predictable, safe, and free of discrimination.

(y) “Economic equity” means all workers have access to quality jobs, structural opportunities for upward mobility, wealth-generating opportunities, and safe and healthy workplaces, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ability, or past criminal record, and productivity gains are widely distributed to workers.

14535.

 For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:

(a) “Federal jobs act” means any of the following:

(1) The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-167).

(2) The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-169).

(3) The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58).

(b) “Fund” means the Equity, Climate Resilience, and Quality Jobs Fund, as created by this chapter.

(c) “High road construction careers” has the same meaning as in Section 14005.

(d) “High road training partnerships” has the same meaning as in Section 14005.

(e) “Local agency” means a county, city, city and county, school district, special district, authority, agency, any other municipal public corporation or district, or other political subdivision of the state.

(f) “Qualified moneys” means both of the following:

(1) Moneys received prior to the effective date of this chapter that are in the General Fund and have not been allocated for a specific purpose as of the effective date of this chapter.

(2) Moneys received into the General Fund on or after the effective date of this chapter.

(g) “State agency” has the same meaning as in subdivision (a) of Section 11000 of the Government Code.

14535.1.

 (a) There is hereby created the Equity, Climate Resilience, and Quality Jobs Fund in the State Treasury.

(b) Notwithstanding any law, but to the extent permissible under federal law, 1 percent of all qualified moneys received into the General Fund from the federal government pursuant to any federal jobs act shall be transferred into the fund.

(c) To the extent authorized by the federal jobs acts, moneys in the fund shall be available, upon appropriation, to the California Workforce Development Board for the following purposes:

(1) Developing poverty-reducing programs, including, but not limited to, high road training partnerships and high road construction careers, and other workforce programs that drive the development and adoption of poverty-reducing labor standards that satisfy the requirements for high road, quality jobs, and economic equity, as defined in Section 14005, and reach communities with the highest barriers to employment and economic equity.

(2) Supporting the development of poverty-reducing labor standards that satisfy the requirements for high road, quality jobs, and economic equity, as defined in Section 14005, through investments made using moneys received pursuant to federal jobs acts, reporting required by this chapter, and analyses made by a research institution.

(3) Funding state-approved apprenticeship programs in the building and construction trades, if the person or entity requesting the funding demonstrates that there is a need for the program through the satisfaction of at least one of the conditions described in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 3075 of the Labor Code.

(d) The board shall contract with a research institution to receive the reports required by Section 14535.2 and to perform analyses on equity, climate resilience, and quality jobs outcomes resulting from the investments made by the reporting entities using moneys received from the Equity, Climate Resilience, and Quality Jobs Fund.

14535.2.

 (a) (1) All state agencies administering any moneys received pursuant to any federal jobs act shall, upon appropriation of moneys for this purpose from the Equity, Climate Resilience, and Quality Jobs Fund, do both of the following:

(A) By January 1, 2026, develop and enter into with the board a memorandum of understanding for the board to provide technical assistance.

(B) Develop and adopt poverty-reducing labor standards that satisfy the requirements for high road, quality jobs, and economic equity, as defined in Section 14005, for all investments made by those agencies using those moneys.

(2) All state agencies subject to paragraph (1) shall report labor standards outcomes to the board.

(3) All local agencies administering moneys received pursuant to any federal jobs act on behalf of a state agency subject to paragraph (1) shall report to the state agency any information necessary for the state agency to comply with the reporting requirement in paragraph (2).

(b) The board may develop rules and regulations on the content and manner of reporting for the report required by paragraph (2) of subdivision (a).