Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person appointed to a trade-rate apprentice class in the Office of State Printing shall be appointed to the appropriate journeyman trade-rate class upon completion of the apprenticeship.

A person who is first appointed to a trade-rate apprentice class on or after January 1, 1976, shall, while in that class, accrue seniority points at one-half of the rate of a journeyman.