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The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has released its final rule to implement Executive Order 13706, which requires federal contractors to provide paid leave to employees for sickness and other covered purposes.  AGC submitted extensive comments regarding the DOL proposed rule and testified before Congress on the significant statutory and practical compliance problems the executive order presents for the construction industry.  Many of the complications in the proposed rule remain in the final rule, but several changes were made in response to AGC requests.  Answers to key questions about the rule are provided below. 

On September 29, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that starting March 2018, it will collect summary employee wage and hours-worked data from some employers.  Employers are required to continue use of the existing form until March 2018, when 2017 data will be reported.  Visit the EEOC’s website for a sample of the new form.

On September 23, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced a significant expansion of its Mega Construction Project (MCP) Program.  The expanded program will use new, standardized processes, expanded resources, experienced new staff, and agency oversight, including the addition of a national coordinator.

Executive Order 13658 was signed by President Obama in 2014, and its corresponding regulations implemented an hourly minimum wage for workers performing work on covered federal contracts of $10.10 per hour beginning on January 1, 2015.  The order mandated that the Secretary of Labor determine a new minimum wage annually, based on the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for urban wage and clerical workers.  Notice is required to the public at least 90 days before the new wage goes into effect each year. 

In conjunction with FMI, AGC's Surety Bonding and Risk Management Forum recently completed a survey of the risks that today’s construction contractors have high on their radar screens -- and the various ways that contractors are dealing with those risks.  The 83 responses that AGC and FMI received from 83 best-in-class companies collectively approaching $50 billion in annual volume suggest the following:

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) has relaxed the standard for determining the appropriateness of bargaining units in the context of labor staffing firms – again.  In its July 11 Miller & Anderson decision, the Board held that a union may seek to represent a unit of workers that combines employees who are jointly employed by the “supplier” employer (the staffing company) and the “user” employer with employees who are solely employed by the user employer, provided that the workers share a “commun

Complimentary AGC WebED Sept. 7

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) approved a union’s petition for a single representation election covering all of the contractors in a multiemployer group because the contractors indicated their “unequivocal intent” to be bound by group bargaining.  The case, Building Contractors Association, involves interesting issues about conversion from 8(f) to 9(a) relationships in the construction industry.[1]

Labor Shortages are Prompting Firms to Increase Pay and Become More Efficient but Threaten to Slow Economic Growth over the Long-Term Officials Warn as they Call for New Workforce Measures

Each October, construction industry professionals in HR, training and workforce development gear up for the industry’s premier learning and networking event, AGC’s Construction HR & Training Professionals Conference, and this year is no different.  The 2016 event will be held Oct. 5-7 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago in Chicago, Illinois.  For more information or to register visit www.agc.org/HR_TED.