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Legislation Includes Needed Reforms to Makes it Easier for School Districts to Teach Construction Skills and Improves Employer Engagement
The chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America, Stephen E. Sandherr, issued the following statement today in response to the passage of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act in the U.S. House of Representatives today:
On June 14, 2017, AGC hosted a meeting between AGC members and officials from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). OFCCP requested the meeting for the purpose of identifying problems that construction contractors have in meeting affirmative action requirements related to recruiting and suggestions for improved compliance assistance tools.
Construction staff wages rose by 3.6% in 2016 and contractors are projecting wages to increase an average of 3.4% in 2017, according to the latest Contractor Compensation Quarterly (CCQ) published by PAS, Inc. Based on their Construction/CM Staff Salary Survey, PAS reports that increases appear to have leveled off, as noted in the following chart. PAS also points out that historically predictions are typically about .5% low, so year-end 2017 should exceed 3.4% and maybe even 2016’s 3.6% increase.
In line with AGC’s regulatory recommendations, on June 7, 2017, U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta announced the withdrawal of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) 2015 and 2016 informal guidance on joint employment and independent contractors. Both pieces of guidance together took an expansive interpretation of employment and threatened the traditional relationship between contractors and their partners. AGC and its members were concerned that these interpretations would make compliance more complicated, leading to unnecessary enforcement efforts and increased costs to projects.
The fiscal year 2018 budget (FY 2018) proposal shows new priorities for the Trump Administration, with the Federal Education and Training Programs taking the brunt of the proposed budget cuts. The Department of Labor’s budget (DOL) includes a 20% reduction in funding from the FY 2017 enacted level, and large job training reductions and employment service accounts represent some of the largest cuts. Funding for state grants for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) have received a 40% cut, and funding for apprenticeship grants have received a 5% reduction. WIOA overwhelmingly passed Congress in 2014, so it is unlikely that Congress will allow the proposed cuts.
The AGC Labor and Employment Law Council (LELC) held its 33rd Annual Construction Labor Law Symposium May 12, 2017, in Washington, DC. Attorneys and chapter labor relations managers from across the country gathered to learn about labor and employment law developments and their significance for construction employers.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) requested and was granted another delay to file a brief on behalf of the Department of Labor (DOL) in its federal court appeal on the Nov. 2016 Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime regulation. The DOJ now has until June 30, 2017, to file its response.
Registration is now open for the 2017 Construction HR and Training Professionals Conference and pre-conference Strategic Management Workshop to be held October 11-13, 2017, in Phoenix, AZ.
On April 28, 2017, Rene Alexander “Alex” Acosta was sworn in as the nation’s 27th U.S. Secretary of Labor. The Senate confirmed him the day before by a bipartisan final vote of 60-38. Eight Democrats and one independent joined the Republicans voting in favor of the appointment.
On March 25, 2017, in Banner Health Systems v NLRB, the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit refused to enforce an order of the National Labor Relations Board's (Board) finding that an employer violated Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (Act) by maintaining “a categorical policy of asking employees not to discuss certain kinds of human resources investigations.”
