The AGC Labor and Employment Law Council (LELC) recently held its 35th Annual Construction Labor Law Symposium in Washington, DC. Attorneys and labor relations managers from across the country gathered to learn about labor and employment law developments relevant to construction employers.

The chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America, Stephen E. Sandherr, released the following statement in response to the release of the President’s new proposal to allow more immigrations into the country based on merit:

Union contractors, labor representatives, and construction owner-clients alike project strong, stable growth in 2019, report The Association of Union Constructors (TAUC) and the Construction Labor Research Council (CLRC) in their recently released fifth annual Union Craft Labor Supply Study. At the same time, survey respondents report growing craft labor shortages. The report shows that craft labor shortages in the union construction and maintenance industries are prevalent – reported in 69 percent of organizations – but are generally small, with 54 percent of respondents estimating a 12.5 percent shortage of craft workers. About a third of respondents reported no shortage or a surplus of workers.

The Social Security Administration recently resurrected its practice of issuing Employer Correction Request notices – also known as “no-match letters” – when it receives employee information from an employer that does not match its records. When receiving such a letter, AGC members should consider the taking following seven steps in conjunction with consulting with their employment counsel.

On May 6th, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin K. McAleenan announced that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) will make an additional 30,000 H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas available for Fiscal Year 2019. These supplemental H-2B visas are available only to returning workers who received an H-2B visa, or were otherwise granted H-2B status, during one of the last three fiscal years (FY 2016, 2017, or 2018), and availability is restricted by prioritizing only those businesses who would suffer irreparable harm without the additional workers. Final details on the increase in H-2B Nonimmigrant Visas for FY 2019 can now be found here.

Calendar Years 2017 and 2018 Data Due Sept. 30

Impacts Many Public and Private Works Construction Contractors

According to the latest Contractor Compensation Quarterly (CCQ) published by PAS, Inc., construction executive staff wage increases came in at 4.1% for 2018 and are projected to rise by an average 3.8% by 2019 year end. Though the projected 2019 increase is 3.8%, it is pointed out that historically executive staff predictions are low, so year-end 2019 increases might come in even as high as 4.3% to 4.5%.

The Construction Labor Research Council (CLRC) has released a revised version of its annual Trends & Outlook Report now renamed Union Labor Costs in Construction. The report includes general and detailed information about trends in collectively bargained compensation in the industry, including data analyses by region, by time, and by trade. It can be a valuable resource when preparing for collective bargaining negotiations, particularly when used in conjunction with CLRC’s latest Settlements Report.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) recently issued a new opinion letter clarifying the DOL’s position on designating and taking leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The opinion letter provides that “an employer is prohibited from delaying the designation of FMLA-qualifying leave as FMLA leave”, even if the employee would prefer it be delayed, and must notify the employee of the FMLA status of the employee’s leave within five days of the employer obtaining enough information to make the determination. The DOL also found that an employer may not permit employees to expand their FMLA leave beyond the statutory 12-week entitlement (or 26-week entitlement, in the case of military caregiver leave).