Labor & HR

On September 21, AGC submitted comments to a July 23, 2010, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The comments were in response to plans to implement affirmative action and nondiscrimination obligations of contractors and subcontractors, and to evaluate the affirmative action provisions under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act.

[caption id="attachment_1172" align="alignleft" width="150" caption=" "][/caption] With the downturn in the availability of commercial work, many construction contractors are bidding more on federal and federally-assisted work and having to comply with the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts. The application of the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts to all projects funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) has also left many contractors uncertain about the requirements of federal prevailing wage laws and the consequences of non-compliance. AGC is offering two resources to help contractors comply with the requirements of this sometimes complicated law.

The latest of AGC of America's ongoing efforts to educate federal agencies about the complications inherent in government mandates for project labor agreements (PLAs) includes an October 1 letter to the U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) and a September 8 letter to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).  As explained in the letters, while AGC neither supports nor opposes PLAs in general, AGC strongly opposes government mandates for PLAs on publicly funded construction projects. AGC is committed to free and open competition in all public construction markets and believes that publicly funded contracts should be awarded without regard to contractors' lawful labor relations policies and practices.  The letters urge the agencies to defer to contractors' judgment as to whether a PLA is appropriate for a given project and to their expertise in negotiating a PLA should they deem one appropriate.

On September 26, 2010, The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began requiring E-Verify-participating employers to compare the photo from U.S. passports presented during the I-9 process with the government's digitally stored photos online.  This new requirement occurred shortly after the one-year anniversary date of the same agency's rule requiring federal contractors and subcontractors to use the E-Verify system to verify their employees' authorization to work in the U.S.