On Jan. 4, Pres. Obama bypassed the Senate confirmation process and announced he would make three recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The appointees are: Sharon Block (D), deputy assistant secretary for congressional affairs at U.S. Department of Labor; Terence Flynn (R), chief counsel to NLRB Member Brian Hayes; and Richard Griffin (D), general counsel for the International Union of Operating Engineers. The appointments were sworn into office on Jan. 9, joining the two sitting board members – Chairman Mark Pearce (D) and Hayes (R) – to give the Board a full complement for the first time since August 2010. The recess appointments will expire at the end of 2013.
On Dec. 9, 2011, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued its proposed rule to revise regulations under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act on implementing affirmative action and nondiscrimination obligations to contractors and subcontractors, and to evaluate the affirmative action provisions.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or the Board) has ruled that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) prohibits employers from requiring employees to sign an arbitration agreement that precludes them from filing joint, class, or collective employment claims in any forum, whether in arbitration or in court.
On Jan. 1, 2012, a revised version of the National Maintenance Agreements (NMA) went into effect. Established around 1971, the NMA is a national project labor agreement primarily used in industrial maintenance and renovation projects, such as in petro-chemical, utility, steel, and automotive plants.
Construction-industry collective bargaining negotiations completed in 2011 resulted in an average first-year increase in wages and fringe benefits of $0.73 or 1.7 percent, according to the Construction Labor Research Council’s (CLRC’s) annual report on settlements.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) recently released guidance on the topic of employee retaliation with regard to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
On Nov. 21, 2011, President Obama signed into law the Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) to Hire Heroes Act of 2011. While the law offers many direct benefits to personally assist the nation’s veterans, such as education and training programs, for employers, the law provides tax incentives when qualifying unemployed veterans are hired and begin work between Nov. 22, 2011, and Dec. 31, 2012.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) recently issued an updated Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) detailing their efforts to further the agencies’ joint objectives in monitoring equal employment opportunities for applicants and employees under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for all employers and Executive Order 11246 for federal and federally-assisted employers.
On Dec. 8, 2011, AGC completed its two-day webinar on the Davis-Bacon Act Today: What’s New for Federal Construction Contractors. The advanced-level webinar explained recent and upcoming happenings in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) with regard to wage determinations and enforcement. AGC member Kris Talynn, HR director for Okland Construction, served as the moderator. An on-demand version of the webinar is available for purchase from the AGC Bookstore.
The National Labor Relations Board on Dec. 22 issued a final rule revising procedures in cases where a union files a petition for an election to determine whether it will become the exclusive collective bargaining representative of a unit of workers. The effective date of the rule is April 30, 2012.