On Sept. 25, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) published a final rule that impacts federal contractors and subcontractors that hire and employ veterans under provisions of the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (VEVRAA). The final rule rescinds the regulations applicable to federal contracts and subcontracts entered into before December 1, 2003, because those regulations are now obsolete. In addition, the final rule revises the regulations that outline the reporting requirements applicable to federal contracts and subcontracts of $100,000 or more entered into or modified after Dec. 1, 2003, by changing the manner in which federal contractors report on their employment of veterans. The new rule goes into effect on Oct. 27, 2014. Covered contractors must comply beginning with the annual report filed in 2015.
The Employment Retirement Income Security Act requires plan fiduciaries to make reasonable efforts to locate missing participants or beneficiaries so that they may direct the distribution of their plan accounts. As a result, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) recently published Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2014-01, which lays out the steps fiduciaries of a defined contribution plan must take to locate missing participants before making distributions following a plan termination.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) released its final rule implementing Executive Order 13658 (EO), which establishes a minimum wage of $10.10 per hour for direct federal prime contractors and subcontractors at all tiers. That $10.10 minimum wage must be adjusted annually for inflation. The new minimum wage will take effect on direct federal agency contracts entered into on or after Jan. 1, 2015. Federally-assisted contractors are not affected. The final rule will be published in the Federal Register on Oct. 7.
The AGC-supported Construction Labor Research Council (CLRC) has released its second report of the year on collective bargaining settlements in the industry. Settlements reported between January and September 2014 resulted in an average first-year wage-and-benefit increase of 2.3 percent or $1.14. For newly negotiated multiyear agreements, the average second-year increase was 2.6 percent or $1.35, and the average third-year increase was 2.4 percent or $1.32. The percentage of settlements with no increases negotiated during the latest period – 8 percent – was the same as that found in 2013 but less than the 13 percent found in 2012.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has issued a new directive to provide guidance on the agency’s approach to employment discrimination on the basis of gender identity or transgender status. In Directive 2014-02, OFCCP clarifies that it considers discrimination on the basis of gender identity or transgender status to be a form of sex discrimination prohibited by Executive Order 11246.
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 2014 event will be held Oct. 15-17 at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel in Phoenix, Ariz. For more information or to register, visit www.agc.org/CHRTPC.
"The AGC Alternative," the first of its kind, nation-wide private insurance exchange to serve the commercial construction industry, begins offering quotes todayto firms belonging to AGC of America, association officials announced. The private exchange, developed in collaboration with Willis North America, a unit of Willis Group Holdings, the global risk advisor, insurance and reinsurance broker, features comprehensive insurance coverage from Aetna, MetLife and Group Vision Service as part of its introductory suite of benefits.
On August 5, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued new Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) addressing how federal contractors should assess their employment relationships to distinguish “employees” from “independent contractors” or other non-employee workers. The FAQs describe what are commonly referred to as the “Darden” factors, derived from the 1992 Supreme Court decision in Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. v. Darden, and provide examples illustrating their application in determining which workers are employees.
On August 8, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that, if implemented, will require covered federal contractors and subcontractors to submit an annual Equal Pay Report on employee compensation.
On July 31, President Obama issued the latest, and most far-reaching, executive order in a series of presidential directives imposing new mandates on federal contractors. The Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order (“EO”) purports to help federal agencies “identify and work with contractors with track records of compliance” with labor laws in order to “reduce execution delays and avoid distractions and complications that arise from contracting with contractors with track records of noncompliance.” It imposes several new obligations on federal contractors and contracting agencies, increasing the burdens and risks for covered contractors. It does not cover federally-assisted contracts.