News

The National Labor Relations Board has ruled that a construction contractor’s efforts to terminate a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and withdraw from a multiemployer group were ineffective and that the contractor was bound to a subsequent labor agreement negotiated by the multiemployer association. 
Whether it’s an earthquake, blizzard, bush fire or hurricane, sometimes Mother Nature unexpectedly interrupts the flow of the work week.   As government officials and disaster recovery experts encourage workers to stay home, companies are left to determine if and how employees will be compensated when a company or project is shut down, during and immediately following a natural disaster. 
If your firm contributes to a multiemployer pension plan, then make sure you’re prepared for new accounting standards.  A new standard issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board requirements (FASB No. 2011-09) requires employers that participate in multiemployer pension plans to provide additional quantitative and qualitative disclosures in their financial statements.  Firms must comply with new disclosure requirements for reporting periods ending after Dec. 15, 2012.
Registration is now open for the Associated General Contractors of America’s (AGC) 2012 HR Professionals Conference and Training, Education & Development (TED) Conference.   For 2012, the conferences will be co-located in San Antonio, Texas, with the TED Conference beginning on the morning of Monday, Oct. 15, lasting to midday on Oct. 16, and the HR Professionals Conference beginning on the morning of Oct. 16, and concluding at noon on Oct. 17.
On September 5, 2012, AGC hosted a webinar on the Essential Safety Matters for HR:  Working Together to Keep Employees Safe and the Company Litigation-Free.  An on-demand version of the webinar is available for purchase from the AGC Bookstore. 
Volatile financial markets and changing worker demographics have lead to funding shortfalls in construction-industry multiemployer pension plans that cannot easily be corrected by only increasing contribution rates, explains a report recently released by the Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA) and Horizon Actuarial Services.  The Inventory of Construction Industry Pension Plans, 2012 Edition contains an inventory of historical data for all multiemployer pension plans in the construction industry (not just mechanical trades).  It summarizes and analyzes key trends in plan demographics, cash flows, investments, funding, and expenses from 2001 through 2010 based on Form 5500 filings. 
There is still time to register for AGC’s 2012 HR Professionals Conference, Training, Education & Development (TED) Conference, and Federal Construction HR Workshop, but the hotel discount ends Friday, Sept. 14, so act fast.  Room rates are just $119 per night.
Recently, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) added twelve new questions to its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the Internet Applicant Recordkeeping Rule. The new information is intended to clarify the OFCCP recordkeeping requirements of federal contractors and subcontractors.  The rule originally went into effect in 2006.
The National Labor Relations Board has held that a company policy - asking employees who lodge an internal complaint not to discuss the matter with co-workers while the matter is investigated - violates the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
AGC of America’s Union Contractors Committee (UCC) has begun holding quarterly conference calls.  The first call took place on July 10.  Approximately 50 AGC members and chapter staff registered.  The call included remarks by Chairman Bill Wilson, an update on labor relations matters by committee staff associate Denise Gold, an update on multiemployer pension reform activities by staff associate Jim Young and chapter executive Jack Ramage, and a roundtable discussion of collective bargaining issues, jurisdictional disputes and other union contractor concerns.