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).

May 2, 2019 - 2:00pm to 3:00pm ET

AGC of America’s Union Contractors Committee held two sessions during the association’s 100th Annual Convention in Denver, CO. At an open meeting of the Union Contractors Steering Committee on April 3, participants received updates from committee leaders and staff and conducted a roundtable discussion on matters of concern to union contractors and their AGC chapters. The committee also set the following dates for 2019 Union Contractors Conference Calls: June 11, September 10, and November 19. Each call will begin at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time and is open to all interested AGC members and chapter staff.

On March 28, a federal judge struck down portions of the U. S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) final rule intended to expand access to association health plans (AHPs) and increase flexibility for small employers to join groups or associations to offer insured health coverage in the large group market at potentially more favorable pricing with less restrictive requirements. U.S. District Judge John Bates of Washington, D.C., ruled that the bona fide association and working owner provisions exceeded the statutory authority delegated in ERISA, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, and that the DOL rule "was intended and designed to end run the requirements of the ACA," the Affordable Care Act. Citing to a severability provision in the Final Rule, the judge has remanded the rule to the DOL to determine whether it can be saved without the invalidated provisions. Unless the ruling is reversed on appeal, this ruling will replace the prior restrictions on establishing AHPs under ERISA.

The U. S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) today announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to revise and clarify the responsibilities of employers and joint employers to employees in joint employer arrangements. In 2017, the DOL withdrew the previous administrations sub-regulatory guidance regarding joint employer status that did not go through the rulemaking process that includes public notice and comment.

The U. S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) today announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) updating the regulations governing regular rate requirements for the first time in more than 50 years. Regular rate requirements define what forms of payment employers include and exclude in the "time and one-half" calculation when determining workers' overtime rates. The proposed rule focuses primarily on clarifying whether certain kinds of perks, benefits, or other miscellaneous items must be included in the regular rate. Because these regulations have not been updated in decades, the proposal’s intent is to better define the regular rate for today's workplace practices.

Today the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) hiring benchmark for 2019. Effective March 31, 2019, the hiring benchmark will be 5.9 percent, down from 6.4 percent in 2018. This benchmark is an annual goal for the percentage of hires who are veterans at each affirmative action plan (AAP) establishment.