On August 1, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) released a set of practical expectations for contractors when undergoing an audit or otherwise interacting with the agency. Under this new guidance, federal contractors will have opportunities to provide input on training and additional compliance assistance, see a response time of three-to-four business days on inquiries, and get feedback on ongoing investigations.

Collective bargaining negotiations settled from January through June 2018 resulted in an average first-year wage-and-benefits increase of 3.0 percent or $1.65, according to the Construction Labor Research Council’s (CLRC) latest – and redesigned – Settlements Report. While most first-year increases were in the 2.1-2.5 percent and 2.6-3.0 percent ranges, CLRC reported a “noticeable” percent of first-year increases of over 5 percent. For newly negotiated multi-year agreements, the average increase for both the second and the third year of the contract was 2.8 percent. The Insulators had the highest average first-year increase at 4 percent, while the Boilermakers had the lowest at 2.1 percent.

The U.S. Department of Labor has published a final rule rescinding the controversial “Persuader Rule” issued under Pres. Obama. This is a victory for AGC and others who opposed the regulation and urged the Trump administration to rescind it.

Early Bird Rates End August 14

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Peter Robb has issued a memorandum about the NLRB’s new approach to cases charging that employee work rules or employment policies (also referred to as employee handbook policies) unlawfully interfere with employees’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The memo was written in follow-up to the NLRB’s December 2017 Boeing decision and provides employers with useful guidance.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, WA, Guam) has ruled that an asset purchaser that was deemed a successor was liable to pay the seller’s pension fund withdrawal liability even though the purchaser did not have actual knowledge of the liability. The circuit court found that constructive notice of the liability was sufficient to impose withdrawal liability on the asset purchaser. The ruling raises the hurdles that a successor must overcome to avoid withdrawal liability in an asset sale transaction.

On June 19, the U. S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released a final rule intended to expand 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. A number of AGC Chapters across the country currently recognize the need to offer alternative health care options and administer AHPs that offer “group health plan” coverage to employees of members. As outlined in response to the proposed version of the rule, AGC is supportive of the flexibility and opportunity the DOL intends to provide and pleased that existing AHPs were preserved in the final rule.

A federal district court has ruled that the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) violated the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures in an attempted audit of construction contractor Baker DC.

In conjunction with AGC’s 2018 workforce development campaign, we are currently seeking success stories and best practices in the areas of construction workforce development, industry image enhancement and industry recruiting. Our goal is to gather and share these success stories with member firms and AGC chapter staff in the hopes of increasing knowledge sharing and program collaboration, communicating lessons learned, and sparking innovative workforce solutions.

According to the latest Contractor Compensation Quarterly (CCQ) published by PAS, Inc., construction staff wages rose by 3.7% in 2017 and contractors are projecting wages to increase an average of 3.4% in 2018. The prediction is based on data gathered from 295 companies who participated in the 36th edition of PAS’s Construction/CM Staff Salary Survey. Though the projected 2018 increase is 3.5% for professionals & middle managers, it is pointed out that historically predictions are usually about .5% low, so year-end 2018 is expected to exceed 2017’s 3.7% increase.