Industry’s Job Gains and Average Hourly Earnings Outpace Broader Economy as Association Survey Finds Contractors Expect to Keep Hiring; Officials Urge Boost to Career and Technical Education, Immigration

Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas and Auburn-Opelika, Ala. Have Largest Gains; Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, N.C., Fairbanks, Alaska, and Longview, Texas Lag the Most as Industry Calls for New Workforce Funding

Association Survey Finds Projects Take Longer than Anticipated as Contractors Cope with Staffing Challenges; Officials Urge Increased Investment in Career and Technical Education, Greater Immigration for Qualified Workers

The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a minimum wage increase of $0.20 to $10.80 per hour to be paid to workers performing work on direct federal contracts and subcontracts covered by Executive Order 13658. Federally assisted contracts are not affected. The rate goes into effect on January 1, 2020.

Sets Salary Threshold of $35,568 per year

AGC of America is offering a three-part webinar series to help construction employers navigate the complexities of marijuana, CBD, and opioid use in the industry.

Separate Pre-Conference Strategic Management Workshop October 9th

Cutoff for hotel reservations is Tuesday, September 17, 2019!

On Monday August 19, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit seeking to overturn the district court’s decision from March that reinstated the EEOC’s revised EEO-1 Component 2 form. On Monday, August 26, AGC —with the help of its Construction Advocacy Fund—joined 13 other associations on an amici brief that explains to the court the problems employers have with the new EEO-1 form; a narrative that was not included in the parties’ briefs.

On August 23, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board reversed precedent and rebalanced the rights of property owners versus the Section 7 rights of employees in a labor dispute. In Bexar County Performing Arts Center Foundation d/b/a Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, the Board held that a property owner not involved in an underlying labor dispute may prohibit leafletting and similar protected activity by off-duty employees of a licensee or contractor performing work on the property owner’s premises. Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) guarantees employees the right to engage in concerted activities (i.e., to act together) for mutual aid or protection.