On August 26, AGC of America submitted comments on the U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed rule to establish a new system for government approval of apprenticeship programs that would operate in parallel with the existing registered apprenticeship system. The new system would provide for recognition of “Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs” through an expedited and streamlined process. The proposed rule states that the construction industry would not “initially” be eligible to participate in the new system.

!function(e,t,s,i){var n="InfogramEmbeds",o=e.getElementsByTagName("script")[0],d=/^http:/.test(e.location)?"http:":"https:";if(/^\/{2}/.test(i)&&(i=d+i),window[n]&&window[n].initialized)window[n].process&&window[n].process();else if(!e.getElementById(s)){var r=e.createElement("script");r.async=1,r.id=s,r.src=i,o.parentNode.insertBefore(r,o)}}(document,0,"infogram-async","https://e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed-loader-min.js");Eighty percent of construction firms report they are having a hard time filling hourly craft positions that represent the bulk of the construction workforce, according to the results of an industry-wide survey released today by Autodesk and the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said the industry was taking a range of steps to address the situation but called on federal officials to takes steps to assist those industry efforts.

AGC of America’s Union Contractors Committee will hold its next conference call on September 10 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time.

The National Labor Relations Board has issued a proposed rule addressing union recognition in the construction industry. AGC plans to submit comments prior to the October 11, 2019, deadline.

On July 15, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) officially opened the Web-based portal for the reinstated EEO-1 collection of pay and hours worked data for calendar years 2017 and 2018. The EEOC also provided a series of Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”) regarding the new requirements and a More Info Page to assist filers. The More Info page provides additional resources such as a sample form, an instruction booklet, a user’s guide, a fact sheet, and reference documents.

Registration is now open for the 2019 Construction HR and Training Professionals Conference and pre-conference Strategic Management Workshop to be held October 9-11, 2019, in Chicago, IL.

Negotiators conducting collective bargaining between January and June of this year agreed to raise construction craft workers’ wage and fringe benefits by an average of 2.8 percent or $1.65 during the first contract year, 2.7 percent or $1.65 during the second contract year, and 2.7 percent or $1.67 during the third contract year, according to the Construction Labor Research Council’s (CLRC) latest Settlements Report. While these numbers are all slightly lower than those reported last year, CLRC notes that the data should be considered preliminary for the year, as many additional settlements are likely to be added to CLRC’s database during the second half of the year.

Please respond to survey before closure in mid-August

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently updated the web-based portal for the reinstated collection of 2017 and 2018 EEO-1 Component 2 data with several resources to assist employers. Specifically, the EEOC provided a series of Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”) regarding the new requirements and a More Info Page. The More Info page provides additional resources such as a sample form, an instruction booklet, a user’s guide, a fact sheet, and reference documents.

On June 25, AGC submitted comments to the U. S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) revising and clarifying 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.