On July 31, President Obama issued the latest, and most far-reaching, executive order in a series of presidential directives imposing new mandates on federal contractors. The Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order (“EO”) purports to help federal agencies “identify and work with contractors with track records of compliance” with labor laws in order to “reduce execution delays and avoid distractions and complications that arise from contracting with contractors with track records of noncompliance.” It imposes several new obligations on federal contractors and contracting agencies, increasing the burdens and risks for covered contractors. It does not cover federally-assisted contracts.
On July 24, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Revenue Procedure 2014‐37 to index the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) affordability percentages for 2015. As a result, large employers (according to the ACA’s definition) will need to ensure that an employee’s contribution for self-only coverage, if elected, will not exceed 9.56 percent of the employee’s income from that employer. This percentage increased from the 9.5 percent that was written into the original law and subject to change each year to reflect increases in inflation. Under the ACA’s employer mandate play or pay rules, large employers may be assessed penalties for failure to offer full-time employees minimum value coverage that is affordable.
AGC of America has submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) asking the agency to clarify its proposed rule implementing Executive Order 13658 (EO), which establishes a minimum wage of $10.10 per hour for direct federal contractors and subcontractors. The new minimum wage impacts covered contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2015. Federally assisted contractors are not affected. The order also mandates that the Secretary of Labor determine a new minimum wage for federal contractors in 2016, and each year thereafter, based on the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for urban wage and clerical workers.
On July 21, President Obama signed an executive order (EO) prohibiting federal and federally assisted contractors and their subcontractors from engaging in employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
On July 14, 2014, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued new guidance on how the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (“PDA”) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) apply to pregnant workers.
Many HR and training professionals have had an initiative, rollout or project that did not achieve its expected amount of traction, even after spending countless hours and dollars on training and implementation. As a result, HR and training professionals must learn to take a strategic approach to change management in order to make a lasting impact on the company. This, and other topics, will be discussed at AGC’s 2014 Construction HR & Training Professionals Conference, Oct. 15-17, in Phoenix, Ariz. For more information or to register for the conference, visit www.agc.org/hrted.
The AGC-supported Construction Labor Research Council has released its latest report on collective bargaining settlements in the industry. Settlements reported to CLRC between January and June 2014 resulted in an average first-year wage-and-benefit increase of 2.2 percent or $1.10. For newly negotiated multi-year agreements, the average second-year increase was 2.5 percent or $1.23, and the average third-year increase was 2.5 percent or $1.28. Each of these averages is very similar to the average increases negotiated in 2013 and slightly higher than those negotiated in 2012, CLRC reports. The percentage of settlements with no increases negotiated during the latest period was the same as that reported in 2012 but higher than that reported in 2013.
AGC, its coalition Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, and other employer organizations, submitted a group amicus brief in a case before the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) addressing the standard for determining when two companies constitute “joint employers” under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).
AGC recently hosted a webinar to educate construction contractors on the latest regulations that implement the employer mandates of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The webinar, Affordable Care Act Update for Construction Employers, is a follow-up to AGC’s 2013 webinar series, The Affordable Care Act: The Impact of Health Care Reform on Your Construction Business. A recording of the webinar is available in the AGC Bookstore.
In response to a request from Director Pat Shiu of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), AGC provided the agency, and other invited Labor Department staff, with a detailed overview of the construction industry. The request stemmed from a March 27 meeting between AGC and OFCCP Director Pat Shiu and her staff regarding the agency’s plans for revising the regulations related to the employment of women and minorities in construction and how AGC might be able to help the agency understand the application of those regulations to the construction industry. The presentation took place on June 2 at the Labor Department’s headquarters in Washington, DC.