Category: News Line

On July 26, ABC Senior Director of Legislative Affairs Peter Comstock participated in a roundtable hosted by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Dr. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C. The roundtable focused on the reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and policies to better connect job creators and small businesses with job seekers.

The WIOA reauthorization provides the opportunity to upskill, educate and grow a productive workforce for construction that will assist the construction industry’s ability to complete projects in an effective and efficient timeframe. ABC highlighted the new challenges and workforce shortages that have left many contractors throughout the country in desperate need of qualified, skilled craft professionals. ABC believes that any reauthorization of WIOA must consider best practices from industry to better expand workforce development opportunities for all of America’s workers. 

The roundtable was attended by committee members Reps. Rick Allen, R-Ga., Bob Good, R-Va., Glenn Grothman, R-Wisc., Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., Lisa McClain, R-Mich., Burgess Owens, R-Utah, and Tim Walberg, R-Mich.

Powered by WPeMatico

On July 18, Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., introduced the Main Street Tax Certainty Act, H.R. 4721, legislation which would make permanent the current 20% deduction for small and family-owned businesses, provided through Section 199A of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. This bipartisan proposal is co-sponsored by 99 U.S. representatives, including two Democrats, and has the support of all Republican members of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee.

Section 199A is key to ensuring parity between taxes on small businesses and larger corporations and is essential to allowing America’s small businesses to remain competitive and provide critical jobs for all of America’s workers. The provision will expire at the end of 2025 if not renewed.

ABC joined over 160 organizations in support of the legislation, and also supported mirror legislation in the U.S. Senate introduced by Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., earlier this year.

Powered by WPeMatico

On July 28, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards published its final revision to the Form LM-10 Employer Report, which adds a checkbox to the Form LM-10 report requiring certain reporting entities to indicate whether such entities were federal contractors or subcontractors in their prior fiscal year, and two lines for entry of filers’ unique entity identifier and federal contracting agency or agencies, if applicable. The revision will be effective for reports filed on or after Aug. 28, 2023.

In October 2022, ABC submitted a comment letter to the DOL opposing the proposed revision, stating it is clear that the intent of the proposed revision is to discourage persuader activities by federal contractors, despite the fact that these activities are lawfully permitted by the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act within certain limitations. The revision would accomplish this goal by increasing public pressure on these federal contractors and assisting advocacy efforts against these companies and federal agencies that choose to employ them, as well as potentially providing a basis for federal agencies to “blacklist” these contractors in future regulations.

Employers must file the Form LM-10 report with the OLMS to disclose certain payments, expenditures, agreements and arrangements, including the hiring of outside labor relations consultants to help inform their employees regarding union organizing or collective bargaining, known as “persuader activities.”

Here are DOL resources on the final revision to the Form LM-10 Employer Report:

Continue to monitor Newsline for any new developments on this topic.

Powered by WPeMatico

On July 27, President Joe Biden announced a series of actions aimed at protecting workers from the impact of extreme heat, including asking the U.S. Department of Labor to issue a first-ever Hazard Alert for heat.

The Hazard Alert is intended to reaffirm existing worker protections regarding heat injury and illness under federal law. As part of the alert, the DOL will be conducting outreach to employers and workers to raise awareness of these protections.

Additionally, the announcement stated that the DOL will increase enforcement of heat safety violations and step up inspections of industries deemed “high risk,” including construction.

ABC strongly supports worker safety and protection from heat injury and illness, while maintaining flexibility for the fluid nature of the construction environment. Employers play a key role in providing training and awareness regarding heat protection, and ABC will continue to support members in ensuring preparedness for heat-related issues through a wide range of resources.

OSHA Actions Related to Heat Illness and Prevention:

On Oct. 27, 2021, OSHA issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings, which requested information on how to implement regulations to prevent workers from hazardous heat. ABC, as a steering committee member of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition, submitted comments in response to the ANPRM on Jan. 26, 2022.

On April 12, 2022, OSHA announced a National Emphasis Program on Outdoor and Indoor Heat-Related Hazards, which sets out a targeted enforcement effort and reiterates OSHA’s compliance assistance and outreach efforts.

On June 22, OSHA announced it will be holding Small Business Advocacy Review panel (also known as a SBREFA panel) meetings this summer to gather input on a possible Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings rule.

The panel is tentatively scheduled to convene on or about Aug. 21 and will host a series of video conferences with Small Entity Representatives, or SERs, selected from the potentially regulated sectors, which include agriculture, construction, landscaping, manufacturing, oil and gas, warehousing, waste management, utilities and food service, specifically in restaurant kitchens. Each SER will be asked to review background materials and participate in a single video conference on the subject matter.

The panel will be comprised of representatives from OSHA, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy and the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

ABC member contractors that are interested in participating in the SBREFA panel are encouraged to reach out to ABC Senior Director of Policy Karen Livingston at [email protected] for further information about the process.

Powered by WPeMatico

On July 21, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued its Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses final rule, which will undo the ABC-supported provisions of the 2019 final rule promulgated under the Trump administration and reprise the 2016 Obama-era rule. The final rule becomes effective on Jan. 1, 2024, for certain employers and OSHA intends to make much of the data it collects publicly available online.

In a press release, ABC announced its opposition to the to final rule stating, “Unfortunately, the Biden administration is moving forward with a final rule that does nothing to achieve OSHA’s stated goal of reducing injuries and illnesses,” said Ben Brubeck, ABC vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs. “Instead, the final rule will force employers to disclose sensitive information to the public that can easily be manipulated, mischaracterized and misused for reasons wholly unrelated to safety, as well as subject employers to illegitimate attacks and employees to violations of their privacy.”

What does the final rule do?

• Establishments with 100 or more employees in certain high-hazard industries are required to electronically submit information from their OSHA Forms 300 and 301 to OSHA once a year. They are also required to include their legal company name when making electronic submissions to OSHA.
• Establishments with 20 to 249 employees in certain high-hazard industries will continue to be required to electronically submit information from their OSHA Form 300A annual summary to OSHA once a year.
• Establishments with 250 or more employees that must routinely keep records under OSHA’s injury and illness regulation will also continue to be required to electronically submit information from their Form 300A to OSHA once a year.
• The data must be electronically submitted through OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application.

OSHA Resources:

ABC submitted comments to the DOL outlining its concerns in June 2022.

Powered by WPeMatico

On July 13, 2023, the U.S Department of Labor launched its “High Road to the Middle Class” map, highlighting existing workforce development programs that meet certain criteria to be designated by the DOL as “high road training programs.” The DOL defines these programs using the following criteria:

• Demand-driven, or programs that partner with employers to ensure employment of participants upon graduation
• Created through partnerships, or programs that must include participation of unions or other worker organizations
• Accessible to all
• Built by communities on the ground

Due to the union partnership requirements, all construction workforce development programs that do not involve construction unions have been excluded from inclusion on the map.

“ABC agrees with the DOL on the importance of high-quality, demand-driven and accessible programs to upskill the construction workforce, but unfortunately the agency has taken a discriminatory and partisan approach with the ‘High Road to the Middle Class’ program that fails to acknowledge the value of employer and association workforce development programs not affiliated with unions,” said Ben Brubeck, ABC vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs. “This is especially egregious considering more than 88% of the construction workforce voluntarily chooses not to be part of a union.”

“We call on the DOL to embrace inclusive, all-of-the-above workforce development policies to educate the more than half a million construction workers needed in 2023 alone. This includes the efforts of ABC’s 68 chapters, which are educating craft, safety and management professionals using innovative and flexible learning models like just-in-time task training, competency-based progression and work-based learning, in addition to more than 300 federal and state government-registered apprenticeship programs across over 20 different occupations. All of these efforts are necessary to develop a safe, skilled and productive workforce. In addition, ABC member companies participate in ABC education programs and administer comprehensive in-house workforce development programs as well as GRAPs independent of ABC’s network and invested an estimated $1.5 billion in construction industry workforce development in 2022.”

Additional information on the “High Road to the Middle Class” program is available on the DOL’s blog. Learn more about ABC’s workforce development efforts at abc.org/workforce.

Powered by WPeMatico

The U.S. Department of the Treasury plans to release a proposed rule implementing provisions of the ABC-opposed Inflation Reduction Act. The law provides over $270 billion in tax credits for the construction of solar, wind, hydrogen, carbon sequestration, electric vehicle charging stations and other clean energy projects, conditioned on requirements that project contractors meet prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements outlined in the legislation and IRS guidance.

Treasury is expected to issue a proposed rule to provide additional guidance on these requirements imminently.

“Unfortunately, the U.S. Treasury’s announcement of a formal rulemaking means more uncertainty for contractors, developers and financers of clean energy projects who have raised important questions in reaction to the inadequate initial guidance required by the Inflation Reduction Act published late last year and effective Jan. 30, 2023,” said Ben Brubeck, ABC’s vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs. “It may take more than a year for the IRS to complete its formal rulemaking notice-and-comment process, which will create additional risks for stakeholders in the interim, and ultimately, stall clean energy projects dependent on the full tax credits previously available to this marketplace without the apprenticeship and prevailing wage policy requirements.”

As additional information becomes available, it will be added to ABC’s IRA Resources and Guidance for Contractors and Developers available at www.abc.org/ira.

Powered by WPeMatico

On July 17, ABC submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration in response to OSHA’s request for comments on its efforts to develop a leading indicators resource for usage by employers to improve safety management systems.

In the comments, ABC supported and commended OSHA’s efforts to promote the usage of leading indicators to improve safety. Leading indicators are proactive, preventive and predictive measures used to improve workplace safety. The comments emphasized the importance of core leading indicators identified in ABC’s 2023 Safety Performance Report.

The comments additionally encouraged OSHA to consider ABC’s STEP Safety Management System, which utilizes 25 key components, including a number of leading indicators to help participants improve workplace safety, in its development of the resource. Founded in 1989, STEP has evolved into an industry-leading safety management system that dramatically improves safety performance among participants regardless of company size or type of work.

As a steering committee member of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition, ABC also submitted comments with the coalition supporting OSHA’s efforts and identifying areas where the agency should focus its efforts.

Powered by WPeMatico

Worker Walkaround Representative Designation Process

On July 17, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor sent its proposed rule on Worker Walkaround Representative Designation Process to the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review. This is the final step before the proposed rule is released publicly. It is expected to be issued imminently.

While the text of the proposed rule is not yet available to the public, the regulatory agenda indicates that the proposed rule would “clarify the right of workers and certified bargaining units to specify a worker or union representative to accompany an OSHA inspector during the inspection process/facility walkaround, regardless of whether the representative is an employee of the employer, if in the judgment of the Compliance Safety and Health Officer such person is reasonably necessary to an effective and thorough physical inspection.”

On Feb. 21, 2013, OSHA issued a letter of interpretation endorsing union representatives and other nonemployee third parties accompanying OSHA inspectors on walkaround inspections at nonunion workplaces, which ABC adamantly opposed, expressing serious concerns. OSHA eventually rescinded the letter of interpretation on April 25, 2017.  

Additional Background on the 2013 Letter of Interpretation:

ABC will continue to monitor this issue and provide updates as they become available.

Overtime

On July 13, the DOL sent its proposed rule on the “exemption of bona fide executive, administrative, and professional employees from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime requirements,” also known as the “white-collar” exemptions, to the OMB’s OIRA for review. This is the final step before the proposed rule is released publicly. It is expected to be issued imminently.

In 2016, the DOL issued a final overtime rule that would have doubled the minimum salary level for exemption from $23,660 to $47,476 per year. ABC, along with several other business groups, sued the DOL in federal court and succeeded in blocking the rule from taking effect.

In 2019, the Trump-era’s DOL issued a new overtime proposal to formally rescind the 2016 rule and readjusted the salary threshold to $35,568 per year. The final rule went into effect on Jan. 1, 2020.  

ABC continues to urge the Biden DOL to abandon or postpone any future overtime rulemaking, since it was just modified in 2019. Further, any new overtime rule would fail to recognize the lingering economic consequences of inflation, global supply chain disruptions, rising materials prices and workforce shortages.

Form LM-10 Employer Report

On July 18, the OMB’s OIRA concluded its review of the DOL’s final rule on the Form LM-10 Employer Report. This is the final step before the final rule is released publicly. It is expected to be issued imminently.

On Oct. 13, 2022, ABC submitted a comment letter to the DOL’s Office of Labor-Management Standards regarding its proposed revisions to the LM-10 Employer Report form. ABC opposed the new proposed revision, which would add a checkbox to the form for employers to disclose whether they are a federal contractor, as well as identifying information and the federal agency or agencies contracted for.

Employers must file this form with the OLMS to disclose certain payments, expenditures, agreements and arrangements, including the hiring of outside labor relations consultants to help inform their employees regarding union organizing or collective bargaining, known as “persuader activities.”

It is clear that the intent of the proposed revision is to discourage persuader activities by federal contractors, despite the fact that these activities are lawfully permitted by the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act within certain limitations. The revision would accomplish this goal by increasing public pressure on these federal contractors and assisting advocacy efforts against these companies and federal agencies that choose to employ them, as well as potentially providing a basis for federal agencies to “blacklist” these contractors in future regulations.

Continue to monitor Newsline for further updates on the DOL’s regulatory activity.

Powered by WPeMatico

On June 22, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced it will be holding Small Business Advocacy Review panel (also known as a SBREFA panel) meetings this summer to gather input on a possible Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings rule.

Powered by WPeMatico