On Friday, May 1, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued its long-awaited confined spaces in construction standard. The new rule will cover activities on construction sites with one or more confined spaces such as manholes, crawl spaces, tanks and other confined spaces that are not intended for continuous occupancy with exemptions for work covered by the excavation and underground construction standards. The final rule is very similar to the general industry standard, but with some differences tailored to the construction industry. These differences include: controlling contractor requirements, continuous monitoring for hazards, and responsibilities of a competent person.
On April 29, 窪蹋勛圖厙 CEO Stephen Sandherr testified during a hearing held by the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions on ways to further strengthen the multiemployer pension system. The bipartisan, noncontroversial hearing focused on the recommendations outlined in the joint labor-management proposal, Solutions Not Bailouts, to create a new composite type of multiemployer benefit plan that is distinct from either defined-benefit or defined-contribution plans. The new plan design was not included in last years bill that overhauled much of the multiemployer system, the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014, which tracked other policy recommendations from Solutions Not Bailouts.
The Department of Treasury and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) recently issued separate requests for information to aid in their development of regulations to implement the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act (MPRA) and 窪蹋勛圖厙 joined with other construction industry stakeholders to submit detailed comments toTreasury and PBGC on April 6, 2015.
窪蹋勛圖厙, along with a coalition of stakeholders, are urging Congress to reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins). Perkins is an existing avenue that helps students prepare for secondary and postsecondary education by providing access to federal dollars to offset the cost of career and technical education (CTE) programs. The Perkins programs authorization ended in 2013 but has been operating under annual funding bills since then. 窪蹋勛圖厙 hopes Congress will reauthorize and reform the program this year.
Recently, 窪蹋勛圖厙 sent a letter opposing the possible use of a project labor agreement (PLA) mandate posted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The letter addressed concerns about a possible PLA mandate for a command and control facility project at Fort Shafter, Hawaii.
Today, the House passed an 窪蹋勛圖厙-supported resolution that would nullify the National Labor Relations Boards (NLRB) rule on representation-case procedures, which will go into effect on April 14, 2015. The vote fell mostly along party lines with Republicans supporting and Democrats opposing. The resolution passed the Senate earlier this month and will now be sent to the presidents desk. However, President Obama has indicated his intention to veto the legislation, which Congress will be unlikely to overturn. Therefore, a lawsuit making its way through the court system may be the best and last chance at blocking the rule before the implementation date.
At 窪蹋勛圖厙 of America, we know how important maintaining professional credentials are to those who hold such designations. Therefore, 窪蹋勛圖厙s Construction HR & Training Professionals Conference will offer opportunities for HR, training and workforce development professionals to earn recertification credits from the HR Certification Institute (HRCI). At 窪蹋勛圖厙 of America, we know how important maintaining professional credentials are to those who hold such designations. Therefore, 窪蹋勛圖厙s Construction HR & Training Professionals Conference will offer opportunities for HR, training and workforce development professionals to earn recertification credits from the HR Certification Institute (HRCI).
On June 30, the U.S. Department of Labors Wage and Hour Division (WHD) published its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) announcing proposed changes to the overtime regulations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The proposal is the result of a 2014 directive from President Obama requiring the Secretary of Labor to modernize and streamline the existing overtime regulations. The NPRM was officially published in the Federal Register on July 6.
On June 19, 窪蹋勛圖厙 submitted comments to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regarding its proposed rule to amend the regulations and interpretive guidance implementing Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as they relate to employee wellness programs.
The Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury (the Departments) recently finalized changes to regulations governing the summary of benefits and coverage (SBC), which were published in the Federal Register on June 16, 2015. The final regulations generally track the proposed regulations in codifying certain pieces of interim and informal guidance, including guidance regarding a plan sponsors responsibly to ensure compliance with the SBC rules if the plan sponsor chooses to contract with a third party with respect to SBC compliance.