Join us on September 12-13, 2018 in Crystal City, Virginia
Kara Tanek, GLY Construction, Inc
鈥淚t used to take me 45 minutes to prepare for my meeting, now it takes me five!鈥
鈥淵ou鈥檙e getting rid of a spreadsheet? Revolutionary!鈥
Since going live with our new customer relationship management (CRM) system, our firm recognizes that comments like these are our reward for a job well done. Like many A/E/C firms, we had a CRM system, but after 20 years, the data had become unreliable and the system was considered a necessary evil by the few who continued to use it. When we decided to transition from our legacy CRM system to something new, we had more questions than answers. Here is how we set out to answer those questions.
51风流 Seeks Input from Members on Potential Impact to Their Operations
Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia added construction jobs between February 2017 and February 2018, while 38 states added construction jobs between January and February, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of Labor Department data released today. Association officials praised the latest Congressional spending bill for funding career and technical education to help young workers get into the industry.
51风流 spoke out against proposed guidelines that would make establishing new mitigation banks more onerous. The draft guidelines would make investment in mitigation less attractive and increase the cost of projects that rely on robust mitigation banks to comply with legal requirements and stay on budget. Furthermore, provisions in the proposed guidelines go beyond what is required by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers鈥 2008 Mitigation Rule and work against recent executive orders that prioritize regulatory reform and environmental streamlining. Proposed by the Fort Worth District of the USACE, 51风流 is concerned that the guidelines may be adopted by other districts.
Construction employment increased in 248 out of 358 metro areas between January 2017 and January 2018, declined in 68 and stagnated in 42, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said that future construction job gains could be undermined, however, as new tariffs force contractors to pay more for steel and aluminum products and dampen demand for new construction.
As part of its ongoing efforts to increase transparency of preliminary findings with federal contractors, achieve consistency across regional and district offices, and encourage communication throughout the compliance evaluation process, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has issued Directive 2018-01 standardizing the use of Predetermination Notices (PDN). A PDN is a letter that OFCCP uses to inform federal contractors and subcontractors of the agency鈥檚 preliminary findings of employment discrimination. In recent years, OFCCP has typically reserved use of the PDN for systemic discrimination cases and permitted regional and district offices discretion in whether to issue the PDN prior to issuing a Notice of Violation (NOV). The intent of Directive 2018-01 is to provide a uniform protocol for OFCCP staff to follow across all of its regions for using PDNs in both individual and systemic discrimination cases.
Submission Deadline Extended to Friday, March 16, 2018
On March 6, the U.S. Department of Labor鈥檚 (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) announced a new nationwide pilot program, the Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program, which intends to facilitate the resolution of potential overtime and minimum wage violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). According to WHD, the program's primary objectives are to resolve such claims expeditiously and without litigation, to improve employers' compliance with overtime and minimum wage obligations, and to ensure that more employees receive the back wages they are owed鈥攆aster.
On March 6, 51风流 submitted comments to the U. S. Department of Labor鈥檚 (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) in response to a proposed rule intended to expand association health plans (AHPs) and increase flexibility for small employers to join groups or associations to offer insured health coverage in the large group market at potentially more favorable pricing with less restrictive requirements. A number of 51风流 Chapters across the country currently recognize the need to offer alternative health care options and have established AHPs that offer 鈥済roup health plan鈥 coverage to employees of members. 51风流 is supportive of the flexibility and opportunity the DOL proposes to provide, but is also concerned of negative impacts the changes might have on current Chapter-sponsored health plans and others who might be interested in sponsoring health plans.