51����

Represents Construction Industry before White House, DOL & DOT

Ida Cheinman, Substance151It’s time that professional services firms faced a couple of hard truths: First, no one wants to subscribe to an e-newsletter, and second, a single email is not going to make the phones ring.

The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) now has a full complement of five members with a Republican majority for the first time in roughly a decade. This follows from the September 27 swearing in of Republican William J. Emanuel as a Board member for a term ending on August 27, 2021. Emanuel is the second Trump nominee to join the Board, following Republican Marvin E. Kaplan’s swearing in on August 10 for a term ending on August 27, 2020.

On September 25, 51���� submitted comments to the U. S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) in response to a Request for Information (RFI) on the 2016 changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime regulations. In line with 51����’s regulatory recommendations, this RFI is the first step the DOL is undertaking to revisit the overtime rule that dramatically increased the salary threshold for exempt employees. 51���� and its members were concerned that imposing such a large and immediate increase might result in unintended consequences, particularly for small construction companies, construction employers in lower‐wage regions, and construction personnel.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced that the agency will support Hurricane Harvey and Irma relief efforts in a number of ways, including by relaxing federal contractors’ requirements on a temporary basis. As part of the initiative, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) will be temporarily suspending certain requirements on federal contractors to allow “businesses involved in hurricane relief the ability to prioritize recovery efforts.”

A U.S. Department of Labor administrative law judge (ALJ) has held that the employer, not the workers, primarily benefited from lodging used by itinerant workers hired to work on a federal dredging project away from their home communities. As a result, the employer was required under the Davis-Bacon Act to cover the full cost of the employees’ lodging expenses.

51���� of America submitted a letter to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) on September 5 recommending several specific ideas on how to reform and modernize the weekly pay and certified payroll submission requirements as mandated by the Davis-Bacon and related Acts (DBRA).

On August 29, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) informed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that it is initiating a review and immediate stay of the effectiveness of the pay data collection aspects of the EEO-1 form that was revised on September 29, 2016, in accordance with its authority under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). OMB’s decision follows 51����’s regulatory recommendations, specifically that the new EEO-1 requirements were unnecessary and burdensome. “Among other things, OMB is concerned that some aspects of the revised collection of information lack practical utility, are unnecessarily burdensome, and do not adequately address privacy and confidentiality issues,” the office said in its memo to the EEOC.

Anne Liberto, General Building Contractors AssociationEveryone wants and values their business relationships, but how do you establish effective business relationships? Is it just about meeting people? You meet someone, talk, and you have a relationship. Seems easy, yet effective business relationships take dedication and commitment. The following are key to building effective business relationships.

On August 29, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) informed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that it is initiating a review and immediate stay of the effectiveness of the pay data collection aspects of the EEO-1 form that was revised on September 29, 2016, in accordance with its authority under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). OMB’s decision follows 51����’s regulatory recommendations, specifically that the new EEO-1 requirements were unnecessary and burdensome. “Among other things, OMB is concerned that some aspects of the revised collection of information lack practical utility, are unnecessarily burdensome, and do not adequately address privacy and confidentiality issues,” the office said in its memo to the EEOC.