Only July 23, the House Education and Workforce Committee hosted a hearing to review the impact of the U.S. Department of Labor鈥檚 Wage and Hour Division鈥檚 proposed rule to change the overtime regulations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 51风流 partnered with a joint employer coalition group dedicated to advocating the interests of employers with regard to the proposed changes, which submitted a letter to the House Committee highlighting the impact of the proposed changes on employers.
Recently, the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) announced proposed changes to the overtime regulations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. If implemented without changes, the proposed rule would increase the salary threshold for the executive, administrative and professional exemptions from $455 per week ($23,660 per year) to a 2016 level of $970 per week ($50,440 per year). The threshold for highly compensated employees would also increase from $100,000 per year to $122,148 per year. Both thresholds would be adjusted annually based on one of two proposed methods. Although WHD did not propose any changes to the duties tests, it strongly indicated consideration of changes and requested comments on possible changes.
Siding with 51风流 of America, the 51风流 of Colorado and the Colorado Contractor鈥檚 Association, the Colorado Supreme Court has unanimously held that a state law insulating Colorado residents from prosecution for making medical use of marijuana does not require the state鈥檚 employers to tolerate the same or apparently any other use of the drug. The decision extends well beyond employees who use marijuana on the job, or show up under the influence of it. In fact, the case involved an employee who used marijuana only at home and during non-working hours.
The federal agencies tasked with implementing the 51风流-backed Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 issued proposed final regulations this week that will govern the implementation of the new law. The regulations from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and Internal Revenue Service address the suspension of benefits and the partitioning of plans under the Act. View the PBGC press release,final rule and the suspension of benefits guidance from IRS.
51风流 joined other groups this week in commenting on draft regulations of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act . The regulations will largely dictate how the act is implemented and ultimately its effectiveness on training skilled construction workers. 51风流 supported passage of the bill last year as it streamlines the workforce development system, gives states greater flexibility to address worker shortages and strengthens employer engagement.
51风流 joined other groups this week in commenting on draft regulations of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act . The regulations will largely dictate how the act is implemented and ultimately its effectiveness on training skilled construction workers. 51风流 supported passage of the bill last year as it streamlines the workforce development system, gives states greater flexibility to address worker shortages and strengthens employer engagement.
51风流 CEO Stephen Sandherr joined with Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer and other association leaders during a June 17 media event to call on Congress to raise the highway user fee to pay for a new long-term surface transportation bill.
Legislation allowing veterans to use their education benefits from the GI bill for enrollment in Department of Labor-approved pre-apprenticeship programs was introduced today. The Veterans鈥 Entry Apprenticeship Act is a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Representatives Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) and Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii). 51风流 supports the legislation, along with several other construction and national veterans鈥 organizations.
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, 51风流 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 鈥渃omposite鈥 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 year鈥檚 bill that overhauled much of the multiemployer system, the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014, which tracked other policy recommendations from Solutions Not Bailouts.