In a disappointing but not surprising move, the National Labor Relations Board on August 27 issued a long-awaited decision about the lawfulness of union bannering, finding it to be permissible, protected activity under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
The latest of Íæż½ã½ã of America's ongoing efforts to educate federal agencies about the complications inherent in government mandates for project labor agreements (PLAs) includes an October 1 letter to the U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) and a September 8 letter to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). As explained in the letters, while Íæż½ã½ã neither supports nor opposes PLAs in general, Íæż½ã½ã strongly opposes government mandates for PLAs on publicly funded construction projects. Íæż½ã½ã is committed to free and open competition in all public construction markets and believes that publicly funded contracts should be awarded without regard to contractors' lawful labor relations policies and practices. The letters urge the agencies to defer to contractors' judgment as to whether a PLA is appropriate for a given project and to their expertise in negotiating a PLA should they deem one appropriate.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) has struck down an applicant referral system for open-shop electrical contractors run by the Greater Houston chapter of the Independent Electrical Contractors association (IEC), finding that it unlawfully discriminated against union "salts."Â Â
On September 26, 2010, The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began requiring E-Verify-participating employers to compare the photo from U.S. passports presented during the I-9 process with the government's digitally stored photos online. This new requirement occurred shortly after the one-year anniversary date of the same agency's rule requiring federal contractors and subcontractors to use the E-Verify system to verify their employees' authorization to work in the U.S.Â
Collective bargaining settlements reported to the Construction Labor Research Council (CLRC) between January and June of this year resulted in an average first-year wage-and-benefits increase of $0.55 or 1.1 percent. This is considerably lower than the $1.49 or 3.1 percent average increase reported for the comparable period last year. The average second-year increase in newly negotiated multi-year agreements is $0.69 or 1.6 percent, and the average third-year increase is $1.01 or 2.2 percent. These increases are also lower than those negotiated a year earlier, but by a smaller margin, according to CLRC. As reported earlier in Human Resource & Labor News, wage-and-benefit increases negotiated in 2009 overall were the lowest in 13 years.
Íæż½ã½ã's 9th Annual HR Professionals Conference and 4th Annual Training & Development (T&D) Conference will take place October 18-20, 2010, at the Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz. Training, development and human resource professionals will gather to network and earn valuable continuing education credits toward their respective designations.Â
Íæż½ã½ã of America's 9th Annual HR Professionals Conference will be co-located with the 4th Annual Training & Development Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. Each conference provides a unique opportunity for Íæż½ã½ã members and chapter staff to participate in industry-focused sessions to learn innovative approaches to managing training and human capital. The conferences will be held at the Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort/Scottsdale.
Recently, the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Wage & Hour Division issued an Administrator's Interpretation to provide guidance on whether protective gear is considered "clothes" in Section 203 (o) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In addition to defining "clothes," the interpretation clarifies whether time spent by employees washing or changing clothes, or "donning and doffing" protective gear and other equipment is compensable. This interpretation reverses prior opinion letters issued by DOL and affects collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) where such time may have once been considered unpaid.
On June 22, 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Wage and Hour Division, through an Administrative Interpretation (AI), clarified the definition of "son or daughter" as it relates to the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). The AI clarifies the rights of certain caregivers in a parental role, such as relatives and same-sex partners, giving them access to  protected leave to care for or bond with a child as outlined in the FMLA.
The Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) on July 23, 2010, soliciting comments about the agency's plans to strengthen regulations related to affirmative action for individuals with disabilities under the Rehabilitation Act. The OFCCP notes that, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the percentage of individuals with disabilities in the workforce in March 2010 was only 22.5, as compared to 70.2 percent of individuals who are not disabled. The OFCCP clearly intends to impose additional requirements on federal contractors, the most significant of which may be the requirement to create job groups and compare the percentage of individuals with disabilities in each job group with the availability of individuals with disabilities within the contractor's recruitment area. Contractors concerned about the potential changes have a unique opportunity to comment on such changes before the regulations are written.