Each October, construction industry professionals in HR, training and workforce development gear up for the industry’s premier learning and networking event, ż’s Construction HR & Training Professionals Conference, and this year is no different. The 2016 event will be held Oct. 5-7 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. For more information or to register visit www.agc.org/HR_TED.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has scheduled six upcoming seminars throughout the country to educate federal and federally assisted contractors on the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts and other federal contracting wage laws the agency enforces. Each two-and-a-half day seminar will address such topics as the process of obtaining wage determinations and adding classifications, compliance assistance and enforcement procedures, and the process of appealing wage rates. There is no cost to attend, but space is limited.
On April 1, ż submitted comments to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission opposing its proposal to revise the Employer Information Report (EEO-1). The proposal intends to collect compensation and hours-worked data, in addition to already collected race and gender data, from all employers with 100 or more employees. Prime and first-tier subcontractors who perform work directly for the federal government and have 50 or more employees would be required to submit the currently used EEO-1 report that does not include compensation and hours-worked data. Employers with fewer than 100 employees, second-tier and lower federal subcontractors with fewer than 100 employees, all federally-assisted contractors with fewer than 100 employees, and prime and first-tier subcontractors with fewer than 50 employees will not be required to complete either version of the EEO-1 report.
ż Opposed to New Rule Overall, but Attained Some Improvements Over Proposed Rule
On March 23, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued final regulations revising the “advice exemption” and requiring employers and consultants (broadly defined) to report labor relations advice and services under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act's (LMRDA) "persuader activity" regulations. The effective date of the new regulations is April 25, 2016. The rule will be applicable to consultant arrangements and agreements as well as payments made on or after July 1, 2016.
Two of the industry’s top labor leaders addressed contractors at ż of America’s 2016 Annual Convention on March 10 in San Antonio, TX. ż CEO Steve Sandherr engaged Terry O’Sullivan, general president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, and Eric Dean, general president of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental & Reinforcing Iron Workers, in a discussion about their unions’ current initiatives and other matters of concern to union contractors. The session was hosted by ż’s Union Contractors Committee and opened by Committee Chairman Vic DiGeronimo, Jr.
From Columbine High School to the rock concert in Paris, active shooter scenarios have become all too common. And while we remember most the students and concert attendees who tragically lost their lives, we must also remember that before these establishments were schools or concert venues, they were first workplaces -- workplaces that employed teachers, janitors, and office staff. And before that, they were workplaces that employed construction workers. During ż’s 2016 Construction HR and Training Professionals Conference, retired police commissioner Bo Mitchell, will share best practices for planning and training employees for active shooter and other workplace violence situations.
ż’s Construction HR & Training Professionals Conference will feature two of the most sought-after presenters in workforce development today: Buddy Hobart and J. Doug Pruitt. Both speakers have a passion for attracting and retaining the next generation of workers.
Union representation in the construction industry (covering all occupations) fell from 14.7 percent to 14.0 percent in 2015, according to an annual report recently issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (“BLS”). The number of union-represented employees in the industry also declined over the year, from 1,023,000 to 992,000. Likewise, both the percentage and number of employees in the industry who were members of a union decreased over the year – from 13.9 percent to 13.2 percent, and from 968,000 to 940,000 people.
Construction-industry collective bargaining negotiations completed during 2015 resulted in an average first-year increase in wages and benefits of $1.10 per hour or 2.5 percent, according to the annual year-end Settlements Report issued by the ż-supported Construction Labor Research Council. For newly negotiated multi-year contracts, the average negotiated second-year increase was $1.40 or 2.7 percent, and the average third-year increase was $1.50 or 2.7 percent.