On Nov. 20, the Trump administration released its Fall 2019 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. The agenda lists upcoming rulemakings and other regulatory actions from each agency that the administration expects to publish through the end of the year and into 2020.   

ABC, as part of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition, recently submitted comments to OSHA in regards to a proposed Beryllium rule. ABC stated that the 30-day timeframe OSHA requested for feedback was not enough time for people in the industry to submit thoughtful comments to the agency.

On Nov. 7, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a guidance letter that will provide ABC contractors working with the Department of Defense the legal clarity necessary to allow active duty soldiers onto their jobsites in order to receive on-the-job training, which previously caused unanswered legal questions. 

On Nov. 12, ABC joined other employer representatives in submitting a comment letter to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to express support for EEOC’s decision to not seek renewal of OMB clearance for the EEO-1 Component 2 form based on concerns over the utility of the data, the burdens of reporting it and confidentiality protections.

On Nov. 5, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking titled Fluctuating Workweek Method of Computing Overtime, which would revise a DOL regulation concerning salaried, non-exempt employees who work hours that vary each week under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy released a new guidance document to help small businesses understand their role and participate in the federal rulemaking process.

On Oct. 15, ABC submitted comments as part of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Request for Information on Table 1 of the agency’s Respirable Crystalline Silica Standard for Construction.

On Oct. 4, the National Labor Relations Board announced an extension of the comment period on its proposed rule that would amend the NLRB’s representation election regulations. The deadline for submitting comments has been extended from Oct. 11 to Dec. 10, 2019.

On Sept. 26, the U.S. Senate voted 53-44 to confirm Eugene Scalia as secretary of labor.

On Sept. 25, the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor held a markup on H.R. 2474, the Protecting the Right to Organize, or PRO, Act.  During the markup, representatives debated the merits of the bill and sought to add and remove provisions. Each amendment submitted by Democrats passed, while those submitted by Republicans failed via a party line vote.