The National Labor Relations Board recently issued decisions that are favorable to the employer community. On Dec. 14, the Board overruled both the 2015 decision in Browning-Ferris Industries as well as the Lutheran Heritage Village-Livonia case. On Dec. 15, the Board overruled the decision in Specialty Healthcare, which allowed for the formation of so-called 'micro’ bargaining units.

On Dec. 18, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced in a press release that they will continue accepting 2016 OSHA Form 300A data through the Injury Tracking Application (ITA) until midnight on Dec. 31, 2017. OSHA will not take enforcement action against those employers who submit their reports after the Dec. 15, 2017 deadline but before Dec. 31, 2017 final entry date. Starting Jan. 1, 2018, the ITA will no longer accept the 2016 data.

Chuck Goodrich, president of Gaylor Electric, Inc., explained the Trump administration’s regulatory rollback is giving construction companies more efficiency and they don’t feel like they are “under attack” from the federal government. According to Goodrich’s presentation, experts say President Trump is on pace to put out fewer rules than the “reigning deregulation champion,” President Ronald Reagan.

Under the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Electronic Injury Reporting and Anti-Retaliation final rule (also known as Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses) certain employers are required to electronically submit the information from their completed 2016 Form 300A by Dec. 15. Information on electronic reporting is available on the DOL's website.

On Nov. 22, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced it has extended the compliance date for the electronic reporting provisions of its Electronic Injury Reporting and Anti-Retaliation final rule (also known as Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses) to Dec. 15. This is a two-week extension from the Dec. 1 compliance date in the proposed rule. The final rule regarding the delay of the compliance date will be published in the Federal Register on Nov. 24.

On Nov. 28, ABC will offer the webinar “DOL Training on Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors” at 2 p.m. EDT. The webinar will cover the Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors final rule issued by the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) on Sept. 30, 2016, which implements President Obama’s E.O. 13706. 

Be sure to mark your calendar for the upcoming ABC webinars on federal regulations and policies that impact the construction industry.

On Nov. 9, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a final rule, Cranes and Derricks in Construction: Operator Certification Extension, which delays its deadline for employers to ensure that crane operators are certified by one year, from Nov. 10, 2017, to Nov. 10, 2018. OSHA is also delaying its employer duty to ensure that crane operators are competent to operate a crane safely for the same one-year period.

On Nov. 6, three federal agencies issued a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to withdraw the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces final rule —“blacklisting”— and President Barack Obama’s Executive Order 13673.  Additionally, the Department of Labor withdrew the corresponding guidance document. 

ABC praised the U.S. House of Representatives for passing the Save Local Business Act (H.R. 3441) this week with bipartisan support. ABC joined forces with a wide range of business advocacy groups, including the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace and the Coalition to Save Local Businesses, to build support for the ultimate passage of H.R. 3441.