OSHA issued a final rule on September 26 extending the compliance deadline for employers to ensure that crane operators are certified by an OSHA-recognized accredited certification body. The deadline has been extended by three years to November 10, 2017. This extension will continue the current employer duties to ensure crane operators are competent to operate a crane safely.

The Obama administration has recently issued several heavy-handed executive actions that affect the federal contracting community, particularly the construction industry. These actions cover everything from potential blacklisting to super-minimum wage to overtime.

The Department of Labor’s proposal to implement Executive Order 13658 establishing a minimum wage for federal contractors raised concerns which were outlined in comments ABC submitted July 28. Under the proposal, beginning Jan. 1, 2015, the hourly minimum wage paid by contractors to workers performing on covered federal contracts would be $10.10 per hour. In the comments, ABC states the proposal should be withdrawn or substantially modified.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released draft forms on July 24 that employers will use to report on health coverage they offer to their employees, also known as information reporting requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), effective for the 2015 calendar year. Employers with 50 or more full-time employees and full-time equivalent employees are encouraged to learn more about the draft reporting forms by viewing an analysis prepared by Littler Mendelson, P.C.

July 14, an updated document on Enforcement Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination and Related Issues was released by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Littler Mendelson, P.C., has issued an analysis, which includes some important compliance steps employers should take. 

President Obama issued Executive Order 11246 July 21, which prohibits federal contractors from discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employees and prohibits discrimination based on gender identity in federal employment. The executive order affects federal contractors and federally-assisted construction contractors and subcontractors who do over $10,000 in government business in one year.

In the July 16 ruling of Merit Construction Alliance v. City of Quincy, the First Circuit Court of Appeals found that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) preempts a controversial city ordinance that forced contractors to “engage in a bona fide apprentice training program" registered with the Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards as a condition of bidding for city work.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is looking for responses to two surveys regarding the potential use of government-mandated project labor agreements (PLA) on projects in Hawaii and Washington. In addition, the U.S. Navy’s Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) is requesting comments on a PLA survey for a project in California.

OSHA has released an updated list of almost 500 industry groups that are exempt from programmed safety inspections for FY2015; the list includes five construction-related North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes. An employer would be exempt from a programmed inspection when there are 10 or fewer employees at a worksite.

With the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) moving forward with a rulemaking to expand its existing Lead Renovation and Repair Painting rule to include public and commercial buildings, ABC, as a part of the Commercial Properties Coalition, submitted comments on EPA’s framework for identifying and evaluating lead-based paint hazards from renovation, repair, painting activities in public and commercial buildings.