On June 4, OSHA released a directive from Assistant Secretary David Michaels changing how the agency should proceed when there is a fatality investigation at a Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) site. 

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s changes to the drivers’ Hours of Service rule, which changes the total hours a week a truck driver can work from 82 to 70 and implements a “34 hour restart” requirement, goes into effect July 1. The rule also requires a driver to take a 30-minute break for every eight hours of consecutive driving.

The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Construction and Facilities Management (CFM) is requesting comments on the use of a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) for a project in Biloxi, Miss. The project will include the renovation of two buildings at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

In testimony June 18 before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, ABC General Counsel and shareholder with Littler Mendelson, P.C., Maurice Baskin said the Department of Labor’s (DOL) administration of the Davis-Bacon Act has, “hindered economic growth, increased the federal deficit and imposed an enormous paperwork burden on both contractors and the federal government.”

The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) August 2011 “Notification of Employee Rights” rule was struck down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on June 14, making it the second appellate court to invalidate the rule this year. 

To help members get a greater understanding of their obligations under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), or health care law, ABC Merit Choice Insurance is offering a “Health Care Reform Overview for Contractors.” 

ABC submitted comments June 9 opposing an interim final rule on how wages for temporary, non-agricultural H-2B workers should be calculated. The “emergency” interim final rule, issued April 24 by the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Labor (DOL), was effective immediately. 

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a survey requesting feedback from the construction industry about including a government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) in a solicitation for a federal contract to build a new air traffic control tower exceeding $25 million in Tucson, Ariz.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) June 4 released a final rule that delays for one year implementation of a provision related to health insurance exchanges that would allow small businesses to let their employees choose coverage from a number of plans.

OSHA May 29 issued a final rule that that broadens the current exemption for digger derricks used in the electric-utility industry to also include telecommunications work.