On March 11, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a final rule , officially titled Apprenticeship Programs, Labor Standards for Registration, Amendment of Regulations, which establishes a process for creating high-quality, industry-recognized apprenticeship programs by organizations that apply to become DOL recognized Standards Recognition Entities. The rule prohibits SREs from recognizing IRAPs in the construction sector. DOL’s press release on the proposal is available&nb

Applications for ABC's Accredited Quality Contractor Program are being accepted now through Oct. 30.

On March 9, ABC joined the H-2B Workforce Coalition in a letter to the acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to raise concerns over the release of a temporary final rule to implement supplemental H-2B visas.

On March 4, the House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Investment held a hearing entitled “Reauthorizing the National Apprenticeship Act: Strengthening and Growing Apprenticeships for the 21st Century.” The National Apprenticeship Act, also known as the Fitzgerald Act, has not been reauthorized since its enactment in 1937 and the Subcommittee released a discussion draft bill to reauthorize the act ahead of Wednesday’s hearing.  

Ben Brubeck, ABC’s vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs, conducted 11 radio and TV interviews during the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 27 in Washington, D.C. Brubeck discussed the outlook for construction spending and infrastructure investment, highlighted the industry’s response to its current skilled labor shortage and promoted the benefits of fair and open competition on taxpayer-funded construction contracts.

Multiple federal agencies recently published searchable databases of all respective guidance documents currently in effect in an effort by the Trump administration to promote transparency and make these documents readily available to the public.

On Feb. 26, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs released its Contract Compliance Institute to assist federal contractors and subcontractors in complying with the agency’s Equal Employment Opportunity regulations.

On Feb. 26, ABC sent a letter calling on Congress to consider how its infrastructure investment agenda could impact merit shop contractors and the small business community during a hearing titled Moving America’s Infrastructure Forward. Convened by U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business’ Contracting and Infrastructure Subcommittee, the hearing was timed to coordinate with the recent release of Democrats’ $760 billion infrastructure investm

Information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to be issued at a rapid pace.  In order to stay up to date and access accurate information, employers are encouraged to utilize the below links.

On Feb. 26, the National Labor Relations Board issued its final rule on the standard for determining joint-employer status under the National Labor Relations Act. ABC is pleased that the final rule clearly delineates and limits the types of control that would be treated as creating joint-employer status under the NLRA.