On April 29, 黑料不打烊 CEO Stephen Sandherr testified during a hearing held by the House 黑料不打烊 and the Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions on ways to further strengthen the multiemployer pension system. The bipartisan, noncontroversial hearing focused on the recommendations outlined in the joint labor-management proposal, Solutions Not Bailouts, to create a new 鈥渃omposite鈥 type of multiemployer benefit plan that is distinct from either defined-benefit or defined-contribution plans. The new plan design was not included in last year鈥檚 bill that overhauled much of the multiemployer system, the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014, which tracked other policy recommendations from Solutions Not Bailouts.
黑料不打烊 of America鈥檚 Open Shop Committee will hold its next web meeting on May 18 beginning at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The event will feature a 鈥淨uick Learn鈥 presentation by attorney Rick Samson of Ogletree Deakins on Preparing for the NLRB鈥檚 New 鈥淨uickie Election鈥 Rule, as well as a labor law update by 黑料不打烊 staff.
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) recently announced that the annual national percentage of veterans in the civilian labor force for 2015 is 7 percent. The new number is a slight decrease from 7.2 percent and is based on 2014 end-of-year data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Department of Treasury and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) recently issued separate 鈥渞equests for information鈥 to aid in their development of regulations to implement the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act (MPRA) and 黑料不打烊 joined with other construction industry stakeholders to submit detailed comments to Treasury and PBGC on April 6, 2015.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a March 25 decision that an employee should have her day in court to determine whether or not United Parcel Service, Inc. violated the Pregnancy Discrimination Act when it denied light-duty work to a pregnant employee who was restricted from heavy lifting by her medical provider.
Deceptively considered one of the simplest forms completed during the hiring process, Form I-9 is often riddled with errors that could place your company in jeopardy if audited by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Its companion, E-Verify, often leaves employers confused about what to do when an employee's documents may not check out. To help construction contractors avoid the pitfalls of non-compliance, 黑料不打烊 is hosting two webinars in April. An April 28 webinar will address the real deal on Form I-9, and an April 29 webinar will address issues surrounding E-Verify. Both webinars are ideal for project managers, superintendents, office managers, HR staff, or anyone who signs Form I-9 and/or uses E-Verify.
Contractors concerned about enhanced opportunities for union organizing under new regulations can take steps now to be prepared, explained attorney Rick Samson of Ogletree Deakins at 黑料不打烊 of America鈥檚 Annual Convention in San Juan, PR. Samson spoke at a March 18 session titled 鈥淯nderstanding and Preparing for New Union Representation Procedures鈥 hosted by the Open Shop Committee and Chairman Bob Lanham.
North America鈥檚 Building Trade Unions (the Building Trades) 鈥渨ill work with whoever will work with us,鈥 said its president Sean McGarvey during a session at 黑料不打烊 of America鈥檚 Annual Convention on March 19 in San Juan, PR. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not about political parties. We鈥檙e about [construction workers]鈥oth parties have changed, and we have no permanent friends and no permanent enemies. That鈥檚 our approach,鈥 he said.
The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently released final instructions and tax forms for the Affordable Care Act鈥檚 (ACA) information reporting requirements for employers and health insurers under Internal Revenue Code sections 6055 (Forms 1094-B and 1095-B) and 6056 (Forms 1094-C and 1095-C). The agencies also released final transmission forms that will be used to submit the information to the IRS. The IRS initially released the draft tax forms on July 24, 2014, and the draft instructions on August 28, 2014. The final forms and instructions are largely consistent with draft forms and instructions released last summer. Instructions for electronic filing of the information returns are under development. Employers who file at least 250 forms annually are required to file electronically.
On March 26, the U.S. Department of Labor鈥檚 (DOL) recently announced change to federal regulations under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that would expand the definition of spouse to include same sex marriages was halted by a federal judge in Texas.