US Department of Homeland Security Updates Immigration-Related Forms, Fees and Penalties For 2024, employers should be aware of changes at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security relating to immigration and employment. Specifically, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has updated employment-based visa request forms and fees, while penalties administered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement increased in compliance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 2015.

On April 30, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will begin accepting 2023 EEO-1 Component 1 reports. According to the EEOC, “The EEO-1 Component 1 report is a mandatory annual data collection that requires all private sector employers with 100 or more employees, and federal contractors with 50 or more employees meeting certain criteria, to submit workforce demographic data, including data by job category and sex and race or ethnicity, to the EEOC.”

On March 1, 2024, a federal judge ruled that the Corporate Transparency Act is unconstitutional, marking a milestone in the 16-month ongoing legal battle led by the National Small Business Association and supported by the S-Corporation Associates of America and the members of the Main Street Employers Coalition, including ABC.

On March 6, Vice President Kamala Karris and U.S. Department of Labor Acting Secretary Julie Su announced in Madison, Wisconsin, President Joe Biden’s new Executive Order on Scaling and Expanding the Use of Registered Apprenticeships in Industries and the Federal Government and Promoting Labor-Management Forums with the stated goal of expanding the usage of government-registered apprenticeship programs by the federal government.

On Jan. 17, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor published a proposed rule that would make significant and controversial revisions to the National Apprenticeship System, which will affect ABC members, chapters, apprentices and other industry stakeholders participating in government-registered apprenticeship programs. Take action now by submitting comments through ABC’s Action Center and app to tell the DOL to withdraw or improve this costly new rule!

On March 5, ABC, its Southeast Texas chapter and additional plaintiffs filed an amended complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas arguing that the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the Fair Labor Standards Act final rule is unlawful and a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. The rule goes into effect on March 11.

On March 1, the U.S. Department of Labor sent its Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees final rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget for final review. The rule would alter overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The review at the OIRA is usually the final step in the process before a rule is officially published in the Federal Register. ABC will be meeting with the OIRA to express its serious concerns about the rule.

Nathalia Marcano, a multi-year Construction Education Fund of Virginia and Metro Washington scholarship recipient, penned a piece about her journey as a woman in the construction industry. Employed by Henley Construction as a Field Engineer in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Nathalia is also a member of the ABC Metro Washington Workforce Committee and the president of the ABC Student Chapter at Montgomery College in Maryland.

As the presenting sponsor of ABC's 34th annual Excellence in Construction® Awards, the ABC Insurance Trust embraces merit shop principles to highlight the pivotal role that healthy competition plays in improving the construction industry. The Trust’s innovative benefits enhance workforce well-being and make high-performing ABC member companies more appealing to top talent in a competitive market while delivering significant savings on healthcare and retirement plans.

On Feb. 26, ABC joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and eight other groups in submitting comments to the U.S. Department of Defense on its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Program proposed rule, which would require federal contractors and subcontractors competing for DOD contracts to demonstrate continued compliance with a range of cybersecurity measures in order to maintain eligibility for performing and winning new federal awards.