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On Aug. 28, David M. Prouty was sworn in as a new Democratic member of the National Labor Relations Board for a term expiring on Aug. 27, 2026. Prouty replaces Republican member William Emanuel, whose term expired in August. Democrats now have a 3-2 majority, with Marvin Kaplan and John Ring serving as the two Republican members.

On Aug. 20, the Construction Industry Safety Coalition, of which ABC is a steering committee member, submitted comments in response to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Occupational Exposure to COVID-19; Emerg

On Aug. 24, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to advance a $3.5 trillion budget resolution, which was embedded in a House rule that tied its advancement to both the Senate’s bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure package—the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—and H.R. 4, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.  The rule was approved by the H

Due to the continuing impact of COVID-19 on business operations, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced on Aug. 18 that the 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 Component 1 data collection filing deadline has been extended to Monday, Oct. 25, 2021. The deadline was previously extended from July 19 to

On Aug. 12, the National Labor Relations Board’s new general counsel, Jennifer A. Abruzzo, issued Memorandum GC 21-04 to all NLRB regional offices, which outlines the priorities of the Office of the General Counsel.

The Protecting the Right to Organize Act would produce significant economic costs for the nation’s 27 right-to-work states in an effort to increase union power at the expense of worker freedom and small businesses, according to a report issued by the American Action Forum on Aug. 13.

On July 29, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health issued an updated Small Business Safety and Health Handbook to further provide small business employers with workplace health and safety information.

From Aug. 9-16, ABC celebrated Safe + Sound Week to recognize the successes of workplace health and safety programs and offer information and ideas on how to keep America’s workers safe.

On Aug. 11, The U.S. Senate passed a Budget Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2022 before leaving for its August recess in a 50-49 vote that will set the stage for a proposed $3.5 trillion partisan spending bill through the budget reconciliation process. Prior to the final vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also released reconciliation instructions for Senate committees

On Aug. 10, the U.S. Senate passed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act with bipartisan support in a 69-30 vote, with 19 Republicans joining all 50 senators in the Democratic caucus to approve the legislation.

On Aug. 2, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Alliance program issued an updated guide containing COVID-19 guidance and resources for employers from a variety of agencies including the DOL, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Additionally, the guide includes input from industry groups on best practices for COVID-19 safety in the workplace.

Beginning Aug. 4, the U.S. Small Business Administration is launching a portal that will allow borrowers of certain Paycheck Protection Program loans to streamline the process of loan forgiveness by applying for forgiveness directly through the SBA.

On July 29, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a final rule to rescind the 2020 Joint Employer Status under the Fair Labor Standards Act rule, which goes into effect on Sept. 28, 2021.  

On July 29, President Biden announced during a press conference that every federal government employee and on-site contractor will be asked to attest to their vaccination status. According to a White House fact sheet, anyone who does not attest to being fully vaccinated will be required to wear a mask on the job no matter their geographic location, physically distance from all other employees and visitors, comply with a weekly or twice weekly screening testing requirement and be subject to restrictions on official travel.