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Five Ways the Metaverse Is Shaping the Future of Work

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Proposed NEPA Revisions Must Keep Clarity and Consistency From 2020 Rule, Says ABC

On Nov. 22, ABC filed comments with a coalition stakeholders to the Council on Environmental Quality in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking revising the implementing regulations of the National Environmental Policy Act. ABC filed these comments in support of a streamlined approach to the permitting process under NEPA to reduce delays hindering critical projects, resulting in better infrastructure, a stronger economy and continued environmental stewardship.

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ABC Welcomes New Beam Club Presidential Level Member Brandon Mabile

ABC has added Greater Houston Chapter member Brandon Mabile of Performance Contractors Inc. to the Beam Club Presidential Level.

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DOL Issues Final Rule Increasing Federal Contractor Minimum Wage

On Nov. 22, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued its final rule implementing President Biden’s Executive Order 14026, Increasing the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors, which applies to all workers performing work on or in connection with covered federal contracts. The minimum wage will increase to $15 per hour beginning Jan, 30, 2022, superseding a scheduled increase to $11.25 that will occur on Jan. 1 under EO 13658, Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors.

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Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Signed into Law

On Nov. 15, President Biden signed H.R. 3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, into law at the White House. The IIJA authorizes nearly $550 billion in new federal money for infrastructure projects, while renewing approximately $1.2 trillion for existing programs that were set to expire.

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6th Circuit to Hear Challenges to OSHA COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Testing Standard

On Nov. 16, via lottery, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit was chosen to hear challenges to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard, which applies to employers with 100 or more employees. This development follows the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit’s Nov. 12 stay order and OSHA’s announcement that it has suspended activities related to the implementation and enforcement of the ETS pending future developments in the litigation..

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Updated COVID-19 Vaccination Guidance Issued for Federal Contractors

The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force recently issued updated guidance on when covered contractor employees must be vaccinated, as well as new FAQS on vaccination and safety protocols and workplaces.

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ABC Seeks to Overturn OSHA COVID Vaccination and Testing ETS

In a Nov. 9 press release, ABC and its Alabama chapter announced that they filed a petition for review with the U.S. Court of Appeals in the 11th Circuit against the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for its COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard, which applies to employers with 100 or more employees.

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ABC Free Enterprise Alliance Rounds Out Six-Figure Ad Buy With Campaign Against Reconciliation Bill

On Nov. 10, ABC’s Free Enterprise Alliance announced it has completed a $200,000 issue advocacy ad buy to educate the public on dangerous policies in the Democrats’ reconciliation bill and other legislation moving through Congress.

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ABC Pennsylvania Chapters Help Formerly Incarcerated Individuals Achieve Career Dreams

The ABC Keystone, Eastern Pennsylvania, Western Pennsylvania and Cumberland Valley chapters recently signed a statewide letter of agreement with the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections to help formerly incarcerated citizens kickstart a career in construction.

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ABC Urges OSHA to Extend Comment Deadline for Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Rulemaking

On Nov. 5, ABC submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration requesting a 60-day extension for the public to submit feedback on its advance notice of proposed rulemaking for Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings, which will begin the process to consider a heat-specific workplace rule. ABC also requested comment extensions as a member of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition and Coalition for Workplace Safety.

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OSHA’s COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard Is Ready for Release

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget has concluded its review of the OSHA COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard rulemaking, which will apply to employers with 100 or more employees as required by President Biden’s Path Out of the Pandemic COVID-19 Action Plan.

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EEOC Releases COVID-19 Resources on Religious Accommodation Requests

On Oct. 28, as a reference for employers and employees, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission shared its own internal religious accommodation request form with the public. The EEOC stated, “While the EEOC’s internal forms typically are not made public, the EEOC shared this resource given the extraordinary circumstances employers and employees face due to the COVID-19 pandemic.” 

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Safer Federal Workforce Task Force Issues More New Vaccination FAQs for Federal Contactors

On Nov. 1, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force posted new frequently asked questions for federal contractors, whose covered employees must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by Dec. 8 unless the contractor is legally required to provide an accommodation for medical or religious reasons. The new FAQs cover vaccination and safety protocols, scope and applicability of task force guidance for federal contractors and compliance.

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Proposed Revisions to Buy American Act Must Aim to Reduce Contractor Burden

On Oct. 28, ABC submitted comments to the U.S. Departments of Defense, General Services Administration and National Aeronautics and Space Administration to urge the agencies to clarify several aspects of the proposal and provided recommendations to reduce the burden and costs for federal contractors to comply with the Buy American Act.

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OFCCP to Hold Webinar on Construction Compliance Reviews

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs announced it will hold a webinar titled “Construction Compliance Reviews” on Wednesday, Nov. 10, from 2-4 p.m. ET.  This webinar comes after the OFCCP published the latest Corporate Scheduling Announcement List for construction contractors in September 2021.

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Safer Federal Workforce Task Force Issues New COVID-19 Vaccination FAQs for Federal Contactors

On Oct. 21, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force posted new Vaccination and Safety Protocols frequently asked questions for federal contractors, whose covered employees must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by Dec. 8 unless the contractor is legally required to provide an accommodation for medical or religious reasons.

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ABC Creates Guidance Document for Members on Federal COVID-19 Vaccination Mandates

ABC has developed a resource and guidance document for ABC chapters and members to learn about the latest updates and ABC actions on the new federal vaccination mandates. The document, which will be updated frequently, includes federal guidance, ABC advocacy letters, Newsline articles, press releases, ABC earned media coverage and more.

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DOL Initiates Rulemaking on Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings

On Oct. 26, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced that it will be issuing an advance notice of proposed rulemaking for Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings, which will begin the process to consider a heat-specific workplace rule. The ANPRM was officially published in the federal register on Oct. 27.

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ABC Warns Congress About the Impacts of Supply Chain Disruptions

The construction industry continues to feel the strain of ongoing supply chain disruptions, ABC said in a letter to the U.S. House Committee on Small Business Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Regulations, which held a hearing on global supply chains and small business trade challenges on Oct. 10.

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ABC Meets With OMB, Voices Concerns About OSHA COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard

On Oct. 20, ABC met with the Office of Management and Budget to express its concerns about the forthcoming U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard, which will apply to employers with 100 or more employees as required by President Biden’s Path Out of the Pandemic COVID-19 Action Plan.

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ABC Opposes IRS Reporting Proposal

On Oct. 14, ABC joined more than 100 associations in a letter to leaders in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives opposing a proposed tax information reporting requirement that would have an impact on many ABC contractors and nearly all small businesses in America with a bank account.

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ABC Members Ranked Among ENR’s Top Specialty Contractors

Of the nation’s top 10 specialty contractors, five are ABC members, according to Engineering News-Record’s recently published list of Top 600 Specialty Contractors. These successful contractors were ranked based on 2020 revenue.

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OSHA Sends COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard to OMB for Review

On Oct. 12, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration sent a COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard rulemaking to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget for review, which will apply to employers with 100 or more employees as required by President Biden’s Path Out of the Pandemic COVID-19 Action Plan. The review at OIRA is usually the final step in the process before a rule is officially published in the federal register.

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ABC Spreads the Word About Suicide Prevention Month

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, construction occupations have the highest rate of suicide, as well as the highest number of suicides, across all occupational groups. To combat these statistics and spread awareness, Greg Sizemore, ABC’s vice president of health, safety, environment and workforce development and chair of the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention, traveled to five ABC chapters across the country to speak about what ABC chapters and members can do to help those who may be struggling. He was also interviewed in various trade publications and news outlets, such as the Marietta Daily Journal, For Construction Pros and Workwear Guru.

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ABC Continues to Advocate as Infrastructure and Reconciliation Negotiations Persist Through October

Congress passed a 30-day extension of the highway funding bill, just hours before surface transportation authorization lapsed. The extension came at the end of a weekslong negotiation and interparty disagreement on a trillion-dollar-plus budget reconciliation package and the bipartisan Senate-passed infrastructure bill, H.R.3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

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Safer Federal Workforce Task Force Issues New COVID-19 Vaccination Information for Federal Contactors

On Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force posted new information for federal contactors, whose covered employees must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by Dec. 8 unless the covered contractor is legally required to provide an accommodation for medical or religious reasons.

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NLRB General Counsel Issues Memo on Student-Athletes That Could Affect Employers

On Sept. 29, National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued Memorandum GC 21-08 to all Field offices asserting that student-athletes receiving scholarships at private colleges and universities are employees under the National Labor Relations Act.

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DOL Issues Davis-Bacon Conformance Request Guide

On Sept. 28, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division published the Davis-Bacon Wage Determination Conformance Guide to assist construction contractors and other industry stakeholders in understanding the process of seeking a conformance under the DBA and Related Acts.

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Safer Federal Workforce Task Force Issues COVID-19 Vaccination Guidance for Federal Contractors

On Sept. 9, President Biden announced his Path Out of the Pandemic: COVID-19 Action Plan and signed Executive Order 14042, Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors. As required by the EO, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force recently issued guidance on COVID-19 Workplace Safety: Guidance for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors. According to the guidance, covered employees must be fully vaccinated by Dec. 8, unless the covered contractor is legally required to provide an accommodation for medical or religious reasons.

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ABC, CISC Caution OSHA About Emergency Temporary Standard on COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing

On Sept. 27, ABC, a steering committee member of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition, sent a letter  to James Frederick, acting assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, voicing concerns related to OSHA’s forthcoming COVID-19 vaccination and testing Emergency Temporary Standard, which will apply to employers with 100 or more employees as required by President Biden’s Path Out of the Pandemic COVID-19 Action Plan.

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DOL Announces Actions to Reduce Heat-Related Illness

As part of an interagency Biden administration effort to protect workers from the hazards associated with extreme heat, indoors and out, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration announced the following actions in a Sept. 20 press release.

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Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors to Increase Jan. 1, 2022

On Sept. 15, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division announced the minimum wage for federal contractors will increase from $10.95 per hour to $11.25 per hour beginning Jan. 1, 2022.

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ABC Updates COVID-19 Vaccine Toolkit With Latest Resources

In light of changing guidance regarding vaccine policies, ABC has updated resources on the COVID-19 Vaccine Toolkit as part of the Coronavirus Update webpage to help inform and educate members about the latest available resources and information on the COVID-19 vaccine.

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Take Action: Democrats’ Budget Reconciliation Package Contains ABC-Opposed Tax and Labor Provisions

On Sept. 15, House Democrats released additional details on planned tax increases to pay for their $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package. The House Ways and Means Committee continues to mark up its portion of the budget reconciliation package, and some of the top-line tax provisions already revealed may affect ABC members.

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President Biden Unveils Sweeping Six-Part Action Plan to Combat COVID-19

On Sept. 9, President Biden unveiled a six-pronged national strategy to combat the spread of COVID-19, which will impact large private employers and federal contractors.

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EPA, Corps Halt Implementation of Trump-era WOTUS Rule

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers recently announced they have halted implementation of the Navigable Waters Protection Rule nationwide and are reverting back to a definition of waters of the United States, or WOTUS, established in the 1980s. This announcement comes after a federal district court judge struck down the Trump administration’s final rule defining waters of the United States that are federally regulated under the Clean Water Act.

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ABC-Supported Truth in Employment Act Introduced in the House to End ‘Salting’ Practices

On Sept. 8, Rep. Rick Allen, R-Ga., a member of the House Education and Labor Committee, introduced the ABC-supported Truth in Employment Act, H.R. 5178. This legislation would amend the National Labor Relations Act to protect small businesses and their employees from the coercive tactic used by big unions known as “salting,” which makes small businesses targets of harassment campaigns designed to increase forced unionization.

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Take Action: Urge Congress to Oppose the Partisan Reconciliation Package

On Sept. 7, ABC issued an action alert opposing the U.S. House of Representative’s efforts to move forward with the partisan budget reconciliation process that could result in tax hikes and far-reaching labor requirements for ABC members. Please urge your representatives to oppose this package this week as House committees continue to mark up their sections of the package.

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OFCCP Issues 2021 Corporate Scheduling List for Construction Contractors

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has issued the latest Corporate Scheduling Announcement List for construction contractors for fiscal year 2021, which includes 400 federal contractors, federally assisted contractors and subcontractors.

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ABC Members Ranked Among BDC’s Top Contractors

Of the nation's top 20 construction companies, 14 are ABC members, according to Building Design + Construction’s recently published list of Top 140 Contractors. These successful contractors were ranked based on 2020 revenue. Congratulations to these #ABCMeritShopProud members!

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Judge Overturns ABC-Supported Trump-Era WOTUS Rule

On Aug. 30, a U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona judge struck down the Trump administration’s final rule revising the definition of “waters of the United States” that are federally regulated under the Clean Water Act. As a member of the Waters Advocacy Coalition, ABC applauded the 2020 rule, known as the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which provided four clear categories of waters under the CWA that businesses and landowners could easily understand. 

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Increasing the Federal Contractor Minimum Wage Will Create Unnecessary Burdens for Construction Contractors, Says ABC

On Aug. 27, ABC submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking to increase the minimum wage for federal contractors.

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Democrats Regain Majority on the NLRB

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.

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ABC Tells OSHA Not to Expand COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard to Construction

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; Emergency Temporary Standard interim final rule

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House Passes Rule to Advance Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and ABC-Opposed Partisan Budget Resolution

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 House by a vote of 220-212, with all House Democrats supporting the rule and all Republicans voting in opposition.

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EEOC Announces New Filing Deadline for EEO-1 Component 1 Data Collection for 2019 and 2020

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 Aug. 23.

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NLRB’s New General Counsel Issues Memorandum Outlining Priorities

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.

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The PRO Act Would Be a Crushing Economic Blow to 27 Right-to-Work States, AAF Study Finds

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.

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ABC Celebrates Safe + Sound Week

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.

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Senate Passes Partisan Budget Resolution; Reconciliation Package Expected to Include ABC-Opposed Provisions

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 so they can begin to draft relevant sections of the final spending bill as it relates to their policy areas, which they hope to finish by Sept. 15.

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