On February 10, the House Ways and Means Committee approved legislation, as part of the broader Biden Administration COVID-relief legislation, that would extend the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) through December 31, 2021. Previously, 鶹Ƶsupported the expansion and extension of the ERTC in the end-of-year (2020) COVID relief bill, which boosted the credit for eligible employers from $5,000 per year to $7,000 per quarter and extended its availability through June 31, 2021. The Biden Administration and Democrats in Congress have made it a priority to pass further COVID relief before enhanced unemployment benefits expire on March 14. 鶹Ƶanticipates this provision to be included in any final package.
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鶹Ƶconcerned not all registered apprenticeship programs eligible for benefits
Construction-industry collective bargaining negotiations completed in 2020 resulted in an average first-year increase in wages and fringe benefits of $1.63 or 2.8 percent, according to the annual year-end Settlements Report recently released by the AGC-supported Construction Labor Research Council (“CLRC”). This is slightly down from raises negotiated in 2019, when the average first-year increase negotiated was $1.67 or 2.9 percent, and it marks the first decline in the size of increases negotiated since 2011. However, CLRC notes, the average dollar-amount increase negotiated in 2020 remains more than double the amount negotiated in 2011.
President Biden’s “Executive Order (EO) on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad” contained a brief provision focused on the Davis-Bacon Act and prevailing wages. In addition to reminding agencies involved of their legal obligations to apply and enforce existing Davis-Bacon requirements, the EO also ordered the Secretary of Labor to update prevailing wage requirements. There has yet to be any concrete indication of when Marty Walsh, the nominee to be the Secretary of Labor, might be confirmed and any efforts ordered upon him will have to wait until he is confirmed and in place at the DOL. 鶹Ƶwill be involved in any updates to Davis-Bacon and keep members informed.
On January 20, President Biden released a legislative proposal to reform the nation’s immigration system. The proposal is separate from presidential actions halting construction of the southern border wall or preserving and fortifying Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The DACA program had been under considerable attack from the Trump Administration and in the courts. The EO attempts to provide greater certainty while Congress makes permanent changes. The other important program to the construction industry, Temporary Protective Status (TPS) program, is in less urgent need of executive action as it was previously extended through October 4, 2021 by the Trump Administration. There are more than 100,000 construction workers estimated to work in the industry with the TPS and DACA programs.
On January 20, President Biden released a legislative proposal to reform the nation’s immigration system. The proposal is separate from presidential actions halting construction of the southern border wall or preserving and fortifying Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The legislative reform proposal would create a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented individuals through a multi-year process if individuals pay taxes, pass background checks, and meet other requirements. Other individuals, such as those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, could receive permanent status immediately. Extending long-term legal certainty to DACA and TPS has long been a priority of AGC, as more than 100,000 individuals in those programs are estimated to be working in the construction industry today. Despite 鶹Ƶand others advocating for comprehensive immigration reform over the past two decades, those efforts have been stymied under both Republican and Democratic administrations. 鶹Ƶlooks forward to working with Congress on immigration reform that strengthens national security, functions efficiently and fairly, and addresses future workforce needs.
Pres. Biden has revoked Pres. Trump’s controversial executive order on diversity and inclusion training. The order, Executive Order 13950, placed restrictions on the content that federal contractors, grantees, and agencies, as well as the military, could cover in employee training. 鶹Ƶand other stakeholders in the business community called on Pres. Trump to withdraw the confusing order last October. In December, a federal court issued a nationwide preliminary injunction temporarily halting implementation of the restrictions on federal contractors and grantees.
On January 15, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) voted to approve revisions to EEOC’s Compliance Manual Section on Religious Discrimination. The Commission had not updated the Compliance Manual since 2008.
On December 15, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued All Agency Memorandum (AAM) 235 rescinding AAM 212 and once again confirming that surveying work is not covered by the Davis-Bacon Act. At this time, it is unclear how the new Biden administration DOL will approach this particular situation.