On Sept. 10, AGC participated in a business community roundtable discussion on the “Fair Pay and Safe Work Places” Executive Order– commonly referred to as the Blacklisting Executive Order – with Republican members of the House Small Business Committee. AGC General Counsel Mike Kennedy discussed the myriad legal and practical difficulties this executive order will present construction contractors when bidding and performing work on federal contracts.
Federal Contractors Again the Focus of Executive Action
On Labor Day, President Obama signed an executive order that would mandate direct-federal prime contractors and subcontractors to issue paid sick leave. The executive order mandates paid sick leave at a rate of no less than 1 hour earned for every 30 hours worked, setting a minimum of 56 hours a year of paid sick leave—about seven days—covering not only employee illness, but also caring for a child, parent, spouse, domestic partner “or any other individual related by blood or affinity whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship.”
On Aug. 26, AGC submitted its comments to the Federal Acquisition Regulation Council and the U.S. Department of Labor on their proposed rule and guidance, respectively. The rule and guidance implement the president’s “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” Executive Order 13673, commonly called the Blacklisting Executive Order.
At the request of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, AGC recently led several workshops with Department resident engineers from around the country on the value of project-level partnering. Over the course of two days, AGC discussed the need for contractors and owner representatives to not only establish trust at the front end of the project, but to maintain it throughout project delivery—whether through formal or informal partnering means. Several AGC contractor members participated in the workshops and stressed the need for honest, consistent communication and the establishment of decision escalation processes as a means to deliver projects on time and on budget. The workshops included brief presentations from contractors, interactive team-building exercises and back and forth questions and answers between the Department engineers and AGC contractors. The Department held this workshop as part of a broader training initiative, the theme of which was “turning the page” on the old ways and looking towards improvement ahead.
On Oct. 1, the House approved the conference report for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016, which includes several AGC-supported procurement reforms. These reforms would:
On September 16, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing a new minimum wage rate of $10.15 for direct federal contracts and subcontracts covered by Executive Order 13658. Federally assisted contracts are not affected. The rate goes into effect on January 1, 2016.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) recently released an infographic to help veterans determine whether or not they are protected under the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (VEVRAA).
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) recently made available on its website a Checklist for Compliance with Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, a law requiring that federal contractors take affirmative action and do not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. The new tool was created to help contractors assess their compliance with the regulations that govern the law.
Yesterday, the House passed the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Accountability Act of 2015, which would allow for the department secretary to more easily remove or demote the agency’s civil service employees guilty of misconduct or found to be incompetent. The bill would also require that all probationary periods for new employees be extended from the current requirement of one year to at least 18 months. The secretary would also be able to strip pension benefits from department senior executives who are convicted of a crime that influenced their job performance. The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee approved similar legislation last week and floor action in the Senate is pending.
The highway & transit extension also includes $3.4 billion to cover a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) funding gap for the remainder of the current fiscal year, ending September 30. The department needed the additional funds to continue to pay for non-Department medical services to veterans, which were enacted last year in response to the VA hospital waiting list scandal. The need for additional funds was also necessary as the department attempts to fix problems that have plagued construction projects such as missing key decision deadlines, poor communication with construction contractors and late completion of design work. The problems on the construction side have negatively impacted health care VA funding accounts.