Employers May Need to Take Action
Courts have struggled to uniformly decide whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate because of a person鈥檚 鈥渟ex,鈥 protects employees from discrimination based on their sexual orientation or transgender status. Specifically, courts have not consistently interpreted Title VII鈥檚 prohibition on discrimination 鈥渂ecause of . . . sex.鈥 Originally, courts considering the question held that Title VII鈥檚 ban did not cover employees who were gay, and most said it did not protect employees based on transgender status. Within the last decade, however, many courts and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission began to interpret 鈥渟ex鈥 to include LGBTQ employees. Not all courts, nor the Department of Justice, agreed with this interpretation. This issue was presented to the Supreme Court of the United States through three cases.
This week 澳门六合彩开奖预测 joined with construction employers and building trades union in support of multiemployer pension reform. The letter to congressional leaders urges Congress to include common sense pension reform for the nation鈥檚 troubled pension plans and to authorize a Composite Plan option for healthy plans. Reforms called for include a special partition program from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. The COVID-19 crisis and the resulting investment losses and reduction in contributions has further worsened many plans and has made reform more urgent.
Contains Q&A Section of Common Workplace Questions
Contains Q&A Section of Common Workplace Questions
During the last half of May 2020, the National Labor Relations Board (鈥淣LRB鈥 or 鈥淏oard鈥) issued four decisions upholding the legality of employer facially neutral work rules. Two of the decisions applied the Boeing standard to assess the legality of work rules or policies while the other two decisions restored past precedent to find that an employers鈥 property rights outweighed employees鈥 right to engage in protected activities under 搂7 of the National Labor Relations Act (鈥淣LRA鈥 or 鈥淎ct鈥). The key highlights of those decisions, including guidance on drafting work rules and policies that are lawful under the Boeing standard, are summarized below.
澳门六合彩开奖预测 of America鈥檚 Union Contractors Committee will hold its next conference call on June 11, 2020, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time. The call will feature updates from 澳门六合彩开奖预测 staff and a roundtable discussion of labor matters around the country. Participation is open to all 澳门六合彩开奖预测 members and chapter staff, regardless of committee membership. (澳门六合彩开奖预测 nonmembers may not participate.) To register for the call, click here. Call-in information will be sent to all registrants on the day prior to the call.
North America鈥檚 Building Trades Unions (鈥淣ABTU鈥) and CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training (NABTU鈥檚 research arm) on April 27 publicly released COVID-19 Standards for U.S. Construction Sites. The document provides recommended practices for construction employers to implement at job sites designed to prevent disease, disability, and death caused by exposure to infectious disease. The practices include staff training, symptom checking, social distancing, personal hygiene, and decontamination measures.
On May 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a final rule that allows employers to pay bonuses or other incentive-based pay to salaried, nonexempt employees whose hours vary from week to week. The final rule clarifies that payments in addition to the fixed salary are compatible with the use of the fluctuating workweek method under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The Construction Labor Research Council (CLRC) recently released its latest edition of the Union Labor Costs in Construction. The report (previously called Trends and Outlook) includes general and detailed information about trends in collectively bargained compensation in the industry, including data analyses by region, by time, and by trade. It can be a valuable resource when preparing for collective bargaining negotiations, particularly when used in conjunction with CLRC鈥檚 latest Settlements Report.
Contains Q&A Section of Common Workplace Questions