The U.S. Department of Labor announced changes to Occupational Safety and Health Administration civil penalty amounts based on cost-of-living adjustments for 2023.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration announced a public meeting of the Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship on Jan. 12, 2023, focused on youth apprenticeship and finalizing the priorities for the upcoming year. Specific agenda items include remarks from ETA leadership and other apprenticeship stakeholders, a youth apprenticeship panel, insights regarding youth apprenticeship site visits, subcommittee reports regarding the “Strategic Framework” and “Year Two Focus,” and public comments.

The U.S Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division announced it will be asking the building construction industries to participate in Davis-Bacon Act wage surveys in FY 2023 to help the agency establish prevailing wage rates, as required under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts.

SWACCA’s public policy team is pleased that another multi-year advocacy campaign has ended in success. Since the summer of 2020, SWACCA has been at the forefront of an effort with its allies in the Construction Employers of America and its union partners to reverse regulations that negatively altered the analysis trustees of ERISA plans must use when assessing plan investments.

On Nov. 3, the Signatory Wall and Ceiling Contractors Alliance submitted comments in support of the Department of Labor’s proposed independent contractor rule that would rescind the prior Administration’s rule that made it easier to classify employees in the construction industry and across the economy as independent contractors. The proposed rule replaces this regulation with a well-understood standard ground in 60 years of judicial precedents that SWACCA urged the Labor Department to adopt because it is easier to apply and will make it harder for employers to claim their workers are independent contractors.

U.S. Department of Labor officials gathered with workers, union representatives and labor organizers from a range of industries to discuss the value of building relationships and collaborating on ideas to address workers’ concerns at its Workers’ Voice Summit on Sept. 27-29.

The Department of Labor published a final rule on Sept. 26 to rescind Trump-era Industry Recognized Apprenticeship Programs that marks the end of a four-year fight by SWACCA’s public policy team in Washington, D.C. This final rule will be effective on Nov. 25.

On Tuesday, Oct. 11, the Department of Labor issued new guidelines for categorizing independent contractors and employees per the Fair Labor Standards Act. The proposed rule is an overhaul of the existing guidelines and is similar to the rule adopted during the Obama administration.

The Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs announced the launch of a new online platform, referred to as the Notification of Construction Contract Award Portal, to modernize how the OFCCP received required notices about construction contract and subcontract awards.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced the award of $50 million in Apprenticeship Building America grant funding for registered apprenticeship hubs. Registered apprenticeship hubs help employers design, develop and deliver programs and support the establishment, scaling and expansion of registered apprenticeship programs in new and fast-growing industries and occupations.