The U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury announced the issuance of a proposed rule to strengthen regulations under the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, which aims to ensure that access to mental health and substance use disorder benefits through health insurers is not more restrictive than access to medical and surgical benefits.
The U.S. Department of Labor announced a final rule that will require employers in designated high-hazard industries, like construction, to electronically submit injury and illness information to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
On March 28, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee voted 12-9 to advance the SWACCA-supported nomination of Jessica Looman to serve as Administrator of the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.
The U.S. Department of Labor announced May 1 that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration has begun a National Emphasis Program to prevent falls, the leading cause of fatal workplace injuries and the violation the agency cites most frequently in construction industry inspections.
On Feb. 22, two Wisconsin-based 401(k) plan participants filed suit against the U.S. Department of Labor in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin over the agency’s Dec. 1, 2022, environmental, social and governance retirement investing rule, entitled “Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights.”
The U.S. Department of Labor announced a new initiative to promote equal opportunity by federal contractors in the construction trades on large federally funded projects and help bring more underrepresented communities into the workforce.
U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh announced a $20 million cooperative agreement between the Department of Labor and the nonprofit organization TradesFutures to advance equitable opportunities in construction through DOL’s “Scaling Apprenticeship Readiness Across the Building Trades” initiative.
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.