老牛影视members听Allan Myers and听J.D. Eckman Inc.听recently won a court case challenging the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation鈥檚 project labor agreement mandate for the Markley Street reconstruction project in Montgomery County. Tried in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, the court ruled on Jan. 11 that PennDOT鈥檚 PLA mandate violated the state鈥檚 competitive bidding laws and discriminated against nonunion contractors.听

The U.S. Department of Labor鈥檚 Occupational Health and Safety Administration has created a collection of events, training guides, videos and web pages to provide employers and employees with prevention and compliance assistance to prevent falls in the workplace.

OSHA鈥檚 Electronic Injury Reporting and Anti-Retaliation final rule requires certain establishments to electronically submit information from their OSHA Form 300A for calendar year 2018 by March 2. Information on how to electronically submit the OSHA Form 300A can be found on OSHA鈥檚 Injury Tracking Application website.

The AQC program recognizes and honors construction firms that document their commitment to excellence in five key areas of corporate responsibility: quality, safety, employee benefits, training and community relations. A company that meets these criteria and has earned Safety Training Evaluation Process (STEP) Gold, Platinum or Diamond status, is formally designated an 鈥淎ccredited Quality Contractor.鈥�

On Dec. 21, ABC听submitted comments听to the U.S. Department of Labor鈥檚 Employee Benefits Security Administration in support of its听proposed rule听to allow small and mid-sized businesses to band together and offer 401(k) plans to their employees through听association retirement plans.

On Dec. 28, 2018, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the 2015听Browning-Ferris Industries v. National Labor Relations Board听case, which greatly expanded joint employer liability under the National Labor Relations Act. The divided court upheld portions of the Obama-era standard for determining 鈥渏oint employer鈥� status and remanded the case back to the NLRB for further consideration.

JLG Industries Inc., an 老牛影视strategic partner and a leading global manufacturer of aerial work platforms and telehandlers, kicked off its year-long 50th听anniversary celebration on Jan. 9, marking a half-century since its founder spearheaded the access industry with the introduction of the world鈥檚 first boom lift.

On Dec. 22, 2018, at the end of the 115th Congress, President Trump signed The FIRST STEP Act, a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill that aims to reduce recidivism rates by improving educational opportunities for federal inmates and implementing modest sentencing reforms.

The federal government continues to operate under a partial shutdown affecting nine federal departments and a total of about 800,000 federal workers who have been furloughed or are working without pay. Several agencies and programs that serve the construction industry are not affected, including the Departments of Labor, Defense, Education, Energy and Veterans Affairs construction projects.

According to an 老牛影视analysis of data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction employment expanded by 38,000 net new jobs in December. Across the industry, employment is up by 280,000 year-over-year, an increase of 4.0 percent.