TheÌýDepartment of Labor’s proposal to implement Executive Order 13658 establishing a minimum wage for federal contractors raised concerns which were outlined inÌýcomments ÀÏÅ£Ó°ÊÓsubmitted July 28. Under the proposal, beginning Jan. 1, 2015, the hourly minimum wage paid by contractors to workers performing on covered federal contracts would be $10.10 per hour. In the comments, ÀÏÅ£Ó°ÊÓstates the proposal should be withdrawn or substantially modified.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released draft forms on July 24 that employers will use to report on health coverage they offer to their employees, also known as information reporting requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), effective for the 2015 calendar year. Employers with 50 or more full-time employees and full-time equivalent employees are encouraged to learn more about the draft reporting forms by viewing anÌýanalysis prepared by Littler Mendelson, P.C.

July 14, an updated document on Enforcement Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination and Related Issues was released by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).ÌýLittler Mendelson, P.C., has issued an analysis, which includes some important compliance steps employers should take.Ìý

President Obama issued Executive Order 11246 July 21, which prohibits federal contractors from discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employees and prohibits discrimination based on gender identity in federal employment. The executive order affects federal contractors and federally-assisted construction contractors and subcontractors who do over $10,000 in government business in one year.

In the July 16 ruling of Merit Construction Alliance v. City of Quincy, the First Circuit Court of Appeals found that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) preempts a controversial city ordinance that forced contractors to “engage in a bona fide apprentice training program" registered with the Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards as a condition of bidding for city work.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is looking for responses to two surveys regarding the potential use of government-mandated project labor agreements (PLA) on projects in Hawaii and Washington. In addition, the U.S. Navy’s Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) is requesting comments on a PLA survey for a project in California.

OSHA has released an updated list of almost 500 industry groups that are exempt from programmed safety inspections for FY2015; the list includes five construction-related North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes. An employer would be exempt from a programmed inspection when there are 10 or fewer employees at a worksite.

With the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) moving forward with a rulemaking to expand its existing Lead Renovation and Repair Painting rule to include public and commercial buildings, ABC, as a part of the Commercial Properties Coalition, submitted comments on EPA’s framework for identifying and evaluating lead-based paint hazards from renovation, repair, painting activities in public and commercial buildings.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) placed into effect an interim enforcement policy until Oct. 31 which delays enforcement of most new requirementsÌý of the Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution and Electrical Protective EquipmentÌýfinal rule for employers who are complying with the existing General Industry rule.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under President Obama’s climate action plan, issued two proposed rules that aim to cut carbon pollution from power plants. The proposed rules will administer guidelines for states to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the electricity-generating sector. The proposal aims to reduce carbon pollution from new and existing power plants by 30 percent below the 2005 emissions rate. On June 18, EPA issued one proposal for modified and reconstructed stationary sources and another on existing stationary sources.