1.8 Million Jobs Added to Uncertain U.S. Economy
The United States added 1.8 million jobs in July, despite the continued domination of COVID-19. While this growth is good news, and fears of a recession have subsided at present, the unemployment rate remains high, many companies are on the verge of bankruptcy and other challenges—including a lack of Congressional stimulus package (see p. 10)—loom large in the American financial landscape.
How does this drop of “good” news—1.8 million jobs—affect the sea of bad news? According to ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu, if morphed into a trend, +1.8 million jobs per month, “we’ll return to February 2020 employment levels by February 2021.” But, “I don’t see that happening,” Basu says.
So what’s the reality? “Economic performance for the balance of the year will relate directly to the size and structure of the stimulus package to come,” Basu says. With federal supplements to state unemployment insurance expired and the Paycheck Protection Program’s application deadline passed, many households and businesses—including those in the construction industry—are dependent on Congress.
DOL Issues Final Rule on Overtime for Fluctuating Workweek Employees
According to a final rule published in the Federal Register, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour division has created a final rule on the “Fluctuating Workweek Method of Computing Overtime,” which revises the agency’s previous regulation for computing overtime for salaried, nonexempt employees whose hours vary from week to week. Additionally, the rule clarifies that supplemental payments (such as bonuses, commissions or hazard pay) are compatible with the fluctuating method of compensation and employers must calculate these according to the regular rate under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The new rule, supported by Associated Builders and Contractors, went into effect on Aug. 7.
Florida Governor Signs Infrastructure, Construction Bills
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a series of bills into law following a two-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Two of the bills in particular impact the state’s infrastructure and the construction industry at-large.
The first bill, House Bill 969, sets aside $5 million per year for Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise to develop broadband infrastructure as part of the effort to spur new or expanded toll roads. The bill also transfers the state’s broadband program and assigns development, marketing and promotion duties to the Department of Economic Opportunity, creating the Florida Office of Broadband.
The other piece of legislation, Senate Bill 7018, authorizes the Florida Department of Transportation to construct staging areas for emergency response as part of the turnpike system.
Michigan Contractor Wins COVID-19 Court Case
In a challenge to Gov. Whitmer’s 96th and 97th executive orders, a lawsuit on behalf of ABC Michigan and a private landscape company successfully argued against impossible compliance standards and stripped local authorities of their enforcement power. Specifically, the challenge targeted parts of the orders that hijacked the Michigan Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s enforcement mechanisms and threatened jobsites with unfair punishments and potential charges, despite good faith efforts to follow COVID-19 safety requirements.
“The court defended Michigan workers, striking down Gov. Whitmer’s attempt to weaponize MIOHSA and other state departments against safe jobsites that are taking good faith precautions to combat COVID-19,” says Jeff Wiggins, the ABC Michigan state director.
In the early days of the COVID-19 public health crisis, Michigan’s builders and contractors pioneered and implemented proven work-safe plans to protect the state’s more than 100,000 craft trade professionals and to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
ABC Survey: 80% of Members Receive PPP Loans
Per a survey conducted of members of Associated Builders and Contractors from May 20 to June 3, 80% of respondents indicated that their firm that applied for, and received, loans via the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). In fact, as of May 30 of this year, the construction industry has received over 429,000 PPP loans for more than $63 billion, totaling 12.5% of the loans provided through the program.
D.C. Circuit Court Rejects Emergency COVID-19 Standard
The D.C. Circuit Court’s decision to reject a lawsuit brought by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) to force OSHA to issue an emergency temporary standard for COVID-19 was applauded a joint statement by ABC and the National Association of Home Builders.
NAHBCEO Jerry Howard and ABC Vice President of Health, Safety, Environment and Workforce Development Greg Sizemore wrote of the decision that it “affirms that OSHA’s comprehensive response to the COVID-19 outbreak currently eliminates the need for an emergency temporary standard for infectious diseases and COVID-19 covering all employees.”
Furthermore, the joint statement reads: “In the construction sector, even without a COVID-19 outbreak, safety and health is always our No. 1 priority. As representatives of residential, nonresidential and industrial construction contractors across the country, we remain committed to collaborating with state and local health officials, as well as across market sectors, to diligently identify and implement new health and safety protocols on our jobsites to protect construction employees amid the COVID-19 outbreak.”
