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On July 24th, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed Executive Order No. 7JJJ, which creates a rebuttable presumption that all employees who worked on site and tested positive for COVID-19 during the first three months of the pandemic contracted the disease while on the job, giving employees a presumptive claim to workers’ compensation coverage. Connecticut follows suit with states such as Arkansas and California in taking executive order action to make it easier for pandemic workers to access workers’ compensation benefits.
Continue Reading Governor Lamont Issues Executive Order Allowing Pandemic Workers Easier Access to Workers’ Compensation Benefits

Robinson+Cole’s Construction Group hosted its fourth— but first ever virtual — Construction Industry Roundtable on July 14, 2020. Representatives of major design and construction industry organizations and stakeholders in the Northeast were in attendance to discuss the state of the regional market and to look ahead for trends to watch for 2021.…
Continue Reading Robinson+Cole Hosts Fourth Construction Industry Roundtable

This post was co-authored with Jonathan Schaefer, who is a member of Robinson+Cole’s Environmental, Energy + Telecommunications Group. Jon focuses his practice on environmental compliance counseling, occupational health and safety, permitting, site remediation, and litigation related to federal and state regulatory programs.…
Continue Reading OSHA’s COVID-19 Guidelines for the Construction Industry are Generally Consistent with New York State’s and New York City’s Existing Guidelines

On September 25, 2019, OSHA issued a final rule approving two additional quantitative fit testing protocols for inclusion in appendix A of the Respiratory Protection Standard. These protocols are:

  1. The modified ambient aerosol condensation nuclei counter (CNC) quantitative fit testing protocol for full-facepiece and half-mask elastomeric respirators; and
  2. The modified ambient aerosol CNC quantitative fit testing protocol for filtering facepiece respirators.

Both protocols are variations of the original OSHA-approved ambient aerosol CNC protocol, but have fewer test exercises, shorter exercise duration, and a more streamlined sampling sequence. The new rule became effective September 26, 2019.
Continue Reading OSHA Approves New Respiratory Fit Testing Protocols

As all members of the construction industry know, the prevention of the occurrence of work-related injuries and illnesses is a constant concern, and one that can have serious implications for the various contractual relationships on a construction project. To address these concerns, construction industry employers often implement incentive programs to award both the reporting of injuries or illnesses and the lack of occurrence of reportable incidents. In addition, both before and after injuries or illnesses occur, many employers have drug testing policies which are implemented with the goals of preventing and/or discovering the causes of work-related injuries and illnesses.
Continue Reading OSHA Clarifies Position On Anti-Retaliation Rule

As we have written about previously, this past Spring the New York State Legislature and New York City Council adopted broad new requirements to combat workplace gender-based harassment. Adopted in April and May by the New York General Assembly and New York City Council, respectively, the sweeping sexual harassment laws represent a renewed and comprehensive program to end workplace sexual harassment.

In addition, the New York City Commission on Human Rights published a mandated sexual harassment poster, which is now required to be posted conspicuously, both in English and Spanish, in covered workplaces.
Continue Reading New York Requires Sexual Harassment Policies in Compliance with New Requirements to Be Distributed by Tuesday, October 9, 2018 (But Deadline Extended for Newly Mandated Training)

It’s been said that as California goes, so goes the nation. If so, general contractors throughout the country may soon be taking on more responsibility for the unpaid wages of the workers on their construction projects than they might have expected. As of January 1, 2018, Assembly Bill 1701 makes general contractors liable for the unpaid wages of any employee who furnishes labor to or through the general contractor in furtherance of the prime contract; no matter the tier.

A.B. 1701 amended Section 218.7 of the California Labor Code so that general contractors on private construction projects “assume, and [are] liable for any debt” of a subcontractor of any tier for unpaid wages, fringe benefits or other employee contributions. The driving force behind the legislation was the labor unions. The legislation does not provide for a private right of action to the unpaid employees but instead permits the Commissioner of Labor to file suit on behalf of an unpaid employee(s) and also allows labor unions to sue for unpaid wages or benefits. There is a one year statute of limitations for such claims.
Continue Reading California and Maryland Have Enacted Legislation Essentially Making The General Contractor the Guarantor for All Wages on the Project – Should Sureties Be Concerned?

Whether a general contractor or subcontractor is a joint employer with another company on a construction project for purposes of the National Labor Relations Act can have significant legal and practical consequences, including, but not limited to, potential union bargaining obligations, liability for unfair labor practices committed by a joint employer, and potential impact on…

The Answer:  It depends on the facts and circumstances of each case.

However, two recent reissued opinion letters from the United States Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) provide construction companies with guidance regarding the issue of whether project superintendents and project supervisors are exempt administrative  employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
Continue Reading Are Construction Project Supervisors Exempt from the FLSA’s Overtime Requirements?