Industry officials hope Trump relaxes more federal regulations

Bolstered by a series of recent court rulings blocking new federal regulations, construction-industry groups now say they are expecting even better news when president-elect Donald Trump moves into the White House in January.

The latest blow to the new federal rules came late Nov. 22 when the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas placed a preliminary injunction on a new overtime rule handed down only months before by the Obama Administration. The regulation had sought to shrink the so-called “white-collar exemption,” which prevents employers from having to pay overtime to salaried administrative or professional workers who make more than about $23,660 a year.

The proposed rule would significantly increase that threshold, taking it up to $47,476 a year. What’s more, the limit would be adjusted every three years to keep pace with inflation. Before the court-ordered injunction Nov. 22, the rule was scheduled to take effect on Dec.1.

The overtime regulation is not the first Obama Administration rule to be stymied in the courts. The Texas court’s injunction came about a week after another district court for the Northern District of Texas similarly brought a halt to a so-called “persuader” rule meant to make it harder for employers to organize anti-union campaigns.

The rule would require company executives to disclose the identities of lawyers and other outside experts whom they might turn to for advice on resisting unions’ organization efforts. Without the Texas court’s injunction, the new requirements would have taken effect in July.

Most of these new regulations have been strongly opposed by representatives of the construction industry. Various industry groups have accused the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and other regulatory bodies of taking a more adversarial stance under Obama than they had assumed under previous presidents.

“Up until President Obama, OSHA’s collaborative approach to successfully improving construction safety had been fairly consistent between Republican and Democrat administrations,” Brian Turmail, spokesman with the Associated General Contractors of America, said.

Turmail said AGC officials have high hopes things will change with Trump.

“Our assumption is that the Trump Administration will revert back to the successful safety practices that were so effective in reducing construction fatality rates during the past several decades,” he said.

Officials at the Associated Builders and Contractors, a group that largely represents non-union contractors, said they similarly expect OSHA to become less of an irritant next year.

“We are optimistic that under the Trump Administration, OSHA will collaborate with the industries it regulates to produce common sense rules and guidance that best protect our members’ most valuable assets, their people,” Ben Brubeck, vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs with ABC, said in a written statement.

Daniel Kaplan, a Madison, Wisc. attorney who provides advice on OSHA regulations and similar matters, said he thinks the push to roll back recent Obama Administration regulations will not stop with the new overtime requirements and “persuader” rule.

Kaplan said he would not be surprised, for instance, to see President Trump put his name to an executive order that either stays or makes changes to a policy raising the minimum wage to $10.10 for all workers on federal construction and service contracts. President Obama adopted that higher wage floor in 2014.

Kaplan agreed that industry should expect to see regulatory bodies back away from the adversarial stances that many have taken under the current administration.

“I think what you’ll see under a Trump Administration is a return to a much more conciliation or consultation type of approach as opposed to the enforcement type of approach that you see now,” he said.

Which of the recent federal rules would industry representatives most like to see rolled back? Turmail said the AGC officials and their members are most opposed to a regulation setting stricter limits on the amount of silica dust employees can be exposed to during their workdays.

In March, OSHA officials released a rule limiting workers’ exposure to respirable silica to 50 micrograms for every cubic meter of air during an eight-hour period. Employers are required to come into compliance with the new rule by June 2017.

Construction workers release silica dust when they cut, saw, grind or drill stone, rock, concrete, brick, block or mortar. OSHA officials say limiting workers’ exposure will reduce their risk of contracting lung cancer, silicosis and other ailments.

Turmail said the rule is “well-intended but misguided” because it sets unattainable goals. He argued that the rule will do little to improve the health and safety of construction workers.

Here are other recent federal rule changes with significance for the construction industry:

In May, OSHA officials issued a rule requiring employers to keep records concerning illnesses and injuries and submit them once a year to a public database. The rule was originally to start being enforced in August, but the date was later pushed back until November. Companies that employ 250 or more people are required to submit summary reports by July 1 next year. More detailed reports will be required starting July 1, 2018. Companies that employ between 20 and 250 workers, however, will only need to send in simplified summaries of workplace injuries and illnesses.

In August, OSHA adjusted its maximum penalties for various rule violations. The penalty for a willful or repeat violation, for instance, jumped from a maximum of $70,000 to more than $124,700. The fines are also to be adjusted to keep pace with inflation. The increases are the result of legislation enacted last November by Congress and signed by President Obama.

Although the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule was handed down back in July 2014, it did not hit any real legal obstacles until this fall. The rule requires contractors who are bidding on federal contracts worth more than $500,000 to tell the government of any labor-law violations from the past three years. A district-court judge in the Eastern District of Texas — the same district that blocked the overtime rule — placed a preliminary injunction on the so-called “blacklisting” rule in late October.