Most construction contracts include a provision stating that the contractor or subcontractor is an independent contractor and not an employee of the owner or contractor. That should settle the matter, right? Wrong. Depending on the context and jurisdiction, such contractual provisions may mean little or nothing at all.
In 2024, the Minnesota Legislature passed a
Did you know that OSHA does not currently have a specific standard covering heat stress hazards? Rather, OSHA uses the General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, to impose requirements related to heat stress. OSHA reports that between 1986 and 2023 it has issued at least 348 hazardous heat-related citations
On January 30, 2024, the Biden administration proposed a rule (the Salary Rule) that would amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to “prohibit contractors and subcontractors from seeking and considering information about a job applicant’s compensation history when making employment decisions for certain positions.” The new rule would also require contractors and subcontractors to disclose
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published an interim final rule on July 1, 2016, that increases the maximum penalties for citations by more than 75 percent. This is the first increase in OSHA penalties since 1990. Why now, you ask? Well, in November 2015 the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act