Late last month IEC submitted comments to the Internal Revenue Service on the proposed rule implementing the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements for “clean” energy projects enacted through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Among its remarks, IEC expressed concern over the Good Faith Effort Exception for obtaining apprentices and an exemption from potential penalty payments for projects operated under a project labor agreement (PLA). IEC also joined coalition comments that specifically opposed the PLA exemption. IEC plans to participate in a public hearing on the proposed rule scheduled for November 21, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. ET.

IEC submitted comments this week to the U.S. Department of Labor asking that it abandon its latest effort to increase the salary level threshold for determining whether an employee should be classified as exempt. The proposed rule increases the current salary level, which was recently increased in 2019, by 70 percent, from $35,568 to $60,209, and includes an automatic escalation every three years. IEC argued that it could be struck down by the courts, much like DOL’s 2016 proposal, which increased the salary level by nearly 100 percent and included a similar automatic review every three years as well. IEC also joined a business coalition comment letter, which can be found here.

On October 26, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) released its final rule determining if one business is to be deemed a joint employer of another business’s employees under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The new rule amends the actual and direct control standard implemented in 2020, in favor of one that determines joint employer status whether or not the entities’ control is exercised, and without regard to whether any such exercise of control is direct or indirect. IEC submitted comments last year opposing the NLRB’s efforts to implement this vague and ambiguous proposal. IEC is working with the Coalition to Save Local Business to push back on the new rule, which takes effect December 26, 2023.