On December 26, 2007, OSHA published a proposed rulemaking that adds a new fit-testing protocol, the Abbreviated Bitrex Qualitative Fit-Testing (ABQLFT), to Appendix A of OSHA’s Respiratory Protection Standard. The ABQLFT “has a shorter exercise duration than the current methods” and “will give employers additional flexibility in selecting procedures for conducting fit-testing.” In particular, the ABQLFT will shorten the duration for each of the seven fit-test exercises from one minute to 15 seconds. The proposed rule would apply to employers in general industry, shipyard employment and the construction industry.

Public comments must be submitted no later than February 25, 2008. All comments on this proposed rulemaking must include the docket number, OSHA 2007-0006. Comments may be submitted in three ways: 1) post the comments electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov/, 2) send three copies of the comments to the OSHA Docket Office, Room N-2625, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room N2625, Washington, D.C. 20210 or 3) fax the comments to 202.693.1648.

On January 8, 2008, OSHA implemented a new nationwide targeting program for planned inspections of federal agency worksites, including sites staffed by contractors whose work is supervised on a daily basis by federal agency personnel.

The program targets federal agency establishments that experienced large numbers of lost time injuries during fiscal year 2006. As part of this program, OSHA has developed primary and secondary inspection lists. The primary inspection list includes 100 percent of the establishments reporting 100 or more lost time cases (LTCs), 50 percent of the establishments reporting 50 to 99 LTCs and ten percent of the establishments reporting 20 to 49 LTCs. OSHA used a random numbers table to select the establishments reporting less than 100 LTCs. If a region or area office has the ability to conduct more inspections than those on the primary list, OSHA will create a secondary inspection cycle for the remaining establishments.

An establishment may defer a programmed inspection if it participates in an OSHA Strategic Partnership or if it is applying to OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program. If involved in a partnership, the inspection could be deferred up to six months from the signing of the partnership agreement or from the establishment’s subsequent entry into the partnership. If applying for the voluntary protection program, the deferral period will start no more than 75 calendar days prior to the commencement of the scheduled pre-approval on-site review.

On January 16, 2008, legislation providing for the enactment of a modified version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (H.R. 4986) was introduced and passed in the House. The bill responds to President Bush’s unexpected decision not to sign the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (H.R. 1585), which was passed by Congress on December 14, 2007. President Bush’s pocket veto was unrelated to the bill’s provisions that would have amended the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to provide unpaid leave to employees to care for a family member injured through service in the Armed Forces or to deal with an urgent family situation that occurs when a close family member is called away because of military service. H.R. 4986 modified the original legislation to address the foreign sovereign immunities provisions criticized by President Bush in his memorandum of disapproval, but left intact the provisions expanding the FMLA. The House passed H.R. 4986 by a vote of 369 to 46. On January 22, 2008, the Senate passed the revised National Defense Authorization Act by a vote of 91-3.

Core Provisions: The Act would amend Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to add: “Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, it shall not be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to require employees to speak English while engaged in work.”

Status: Rep. Price (R-GA) introduced the legislation on December 12, 2007, and it was referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.

Core Provisions: This Act is intended to improve enforcement of the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931, which requires payment of locally prevailing wages and benefits for public works projects. The Act would create a mechanism for workers to monitor compliance by granting them access to contractor payroll records filed with the federal government under the Freedom of Information Act. The bill also would increase penalties for violations of the Davis-Bacon Related Acts, standardizing treatment of offenses under related statutory provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act, and would also impose equitable penalties for violations of the Act.

Status: S.2524 was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Reid (D-NV) on behalf of Sen. Clinton (D-NY) on December 19, 2007, and referred to the HELP Committee. H.R.4851 was introduced in the House by Rep. Andrews (D-NJ) on December 19, 2007, and referred to the Committee on Education and Labor and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Core Provisions: This Act would tie the federal minimum wage to increases in congressional salaries. Under the proposed bill, the minimum wage would increase incrementally on a set schedule through 2012, settling at $9.50 per hour.  After July 1, 2012, any congressional pay raise would trigger an automatic minimum wage increase, increasing the federal minimum wage by the same percentage as the raise in congressional pay. Congress currently receives an automatic cost-of-living adjustment in pay tied to the rate of inflation, unless it votes affirmatively to reject the increase. Tying the minimum wage to these automatic increases effectively grafts a cost-of-living adjustment mechanism into the federal minimum wage.

Status: S.2514 was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Reid (D-NV) on behalf of Sen. Clinton (D-NY) on December 18, 2007, and referred to the HELP Committee. Sen. Clinton introduced a similar bill in 2006 that failed to win passage. Senate Republicans are expected to oppose the bill.

Core Provisions: The Living American Wage Act would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to provide for the calculation of the minimum wage based on the federal poverty threshold for a family of three. This legislation would require the secretary of labor to recalculate the minimum wage rate by no later than June 1, 2008, and subsequently once every four years. The secretary would be required to set the rate at such a level that a person working for minimum wage 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year would earn an amount five percent higher than the federal poverty threshold for a three-person household including one child, as published each year by the Census Bureau.

Status: Rep. Green (D-TX) introduced the legislation on December 13, 2007, and it was referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.