AGC WORKS: SCOTUS extends jobsite protections | Seattle jobs tax to go statewide? | Election endorsements

Supreme Court extends protections to sexual orientation, gender identity
(Courtesy of Sebris Busto James) In Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, 590 U.S. (2020), which involved three consolidated cases, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) protects gay and transgender workers from workplace discrimination. The 6-3 decision, issued on June 15, 2020 and authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, held that an employer who fires an individual merely because that individual is gay or transgender violates Title VII because "[s]ex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids." Read more...

Legislators eye Seattle’s job tax
for statewide application
Members of the State Legislature are proposing a statewide tax on high-paying jobs after the Seattle City Council last week passed a new payroll tax on large, well-paying employers.
The JumpStart Seattle proposal passed by a veto-proof 7-2 vote in the Seattle City Council earlier this month. It taxes big earners and the companies that employ. Employers with more than a $7 million annual payroll will be charged a percentage based on how many people they employ at the $150,000 salary mark or above. The tax rate will range from 0.7% to 2.4%, depending on individual salaries and overall payroll. The $200 million-per-year tax is much larger than the 2018 plan for a $47 million-per-year tax that the city council passed then hastily repealed under a threatened citizen referendum. Read more...

AGC supports streamlined
environmental-review procedures
President Trump and the Council on Environmental Quality announced a final rule July 15 to “comprehensively update and substantially revise” the regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
AGC of America responded in support of the NEPA updates that will reduce the cost, complexity and time spent on federal environmental reviews and related litigation – making it easier for businesses and communities to plan, finance and build projects. “Significantly, under the final rule, projects still undergo an environmental review with public input,” said AGC of America CEO Stephen Sandherr. “The key difference is that those reviews will last months, instead of years and it will become harder for special interests to delay the process with unmerited lawsuits. Notably, the substantive environmental laws and requirements that come into play on every construction project remain unchanged.” Read more...

Another record year for Group Retro
While AGC Retro members were not able to gather to celebrate the highest combined refund ever at $85,119,965 (including $767,075 from favorable appeals on a finalized year), top companies will still receive recognition awards for their achievements.
"Our individual top performers in all three years in cycle achieved NET premium refunds over 50% (59% in our 26th year) which is outstanding. These results reflect our participants' commitment to safety and light duty, the quality of our AGC staff assistance, the plan design, and our continual underwriting of the pool," said Van Hardy, Retro Chairman.
"Most of our members have lower rates than average which makes our refund results that much more impressive. Award winners are those with EMRs that are as low as you can go (at .60), those lower than .60, those with EMR decreases of 25%, those with EMR decreases over 25%, and cumulative-refund milestone awards," said Lauren Gubbe, Retro program director. Read more...

AGC Culture of CARE
The importance of storytelling in messaging suicide prevention in the workplace
AGCW safety director Mandi Kime authored this article in a recent issue of Construction Executive magazine.
Just the mere mention of suicide can make people uncomfortable. Now imagine trying to have that uncomfortable conversation with coworkers. But the reality is that ignoring this topic will not make it go away. Creating a culture that supports your workers is vital to organizational success. Frankly speaking, no organization will run without its people.
Suicide rates were on the rise even before the gigantic curveball named COVID-19 came and hit every workplace, neighborhood and family in the world. But one thing is certain: everyone has been hit differently, and everyone started in a different place mentally, emotionally and physically before COVID-19 became a nebulous force of change, confusion and chaos. Read more...

State grant to help AGC, CWU develop safety-training materials
For the third time in seven years, Central Washington University’s Engineering Technologies, Safety and Construction (ETSC) program will benefit from a research grant from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. The $173,923 in funding from Safety & Health Investment Projects (SHIP) will go toward developing a series of construction site safety management case studies that will be used to train professionals around the region.
“The previous two projects we have worked on for L&I have been very well-received, and this shows how happy the industry has been with our safety products,” said Sathy Rajendran, the ETSC department chair at CWU.
The current SHIP grant is the second where CWU has partnered with Mandi Kime, AGC's safety director and a CWU alumna (’01). Read more...