Engineering Inc. - September/October 2004 - 9

Among the ACEC firms affected are improper deductions. Back pay would be
limited to the actual two major joint ventures Parsons Corp./ period the
deductions in question took place, and limited only to CH2M Hill and The
Louis Berger Group, affected employees and those in the same job
classification working Inc./URS Companies. Both were awarded for the
manager responsible for the deductions. In addition, no loss contracts in
March. of exempt status would take place for isolated or inadvertent
deduc- The House-passed version of the Defense tions, if reimbursed. The
new rules also include a safe harbor for Authorization bill does not
include the employers that have a clearly communicated policy prohibiting
restrictive language included in the Senate improper deductions, a
complaint mechanism and reimbursement b i l l , and the question is now
before a for improper deductions. H o u s e / S e n a t e conference
committee. Jim Thrash Go to the ACEC website at www.acec.org/advocacy and
click ACEC, along with the Associated General Parsons Corporation on the
New FLSA Regulations link for a summary of the new Contractors of America
AGC and other r u l e s specifically prepared for ACEC members. DOL also
has engineering and construction organizations, has launched an aggres- i
n f o r m a t i o n on the new rules posted on its Web site. Go to sive
campaign to have the measure removed from the final bill.
www.dol.gov/fairpay for more information. The Wage and Hour If allowed to
pass, this amendment could severely limit the ability Division at DOL also
maintains a toll-free help line at 1-866-4US- of the Federal Government to
avail itself of the technical expertise WAGE 1-866-487-9243 . and
experience in complex construction projects that private firms In related
news, efforts by reform opponents to derail the new bring, and threaten
all program management contracts private firms rules continue in Congress.
Sen. Tom Harkin D-Iowa previously have with Department of Defense agencies,
said Jim Thrash of Par- attached an amendment to pending tax legislation
that would effec- sons Corporation. tively gut the new rules. More
recently, Congressman David Obey D-Wisc. offered a killer amendment during
the Appropriations ACEC Changes to FLSA Take Effect; Committee
consideration of the F.Y. 2005 Labor-HHS-Education House Committee Rejects
Challenge spending bill. The committee rejected the Obey amendment on a New
rules governing so-called white collar exemptions to overtime party-line
vote, but additional challenges are anticipated when this and minimum wage
coverage under the Fair Labor Standards Act legislation goes before the
House of Representatives in the fall. FLSA took effect August 23. At the
same time, reform opponents Water Bills Poised For Senate Action continue
to pursue killer amendments designed to prevent the ACEC is encouraging
the Senate to take up two key water infra- Department of Labor DOL from
enforcing the new rules. structure bills that passed the Environment and
Public Works Com- The Department of Labor's final reform regulations
establish a sin- mittee prior to the August recess. gle duties test for
defining exempt positions under the executive, The ACEC-supported Water
Infrastructure Financing Act S. administrative and professional
categories. While the changes are rel- 2550 provides $41 billion over five
years to significantly boost atively modest compared to the original
proposal put forth by DOL funding levels for water and wastewater projects
funded through the in March of 2003, the new rules provide clarifications
and updated Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act State
Revolving examples that may help reduce the risk of future legal
challenges. Fund SRF programs. In addition to increasing SRF authorization
The final regulations also include a new, streamlined test for highly
levels, S. 2550 includes $1 billion for wet weather projects and $5
compensated white collar employees, who will be considered auto- billion
to assist small communities with drinking water compliance matically
exempt from the act's coverage if their compensation is at problems, such
as arsenic. least $100,000 per year and they perform one or more of the
exempt The committee also passed the Water Resources Development Act
duties under the executive, administrative or professional categories.
WRDA , which authorizes $8 billion for U.S. Army Corps of Engi- The new
rules make notable changes to the so-called salary basis neers flood
control, navigation and environmental restoration proj- requirements that
have been used frequently in high-profile lawsuits ects. It includes $1.46
billion for new lock construction and ecosys- against engineering firms and
other businesses. The FLSA has long tem restoration on the Upper
Mississippi and Illinois rivers. required that exempt employees be paid on
a salary basis and not be The House already has cleared a $4.6 billion WRDA
package. subject to pay reductions, except under specific circumstances
such House and Senate conferees will likely face significant differences
as personal or sick leave under a company plan and offsets for jury
between the two packages, both in terms of funding and environ- d u t y
pay . Businesses that made an improper deduction to an mental issues
related to peer review requirements for Corps projects exempt employee's
salary, or had a policy that could subject a group and wetland mitigation
standards. of employees to improper deductions whether or not deductions
FOR MORE NEWS ever actually took place opened themselves to significant
financial and legal liability, as all affected employees could be
reclassified as For weekly legislative news, non-exempt and owed back
overtime pay. visit ACEC's Last Word online The new rules retain the
salary basis requirement, but limit the at www.acec.org. loss of exempt
status only if there is an actual practice of making 9 S e p t e m b e r l
October 2004 ENGINEERING INC.
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2004

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