Department of Labor November 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a pre-clearance consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This program helps to ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. Currently, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is soliciting comments on the information collection for Ground Control for Surface Coal Mines and Surface Work Areas of Underground Coal Mines.

Sections 3302(c)(2)(A) and 3302(d)(3) of the FUTA provide that employers in a State that has outstanding advances under Title XII of the Social Security Act on January 1 of two or more consecutive years are subject to a reduction in credits otherwise available against the FUTA tax for the calendar year in which the most recent such January 1 occurs, if advances remain on November 10 of that year. Further, Section 3302(c)(2)(C) of FUTA provides for an additional credit reduction for a year if a State has outstanding advances on five or more consecutive January firsts and has a balance on November 10 for such years. Section 3302(c)(2)(C) also provides for waiver of this additional credit reduction and substitution of the credit reduction provided in Section 3302(c)(2)(B) if a state meets certain conditions. California and the United States Virgin Islands were potentially liable for the additional credit reduction under Section 3302(c)(2)(C) of FUTA and applied for the available waiver. It has been determined that each one met all of the criteria of the section necessary to qualify for the waiver of the additional credit reduction. Further, the additional credit reduction of Section 3302(c)(2)(B) is zero for California and the Virgin Islands for 2018. California repaid its outstanding advances prior to November 10, 2018; hence there will be no FUTA credit reduction for the State's employers. Employers in the Virgin Islands will have no additional credit reduction applied for calendar year 2018. However, as a result of having outstanding advances on each January 1 of 2010 through 2018 as well as on November 10, 2018, employers in the Virgin Islands are subject to a FUTA credit reduction of 2.4 percent in 2018.

The internet has become the means for disseminating the entirety of the Department of Labor's semiannual regulatory agenda. However, the Regulatory Flexibility Act requires publication of a regulatory flexibility agenda in the Federal Register. This Federal Register notice contains the regulatory flexibility agenda.

This notice is a summary of a petition for modification submitted to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) by the parties listed below.

These rules finalize, with changes based on public comments, the interim final rules issued in the Federal Register on October 13, 2017 concerning moral exemptions and accommodations regarding coverage of certain preventive services. These rules finalize expanded exemptions to protect moral beliefs for certain entities and individuals whose health plans are subject to a mandate of contraceptive coverage through guidance issued pursuant to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. These rules do not alter the discretion of the Health Resources and Services Administration, a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to maintain the guidelines requiring contraceptive coverage where no regulatorily recognized objection exists. These rules also leave in place an optional ``accommodation'' process for certain exempt entities that wish to use it voluntarily. These rules do not alter multiple other federal programs that provide free or subsidized contraceptives for women at risk of unintended pregnancy.

The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a pre-clearance consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This program helps to ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. Currently, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is soliciting comments on the information collection for Health Standards for Diesel Particulate Matter Exposure.

The Department of Labor (the Department or DOL) is proposing regulatory revisions that would modernize the recruitment an employer seeking H-2A nonimmigrant agricultural workers must conduct when applying for a temporary labor certification. In particular, the Department is proposing to replace the print newspaper advertisements that its regulations currently require with electronic advertisements posted on the internet, which the Department believes will be a more effective and efficient means of disseminating information about job openings to U.S. workers. The Department is proposing to replace, rather than supplement, the newspaper requirements because it believes that exclusive electronic advertisements posted on a website appropriate for the workers likely to apply for the job opportunity in the area of intended employment would best ensure that U.S. workers learn of job opportunities.

This document gives notice of a proposed individual exemption from certain of the prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act) and/or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code).

The Secretary of Labor signed the annual certifications under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, thereby enabling employers who make contributions to state unemployment funds to obtain certain credits against their liability for the federal unemployment tax. By letter, the certifications were transmitted to the Secretary of the Treasury. The letter and certifications are printed below.

The Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) is publishing a list of Department of Energy (DOE) facilities covered under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000, as amended (EEOICPA).

This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) sets forth the Department of Labor's proposal to permit States to drug test unemployment compensation (UC) applicants, including a proposed list of occupations which the Department of Labor (``Department'' or ``DOL'') has determined regularly conduct drug testing.

The Department of Labor (DOL or Department) is submitting the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) revision titled, ``Foreign Labor Certification Quarterly Activity Report,'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for use in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995. Public comments on the ICR are invited.