WASHINGTON - Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) has signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to work together to promote greater awareness of the electronic and print materials available from DOL to assist construction industry employers in complying with federal labor laws.

These compliance assistance resources include DOL's Employment Laws Assistance for Workers and Small Businesses (elaws) Advisors, a series of Internet-based interactive tools that mimic the interaction an individual would have with a DOL employment law expert; the DOL Toll-Free Help Line (866-4-USA-DOL); and the agency's Employment Law Guide handbook.

"ABC is committed to educating construction employers and workers about federal labor laws," said Bob Piper, ABC vice president of workforce development. "This new partnership will improve communications with the construction industry on current labor law and future provisions that will affect the entire construction industry workforce. This effort complements ABC's existing partnership with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. We are honored to advance this valuable initiative with the Department of Labor."

In addition to promoting the DOL's web-based and print compliance assistance resources on the ABC Web site (www.abc.org) and in other ABC print materials, ABC will feature the compliance tools in an upcoming issue of its Construction Executive magazine, a monthly construction industry business magazine.

The partnership, which was formed through DOL's Partnerships for Compliance Assistance Program (PCAP), also provides DOL with the opportunity to host a session with attorneys and human resource professionals at ABC's Attorneys Conference in Washington, Dec. 1-3, and a labor law seminar at ABC's Education Conference in New Orleans, April 20-22, 2005.

Publication date: 07/26/2004