No doubt that by now you’ve heard that last week the US Department of Labor (DOL) released a final rule regarding overtime for white collar workers. Despite some revisions from the rule change proposed last fall, the new rule might have a big impact on employers. Landscape company employers should review their current employees' status to determine whether they need to make changes in order to comply.

The final rule applies to overtime exemptions for executive, administrative, professional, outside sales and computer employees. The salary threshold for exemption is lower than previously proposed, but it is still more than twice the previous threshold. Employers may also use nondiscretionary bonuses and incentives (including commissions to satisfy up to 10% of the new salary level—provided those bonuses are paid quarterly or more often. In other words, year-end bonuses will not apply.

The Colorado state legislature adjourned Wednesday, May 11th. The 2016 session ended with little progress on issues that lawmakers in both parties claimed were top priorities in January. Dubbed as a ‘do nothing’ session, many of the bills introduced were political messaging bills crafted with the election – and control of certain legislative districts – in mind. In total, the legislature saw 686 bills introduced, with more than half of them garnering bipartisan support. As an industry, we closely watched about 25 bills – fewer than is typical.

The ALCC/GreenCO legislative priorities fall into four basic categories: water policy, business practices, budget and tax policy and infrastructure investment policy.

On June 23, 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) final rule regarding exposure to respirable crystalline silica will go into effect. The aim of the rule is to curb lung cancer, silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and kidney disease in America's workers. There are two standards: one for Construction and one for General Industry and Maritime.

Employers have one year to comply with the new rule, and OSHA has unveiled a number of resources to help with compliance. A web site (www.silica-safe.org) has an online, interactive “Create-a-Plan” tool that allows employers to create their required written plan and be sure it is in compliance. Once completed, the plan can be emailed, downloaded, or printed to keep on record. The site also offers manuals, talks, videos, presentations, and handouts for communicating the rule with employees.

This week, Colorado Green NOW shines a light on The ELITE Award for Irrigation Management, which was awarded to Timberline Landscaping for their work at Oracle America in Colorado Springs. The success of the project is due to a committed group of like-minded people from three organizations: Colorado Springs Utilities, Oracle and Timberline.

Timberline achieved these goals for Oracle through low-water-use renovation projects and irrigation renovations on their property. Oracle, which is continually striving to be more sustainable and to lessen water use, was impressed by Timberline’s sustainable thinking and had been impressed by the company’s work on other area properties. 

This month, Governor Hickenlooper signed into law a bill that will allow Colorado residents to use rain barrels to collect rainwater. The law has received much attention, and landscape professionals are sure to receive customer requests for incorporating the barrels into their irrigation plans.

The law defines “rain barrel” as “a storage container with a sealable lid that is located above ground outside of a residential home and use for collecting precipitation from a downspout of a rooftop.”

The H-2B cap for the second half of fiscal year 2016 has been reached. The government issued the following alert on May 19:

USCIS has received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the congressionally mandated H-2B cap for Fiscal Year (FY) 2016. May 12, 2016 was the final receipt date for new H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before October 1, 2016.

On May 23, the US Department of Labor (DOL) will post on the Federal Register a final rule regarding overtime for white collar workers.

The final rule was amended slightly from the rule changes proposed last fall. The standard salary threshold is lower (meeting the 40^th percentile of earnings in the lowest-wage Census Region rather than nationally), while the threshold for highly compensated employees was raised. Instead of annual updates to the salary thresholds, the levels will be updated every three years. Nondiscretionary bonuses and incentive payments can be included for up to 10% of the salary level.

Below is an urgent call-to-action from National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP)--with additional resources added for Colorado. If you're on Twitter, you can also help by retweeting ALCC (@COGreenNOW). We'll be tweeting our support all day.

Today, landscape professionals from across the country will be in DC to send a strong message to Congress that H-2B is a vitally important program that allows companies to hire seasonal workers and sustain American jobs. If you are coming to the H-2B fly-in today, thank you. Talking points will be provided for you during the 9-10 am briefing in room 325 Russell Senate Office Building.

Can’t make it to DC? We still need you to participate in H-2B Advocacy Day by doing the following today:

On May 2nd, Denver City Council passed an ordinance that makes Denver one of the first cities in Colorado to allow the use of graywater for residential, commercial and industrial purposes.

Graywater is defined as the portion of wastewater that is collected from fixtures within residential, commercial, industrial buildings, or institutional facilities for the purpose of being put to a second beneficial use, and can be collected from bathroom and laundry room sinks, bathtubs, showers, and washing machines. Graywater can be used to flush toilets or urinals, or for subsurface irrigation of non-agricultural crops.

This year, The ELITE Award for Installation/Construction was awarded to Outdoor Craftsmen for the Niwot Hill Residence. The award recognizes a landscape installation or renovation that exemplifies quality workmanship consistent with industry best management practices, follows design and related specifications for the project, and satisfies client expectations in the finished product.

At the Niwot Hill Residence, Outdoor Craftsmen created a sophisticated, modern and sustainable outdoor living experience. The property owners wanted a cutting-edge look in their landscape, with contemporary style and sustainable elements. Outdoor Craftsmen installed a bio-filtration natural pool; permaculture fruit, vegetable and cutting gardens; a sculptural fire feature; and many specimen trees.