Fair Pay Executive Order Proposed Guidance and Rule Published

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The US Department of Labor (USDOL) issued guidance and the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council recently published a proposed rule to implement President Obama’s Executive Order on Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces.

The Executive Order requires prospective and existing Federal contractors to disclose whether they have had certain labor law violations and contracting officers, in consultation with newly created labor compliance advisors, to consider the violation, as well as mitigating circumstances, in determining whether to award or extend a contract.

The Executive Order requires for contracts with a value greater than $500,000.

1. Contractors to disclose whether they have had any violations of any one of 14 different Federal labor laws, executive orders, or equivalent state labor laws during the preceding three years
2. Contracting agencies to evaluate these disclosures in determining whether the contractor has a satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics and qualified to receive a Federal contract, and
3. The USDOL to provide assistance to contractors to help them come into compliance.

Comments on these documents are being requested, due no later than July 27, 2015. For more information please see the USDOL press release, which includes links to the USDOL guidance and FAR Council proposed rule.