On January 30, 2024, the FAR Council issued a proposed rule entitled “Pay Equity and Transparency in Federal Contracting” (“Proposed Rule”). The Proposed Rule would: (1) prohibit contractors and subcontractors from seeking and considering information about job applicants’ compensation history when making employment decisions about personnel working on or in connection with a government contract; and (2) require contractors and subcontractors to disclose, in all advertisements for job openings involving work on or in connection with a government contract placed by or on behalf of the contractor or subcontractor, the compensation to be offered to the hired applicant for any position to perform work on or in connection with the contract.

Interested parties submitted written comments before April 1, 2024 for consideration in the formation of the final rule. Crowell served as outside counsel to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (“the Chamber”) in connection with comments filed by the Chamber. A copy of the filed comments can be found here. As the Chamber noted in its comments, the Proposed Rule would impose obligations that conflict with other obligations imposed upon government contractors and subcontractors and raises a host of other significant, practical issues for such contractors.

We would like to thank Cherie J. Owen, Consultant, for her contribution to this alert.