Starting on October 25, many new solicitations will contain the new clauses required under the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Final Rule. These new clauses will impose significant new compliance and reporting obligations on federal contractors (and eventually on subcontractors). In a “feature comment” published in the Government Contractor, C&M attorneys provide an overview of… Continue Reading
Many federal government contractors and subcontractors have expressed valid concerns about the new “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” final rule (and accompanying Department of Labor guidance), which among other things will require companies bidding on covered contracts and subcontracts to disclose “administrative merits determinations,” “arbitral award or decisions,” and “civil judgments” rendered against the company… Continue Reading
On August 25, 2016, the Obama Administration published the long-awaited Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) final rule and Department of Labor (DOL) final guidance implementing the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” executive order (“Executive Order”) (available here and here). The underlying executive order has been amended (available here) with purportedly technical corrections to conform the final… Continue Reading
The final year of the Obama Administration has seen a flurry of activity that will affect the government contracting community. Appearing on WJLA’s Government Matters program (available here at govtmatters.tv), Crowell & Moring Chair Angela Styles discussed some of the latest changes that will impact industry including the GSA’s final rule on transactional data reporting;… Continue Reading
We’ve wrapped up our preview posts, which gave a sneak peek at a few of tomorrow and Thursday’s OOPS panels including cybersecurity (OOPS Preview: Regulating Information: Cybersecurity, Internet of Things, and Exploding Rules), costs & accounting OOPS Preview: Cost & Accounting: Items at the Top of the Ledger) , and labor and employment (OOPS Preview:… Continue Reading
In the latest twist to the Administration’s roll-out of the new “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” rules, OIRA now identifies the rules as Economically Significant (a change from several days ago, discussed here), which means that the administration will have to provide a more detailed assessment of the likely benefits and costs of the regulatory… Continue Reading
With national elections just around the corner, the steady drumbeat of new labor-related requirements has not waned. Indeed, four national trade associations wrote to the White House in August requesting “that no further presidential directives primarily focused on government contractors be issued for the foreseeable future.” The letter cited the 16 contractor-focused regulations issued by… Continue Reading
In a sign that the Obama Administration may be preparing to rush the publication of the FAR Council’s final rules implementing the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” executive order in order to avoid timing problems associated with the Congressional Review Act, the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (responsible for reviewing the rules… Continue Reading
On May 4, 2016, the FAR Council’s draft final rules and the Department of Labor’s draft final guidance implementing the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” Executive Order arrived at the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review, setting in motion the final steps prior to the issuance of burdensome new compliance… Continue Reading
By now, government contractors are largely aware of the information gathering and reporting requirements of the Fair Pay & Safe Workplaces Proposed Rule (“Fair Pay”), but whether and how to package the information proactively for the government has received less attention. Contractors would also be well served to consider their messaging and outreach efforts in… Continue Reading
On February 25, the Obama Administration published a proposed rule implementing Executive Order 13706, Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors (previously discussed here). The proposed rule, which the Department of Labor estimates would impact 828,000 federal contractor employees (including approximately 436,700 employees who currently receive no paid sick leave and 391,400 employees who receive… Continue Reading
The FY 2016 Omnibus Appropriations bill, passed on December 18, 2015, did not appropriate funds to establish an Office of Labor Compliance within the Department of Labor in order to implement the “Fair Play and Safe Workplaces” Executive Order, as requested by the Obama Administration. By declining to appropriate the requested funds, Congress pumped the… Continue Reading
On Nov. 19, 2015, OMB released the fall 2015 regulatory agenda of regulations currently under development, listing April 2016 as the target for publication of the final rule implementing the “Fair Pay and Safe Work Places” executive order. The final rule, which is likely to be challenged in court by contractors and industry trade groups,… Continue Reading
On September 7, the Obama Administration issued a new executive order requiring that federal government contractors provide paid sick leave to employees, the latest in a series of EOs targeting federal contractors, which have to date resulted in 16 new regulations (previously discussed here, here and here). According to the White House, “[b]eginning with new… Continue Reading
In a recent interview with Bloomberg BNA’s Daily Labor Report, I discussed the recent deluge of Executive Orders targeting federal contractors, and the new regulations arising from those EOs (link to the article here). … Continue Reading
In an August 3 letter to the White House, four trade associations (the AIA, PSC, NDIA, and ITIC) requested “on behalf of the thousands of companies … that no further presidential directives primarily focused on government contractors be issued for the foreseeable future.” The letter (linked here) cited a dozen recent executive orders related to… Continue Reading
In an August 3 letter to eight committee and subcommittee chairs, the FAR Council and the Department of Labor indicated that the comment period for the “Fair Pay Safe Workplaces” proposed FAR Rule and related DOL Guidance would be extended to August 26 (from the current date of August 11, 2015). On July 15, as… Continue Reading
On July 15, 2015, the Chairmen of the House committees of jurisdiction sent a letter to Labor Secretary Tom Perez and OFPP Administrator Anne Rung regarding the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” Proposed Rule and Guidance. Citing the myriad legal, procedural and substantive flaws in the EO and resulting Proposed Rule and Guidance (previously discussed… Continue Reading
For government contractors, subcontractors, and service providers interested in providing public comments on the Fair Pay & Safe Workplaces proposed rule, the comment period now expires August 11. See here for details: http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FAR-2014-0025-0017 Fair Pay & Safe Workplaces, if passed as proposed, would impose a rolling set of internal data gathering and reporting obligations on… Continue Reading
In response to several requests from industry to extend the a 60-day comment period for the proposed rulemaking (NPRM) and guidance implementing the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order,” the FAR Council and the DoL have extended the comment period to August 11, 2015 (from the current date of July 27, 2015). As discussed… Continue Reading
Please join us on Wednesday, June 10, 2015, from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., as Crowell & Moring presents the webinar, “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Proposed Rule and Guidance: What You Need to Know.” On May 28, 2015, the Obama Administration published the highly-anticipated proposed FAR rule and proposed DOL guidance implementing the Fair… Continue Reading
On May 28, 2015, the Obama Administration published the highly-anticipated Proposed Rule and Proposed Guidance implementing the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” Executive Order, (E.O.) which President Obama issued on July 31, 2014. The proposed rule adds a new subpart to the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) – subpart 22.20 “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” –… Continue Reading
On March 5, OMB and DoL circulated a Memorandum to federal agencies regarding the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” Executive Order (previously discussed here, and here), providing “guidance” with respect to the Labor Compliance Advisor role created by the EO, and directing agencies to designate within 90 days a senior-level official to serve as LCA. … Continue Reading
On December 9, 2014, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) within the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule implementing the President’s July 2014 Executive Order 13672, which prohibits federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The rule requires contractors and subcontractors to add “gender identity” and… Continue Reading
