Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

On March 27, 2017, President Trump signed H.J. Res. 37, blocking the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Rule, the controversial rule enacted by the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council in August 2016, that legislators have criticized as a method to blackball federal contractors. The bill’s signing follows the U.S. Senate’s March 6, 2017 vote of 49-48 (along party lines) to formally disapprove of the rule.

Yesterday a federal court in Texas partially enjoined enforcement of what is known as the “blacklisting” rule.  The injunction comes one day before reporting was to begin under the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order, 13673.

Join us on Wednesday, October 5, 2016, from 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. ET, for a practical breakdown of President Obama’s “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” Executive Order (13673), issued in 2014.

President Obama’s “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” Executive Order (13673), issued in 2014, at last is going into effect. The Order requires federal contractors and subcontractors to report a three-year history of violations of fourteen different labor and employment laws, to the government as part of the procurement process. The government can deny a federal contract to a contractor with a sufficiently negative compliance record.

The first wave of reporting, for prime contractors, is due on October 25, 2016.

Today, on August 25, 2016, the Department of Labor issued final Guidance implementing Executive Order 13673, Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces, bleakly referred to by the contractor community as the “blacklisting” order.  The same day, a Final Rule  and Guidance was added to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement that Executive Order, by the Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration (GSA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The “blacklisting” order places a new focus on labor and employment issues during the federal procurement process. Covered federal contractors and subcontractors must now disclose to the government previous violations of fourteen different federal labor and employment laws, plus equivalent state counterparts.  Pre-award disclosures must be made before a contract can be awarded to ensure the company is a “responsible” labor source.  Updated reports then are required every six months post-award.  The rule also imposes limits on the arbitration of certain employment claims, and requires specified paycheck disclosures and transparency.

Recent guidelines have been issued by the Department of Labor in connection with President Obama’s “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” Executive Order 13673.  Interested parties will have until July 27, 2015 to submit written comments to the Regulatory Secretariat for consideration before the proposals are finalized.