US Dept. of Labor opens comments on regulation to raise pay for federal contractors
The US Department of Labor announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to establish standards and procedures to implement and enforce Executive Order 14026 increasing the minimum wage for federal contractors,” signed by President Biden on April 27, 2021.
The order includes US territories, namely Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, the agency confirmed.
This Executive Order will:
— Increase the minimum wage for workers performing work on or in connection with covered federal contracts to $15 per hour beginning Jan. 30, 2022;
— Continue to index the federal contract minimum wage in future years to an inflation measure;
— Eliminate the tipped minimum wage for federal contract workers by 2024;
— Ensure a $15 minimum wage for workers with disabilities performing work on or in connection with covered contracts; and,
— Restore minimum wage protections to outfitters and guides operating on federal lands.
“Executive Order 14026 improves the economic security of families and makes progress toward reversing decades of income inequality,” said Wage and Hour Division Acting Administrator Jessica Looman.
“Our proposed regulations to implement President Biden’s Executive Order will ensure taxpayer dollars uphold the dignity of work and provide a living wage to workers on federal contracts, including cleaning, maintenance, nursing and food service workers whose efforts are critical to the nation’s pandemic recovery,” she said.
Executive Order 14026 builds on Executive Order 13658, “Establishing a Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors,” signed by President Obama in 2014. The earlier order increased the hourly minimum wage to $10.10 for workers performing on or in connection with covered federal contracts, beginning Jan. 1, 2015, and the hourly minimum wage increased annually thereafter based on inflation.
The current federal contract minimum wage under Executive Order 13658 is $10.95 per hour.
