In keeping with his promise of a “year of action” during this year’s State of the Union address, on Thursday, July 31, President Obama signed an executive order — entitled Fair and Safe Workplaces — that vastly extends the federal government’s enforcement reach over private federal contractors’ employment policies. Couple this with the administration’s other recent executive orders targeting federal contractors, and contractors must be wondering when, if ever, this “year of action” will end.
This latest executive order will require all federal contractors and subcontractors with new or renewed contracts more than $500,000 to disclose all labor and employment violations during the last three years to the federal government, both during the bidding process and every six months after that. These disclosures will then not only be taken into account when awarding the contract, but will also be used as the basis for additional enforcement and remedial action during the life of the contract. As if this wasn’t bad enough, the executive order also requires contractors to disclose detailed pay information, and restricts the use of arbitration agreements.