Today, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council and the U.S. Department of Labor released final regulations and guidance to implement the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces executive order, which will help ensure that all federal contractors comply with workplace laws, including health and safety standards, wage laws, and civil rights laws. The order promises to help protect taxpayers, law-abiding businesses, and the more than 1 in 5 Americans who are employed by companies that do business with the federal government. Once implemented, the regulations will allow the government to identify companies with egregious records of violating the law and ensure that those companies remediate problems before receiving any new contracts.
The Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces order is one of a number of actions that President Barack Obama has taken to ensure that contractors respect their workers. The Center for American Progress Action Fund has advocated for these reforms since 2008—releasing its first report on the topic the month before President Obama took office. Today’s release of final regulations will allow the Obama administration to start working to implement the order before the end of the president’s term.
The above excerpt was originally published in CAP Action.
Click here to view the full article.