Rules carrying out an Obama administration order regarding workplace practices of its contractors adds several responsibilities for the agencies that issue and administer those contracts, according to a White House summary.
The Labor Department and the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council have issued final rules to implement a 2014 order requiring prospective bidders to disclose labor law violations—such as pay discrimination, illegal denial of overtime pay and unsafe working conditions—that they were found to have committed within the prior three years. The rules also give agencies guidance on how to weigh such violations—for example, in terms of seriousness, willfulness, pervasiveness and mitigating factors—in their contracting decisions.
“Federal contracting officers already must assess a contractor’s record of integrity; however, there currently is no way for them to access comprehensive information about companies’ workplace violations. The guidance and regulations make sure that contracting officers have the necessary information to make informed decisions,” the summary says.
Contracting officers are to “focus on the most egregious violations; for those contractors with such egregious violations, DoL and the enforcement agencies will work with those who want to come into compliance to address any issues that can be remedied,” it adds.
Further, the Labor will “work with agency labor compliance advisors across contracting agencies to ensure efficient, accurate, and consistent decisions across the government.”