Federal Contractors --- Ready, Set, Go!!

Are you a federal contractor? According to the EEOC, if your business does business with the federal government, you are most likely a federal contractor under Executive Order 11246. Also, if your company does business with another company who holds direct contracts, you are likely a subcontractor. Recently, several Executive Orders have been executed which add extra responsibilities for federal contractors and subcontractors. The new EEO Supplement has now been released and set out below are important changes.
 

First, the Federal Contractor Minimum Wage is set to increase from $10.10 per hour to $10.15 per hour beginning January 1, 2016. Also, the minimum wage for tipped employees will increase to $5.85. The new Federal Contractor Minimum Wage Poster has been released. 

Second, a new “EEO is the Law” supplement notice has been released for federal contractors. The supplement contains additional protections regarding discrimination, Pay Secrecy, Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act, and individuals with disabilities. In the future, the EEOC will release a new EEO “It’s the Law” poster. Once it is released, it will be the required poster. At this time, only the new EEO Supplement is available. Federal contractors must post the new supplement along with the current EEO poster until the new “EEO is the Law” poster is released. 

Within the new Supplement, the following changes have taken place. The “Discrimination” section adds sexual orientation and gender identity to the protected classes. The “Pay Secrecy” section protects applicants and employees from discrimination based on inquiring about, disclosing, or discussing their compensation or the compensation of others. The “Individuals with Disabilities” section was revised with clarifications to wording due to updates to the Rehabilitation Act. Finally, the “Protected Veterans” section has been revised to include recruitment among the list of areas that require affirmative action. Additionally, “active duty wartime or campaign badge veterans” replaces the previous verbiage, “other protected veterans.” 

In addition to the above EEO Supplement Changes, Executive Order 13665 prohibits pay secrecy policies and actions. The Final Rule was published on 9/11/2015.  Known as the Pay Transparency Executive Order, contractors will be required to disseminate a Pay Transparency Policy Statement prescribed by the OFCCP. A few labor poster companies understand the many recent changes.  A few vendors offer Combination Posters which include all standard federal posters as well as all federal contractor postings, including supplements.


                                                                                         by Donald Butts 

References:   
www.laborlawcc.com
www.hrcoffeeshop.com
www.dol.gov/ofccp/