Federal contractors will not face requirements aimed at protecting employees from wage theft and unsafe working conditions under a rule the Trump administration finalized on Monday, Oct. 6, 2017.
The rule follows a resolution Republican lawmakers passed and President Trump signed in March under the Congressional Review Act, which voided an Obama administration push for more transparent compliance with workplace laws for employees working on federal contracts. While most of the provisions of the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces initiative were never enforced after a federal court blocked their implementation, the Trump administration noted at least one key reform may have made its way into some contracts.
President Obama pushed a rule known as “paycheck transparency,” which required contractors to provide detailed statements on their hours worked and compensation earned. That provision was never enjoined in court, meaning some federal contracts signed in 2017 with an estimated value of more than $500,000 may have already included the requirement. The goal of provision was to ensure employees were protected against wage theft by their employer.
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Examining 1,154 contractors recently investigated by the Department of Labor, the Center for Public Integrity found that between January 2015 and July 2016 federal contracts were modified or granted with 68 contractors with substantive violations, according to an exposé by Talia Buford and Maryam Jameel.
