The Obama Administration is currently reviewing a proposal supported by the Center for American Progress and the National Employment Law Project, which claims that the federal contracting market is financing millions of poverty wage jobs across our economy, and supporting employers that are significant or repeat violators of workplace, tax and other laws. To address these allegations, these organizations are calling on the administration to establish a range of "responsible contractor" policies to ensure that federal contracting promotes the creation of good jobs by offering bid preferences to businesses that engage in "responsible" employment practices.
The recommendations of these organizations specifically call for the following changes to the federal procurement system:
- Institute more rigorous responsibility screening of prospective bidders to ensure that federal contracts are not awarded to employers that are significant or repeat violators of workplace, tax or other laws.
- Establish a preference for employers that provide good jobs in the contractor selection process, prioritizing firms that provide "living wages," health benefits and paid sick days.
- Quickly bring on-line, expand and improve the newly authorized national contractor misconduct database mandated by the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act.
- Strengthen monitoring and enforcement of contractors' compliance with existing and new workplace standards.