AGC to Provide Comments in Opposition
On May 27, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council issued a proposed rule and the Department of Labor (DOL) issued guidance implementing the president’s “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” Executive Order (EO) 13673, commonly referred to as the Blacklisting EO.
Under the proposed rule, both prime and subcontractors must report violations of 14 federal labor laws and “equivalent” state labor laws during the previous three years, and again every six months, on federal contracts over $500,000. A single violation, or a combination of multiple violations, could lead a contracting officer to either (1) deny the contractor the right to compete for a federal contract; or (2) remove a prime contractor or subcontractor from an ongoing project. Such determinations would be made on an individual contracting officer basis with assistance from newly-created agency labor law compliance advisors. The DOL guidance further articulates the policies outlined in the proposed rule such as, the rule would only apply to direct-federal contracts and not to federal-aid highway contracts awarded by state departments of transportation.
Since the administration issued the Blacklisting Executive Order in July 2014, AGC has advocated against its implementation on Capitol Hill and helped form an industry coalition to stop it. AGC also participated in a White House meeting with Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez, where the association noted its deep concerns with the Order. AGC will provide more analysis and information on this rulemaking as it reviews the proposed rule and guidance. There is a 60-day public comment period on the proposed rule and guidance, during which time AGC members are encouraged to comment directly on the proposals and share that input with AGC as it articulates its own comments.
For more information, please contact Jimmy Christianson at christiansonj@agc.org or 703-837-5325. Return to Top