On December 16, 2016, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council issued an interim final rule to implement the Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors executive order and the related final rule issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on September 30. The FAR Council rule took effect on January 1, 2017.
The requirements of the FAR Council rule will be included in federal contract solicitations issued on or after January 1, 2017, and resultant contracts by virtue of new FAR Clause 52.222-62 (the “new clause”). In certain cases, the requirements may also be included in projects already underway, as the rule also (1) requires contracting officers to include the new clause in bilateral modifications extending the contract when such modifications are individually or cumulatively longer than six months; and (2) strongly encourages, but does not require, contracting officers to include the new clause in existing indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracts when the remaining ordering period extends at least six months and the amount of remaining work or number of orders expected is substantial.
AGC plans to work with the Trump administration and Congress to have the executive order and implementing regulations repealed, but the whether or when repeal will occur is uncertain at this time. For now, contractors should be on the look-out for the new clause and be prepared to comply. It is important to note that if a contracting officer fails to include the new clause in a covered solicitation or contract, the contracting officer, upon notification from DOL, must correct the mistake and incorporate the new clause retroactive to commencement of performance.
For further guidance on this subject, see the following:
- For an AGC article summarizing the executive order and DOL rule, click here.
- To access the recording of AGC’s webinar on the executive order and DOL rule, click here.
- For DOL’s frequently asked questions on the executive order and DOL rule, click here.
- For all DOL resources on this EO, click here.
- To read more about the regulatory road ahead between now and Inauguration Day, click here.
For more information, contact Denise Gold at goldd@agc.org or Jimmy Christianson at christiansonj@agc.org.