On May 27, 2015, the Defense Department, General Services Administration and National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council’s proposed rule to implement Executive Order 13673 “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” (EO), dated July 31, 2014. Together with the proposed Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), the Department of Labor (DOL) published proposed guidance (collectively, “Proposed Rules”), defining many terms set forth in the EO and beginning to establish a framework of expectations. PilieroMazza addressed the requirements of the EO and identified prospective concerns in its Legal Advisor article "The Impact of the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order on Contract Procurement." While some of questions about the EO and its implementation have been answered in the Proposed FAR and DOL regulations, many of the concerns still remain.
The premise of the EO is to improve contractor compliance with labor laws and to increase efficiency and cost savings in Federal contracting by requiring contractors to disclose violations of 14 labor laws and associated state laws in the three-year period prior to submitting a bid or proposal and to update these disclosures semi-annually in SAM.
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