House members urge OMB to move on federal contractor rule, guidance

Washington – Members of the House are pushing the Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Labor to complete a review of guidance and a proposed rule that would implement the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order.

Eighty House members signed a letter sent to OMB Director Shaun Donovan and Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez on April 15. The guidance and proposed rule have been under review since March 6.

The Executive Order, which the White House expects to be implemented in 2016, would require all employers seeking a federal contract valued at more than $500,000 to disclose violations cited by any DOL agency in the previous three years. Current mechanisms are not effective for reviewing employers’ safety records or encouraging them to improve their practices, the House members state in a press release.

The letter comes less than one month after a group of Senators sent a similar letter to Perez. Some Congress members claim the Executive Order will lead to a blacklist that could bar good employers from government work.

A 2013 Senate committee investigation found that nearly one-third of employers who received the highest penalties for federal labor law violations were federal contractors.