Wisconsin employers who have been found guilty of violating certain labor laws may be paying for these violations due to a new executive order. The Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order that was signed on July 31 will require the mandatory disclosure of violations of certain employee rights when a company bids on a federal contract, commencing in 2016.
Pursuant to the executive order, companies will be required to report violations of federal and state employment laws that have occurred within the last three years when they bid on federal contracts. Additionally, they will be required to report any violations upon the award of a federal contract. They will also have the ongoing duty to report violations of certain laws as they complete the work under the contract that they are awarded. Laws covered include the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and others. The contracts that will be impacted by the new executive order are for those that exceed $500,000.
The executive order is expected to be in full force in 2016 after the Federal Acquisition Regulation Council gets guidance from the Department of Labor on how best to implement it. This executive order is the latest in a series of such orders created by the Obama Administration and targeting federal contractors. Other recent orders involved protecting LGBT workers and raising the minimum wage for federal contracts.
Individuals who believe that their employee rights have been violated may seek advice from an employment law attorney. The attorney may be able to determine if appropriate redress is available.
Source: The National Law Review, “President Obama Signs Executive Order on Federal Contractor Blacklisting“, August 01, 2014
