The Department of Labor has proposed regulations to implement an executive order that will require government contractors to increase the minimum wage of employees working on federal contracts to $15 per hour starting Jan. 30, 2022.
President Joe Biden signed in late April the executive order that will also extend the new minimum pay to federal contract employees with disabilities and phase out the tipped minimum wage for workers by 2024, DOL said Wednesday.
The order will also bring back minimum wage protections to guides and outfitters working on federal lands and index the minimum wage to facilitate adjustments in pay in response to inflation.
“Our proposed regulations to implement President Biden’s Executive Order will ensure taxpayer dollars uphold the dignity of work, and provide a living wage to workers on federal contracts, including cleaning, maintenance, nursing and food service workers whose efforts are critical to the nation’s pandemic recovery,” said Jessica Looman, acting administrator of the department’s wage and hour division.
Public comments on the proposed rule are due Aug. 23.
