The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky's Nov. 30 injunction, in Kentucky v. Biden, prohibiting enforcement of the government contractor vaccine mandate against contractors and subcontractors in Kentucky,...more
In the past few days, there have been multiple developments in the legal challenges to the various vaccine mandates, one in favor of a mandate, one against. In addition, the first vaccine mandate challenge has now reached the...more
12/22/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Injunctions ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
OSHA ,
State and Local Government ,
Stays ,
Time Extensions ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
On December 6, we noted on this blog post that because the injunction issued by the District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky on November 30 prohibiting the government from enforcing the government contractor...more
12/8/2021
/ Appeals ,
Biden Administration ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Federal Property and Administrative Services Act (FPASA) ,
Injunctions ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
OSHA ,
State and Local Government ,
Statutory Authority ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations
As we previously reported, on November 30, the District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky (ED of KY) enjoined the government “from enforcing the vaccine mandate for federal contractors and subcontractors in all...more
12/7/2021
/ Appeals ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
State and Local Government ,
Stays ,
Subcontractors ,
Vaccinations
Likely in response to the flurry of litigation challenging the government contractor vaccine mandate, on November 16 the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published a new notice of determination and request for comments...more
11/18/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
OMB ,
OSHA ,
Stays ,
Subcontractors ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
In welcome news for government contractors, the government contractor vaccine mandate continues to soften. In a statement issued by the White House this morning, the deadline for complying with the mandate will be extended...more
11/4/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Deadlines ,
Employees ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Healthcare Workers ,
OSHA ,
Subcontractors ,
Time Extensions ,
Vaccinations
At the end of October 2021, four complaints were filed by almost 20 states challenging the government contractor vaccine mandate. While some have suggested that these states, led by Republican governors, filed the suits for...more
11/4/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Declaratory Relief ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Regulatory Mandates ,
Standing ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures ,
Subcontractors ,
Vaccinations
The Safer Federal Workplace Task Force (Task Force) recently issued additional Q&A’s that seemingly take a softer approach to compliance with the contractor vaccine mandate, indicating contracting officers are to “work with,”...more
As contractors and agencies scramble to comply with the government contractor vaccine mandate, there seems to be growing confusion over whether contractors or federal agencies are responsible for evaluating whether contractor...more
10/26/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
DFARS ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Exemptions ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Joint Employers ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Exemption ,
Subcontractors ,
Vaccinations
Well, that was quick. In four memos dated September 30 and October 1, contractors learned the terms of the contract provisions implementing the COVID-19 vaccine and masking requirements mandated by President Biden’s...more
10/6/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Deadlines ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
General Services Administration (GSA) ,
Masks ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Social Distancing ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On September 24, following President Biden’s September 9 Executive Order, Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force (Task Force) issued new guidance on COVID-19...more
9/28/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employees ,
Covered Employer ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Subcontractors ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On September 9, among other measures, President Biden issued an Executive Order that will result in a mandate that contractor employees “performing on or in connection with a Federal Government contract or contract-like...more
9/13/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Privately Held Corporations ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
On April 27, President Biden issued an Exhibit Order (EO) on Increasing the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors raising the minimum wage for federal contractors, covered subcontractors, and lower-tier subcontractors by 27%...more
To protect the U.S. industrial base, among other reasons, companies that sell goods to the U.S. government are required to comply with domestic source restrictions that dictate the percentage of domestic content and have the...more
2/19/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Buy America ,
Buy American Act ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Made in the USA ,
Steel Industry ,
Supply Chain ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
On March 18, President Trump issued an Executive Order invoking the Defense Production Act (DPA), a tool that may help the administration combat the COVID-19 pandemic. With companies like 3M, GE, and others voluntarily...more
On April 18, 2017, Donald Trump signed a Presidential Executive Order on Buy American and Hire American (EO). As we reported at the time, Section 3 of the EO directed the heads of all federal agencies to, among other things:...more
On April 18, President Trump signed the “Presidential Executive Order on Buy American and Hire American” (the Order), which declares the Executive branch’s policy to buy American goods and rigorously enforce and administer...more
4/24/2017
/ Buy America ,
Buy American Act ,
Domestic Hiring Policy ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
H-1B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Reform ,
Trade Agreements Act ,
Trump Administration ,
USTR ,
WTO
As we previously reported, Congress has taken its final steps in repealing Obama’s Fair Pay & Safe Workplaces rule, one of the most controversial rules enacted by the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council under...more
3/28/2017
/ Blacklist ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Executive Orders ,
Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Federal Contractors ,
First Amendment ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Obama Administration ,
Repeal ,
Trump Administration
As we previously reported, following the start of the Trump Administration, Congress has moved aggressively to overturn regulations passed in the final days of the Obama Administration through the rarely-used powers in the...more
3/7/2017
/ Blacklist ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Executive Orders ,
Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces ,
Federal Contractors ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Obama Administration ,
Subcontractors ,
Transparency ,
Trump Administration
On February 2 the House of Representatives passed House Joint Resolution 37, which would nullify the Fair Pay & Safe Workplaces rule issued on August 25, 2016. If the identical pending joint resolution is passed by the...more
2/6/2017
/ Congressional Intent ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Deregulation ,
Executive Orders ,
Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces ,
Federal Contractors ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Obama Administration ,
Paycheck Transparency ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Public Disclosure ,
Rescission ,
Trump Administration
For companies frustrated with the increasingly complex and burdensome compliance obligations imposed on government contractors, the elimination of some or all of the burdensome rules, which are both expensive and distinct...more
On October 24, 2016, U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone granted a preliminary injunction to halt the implementation of the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” Executive Order 13673 (EO 13673), implementing provisions of the Federal...more
10/26/2016
/ Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Blacklist ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Davis-Bacon Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Due Process ,
Executive Authority ,
Executive Orders ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces ,
FAPIIS ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Federal Contractors ,
First Amendment ,
Labor Law Violations ,
NLRA ,
OFPP ,
Preemption ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Service Contract Act