On July 14, 2015 the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced that both it and the FAR Council have extended the notice and comment period for the proposed guidance and regulations implementing the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order (the “Order”). The public now has through August 11, 2015 to comment on the proposed guidance and regulations. This represents a 15-day extension on the notice and comment period, which was originally set to expire on July 27, 2015.
On May 28, 2015, the FAR Council published proposed regulations implementing the Order. On the same day, DOL published proposed guidance to government agencies, to assist them in implementing the Order and the proposed regulations. Both the proposed guidance and regulations require the agencies to assess whether the contractors are responsible sources by examining their past labor law violations. Our blog post on the proposed guidance and regulations can be found here.
The extension provides government contractors with more time to assess the proposals and submit comments for consideration by DOL and the FAR Council.