The Department of Labor has released its annual Health and Welfare Fringe Benefits Rate adjustment for 2017-18, announcing two separate rates for the Service Contract Act.

For reporting in 2018 and going forward, government contractors will gain the efficiency of pulling a single data snapshot as of December 31 for reporting on both EEO-1 and VETS-4212 reports.  

The U.S. Department of Labor and the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council have published the final guidance and regulations implementing the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order (E.O. 13673).  The Executive Order sets forth procedures requiring federal agency contracting officers to consider an employer’s record of workplace law compliance when awarding contracts and subcontracts valued at more than $500,000.  Consistent with this goal, prospective and existing contractors on covered contracts are not only required to disclose administrative determinations, arbitral awards, and civil judgments resulting from violations of any one of 14 enumerated labor laws and their state law equivalents, but they are also required to comply with the Executive Order’s Paycheck Transparency requirements.

Proposed changes to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) EEO-1 report would have employers with at least 100 employees submitting all employees’ W-2 earnings data and actual hours worked beginning with the 2017 EEO-1 reporting cycle.

The Federal Contractor poster has been updated due to a change in minimum wage.

In 2014, President Obama issued Executive Order 13665, with the intent of promoting pay transparency and making it possible for workers and job applicants to share information about their pay and compensation without fear of discrimination.  The Department of Labor published a Final Rule implementing that order.

   We have made several important policy updates to our model handbook including the following:

• Non-Disclosure / Confidential Company Information
• Publicity, Statements to the Media
• Use of Communication and Computer Systems
• Use of Social Media
• Workplace Conduct
• Solicitation and Distribution