US Department of Labor offers virtual seminar to help employers comply with the $15 per hour federal contractor worker minimum wage

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Wage and Hour Division will present virtual compliance seminars for contracting agencies, contractors, unions, workers and other stakeholders to provide information on Executive Order 14026, “Increasing the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors.” The Federal Contract Minimum Wage Executive Order applies across the country and its territories and does the following:

• Increases the hourly minimum wage for workers performing work on or in connection with covered federal contracts to $15 beginning Jan. 30, 2022.
• Continues to index the federal contract minimum wage in future years to inflation.
• Eliminates the tipped minimum wage for federal contract employees by 2024.
• Ensures a $15 minimum wage for workers with disabilities performing work on, or in connection with, covered contracts.
• Restores minimum wage protections to outfitters and guides operating on federal lands.

The training is the latest in the division’s ongoing efforts to increase awareness and improve compliance with federal prevailing wage requirements among employers performing work on federal construction or service contracts. The seminar will include video training on the order’s requirements that participants may view at their convenience followed by an interactive webinar with a live Q&A session. Alternatively, the division will offer this interactive webinar on Jan. 26 and Jan. 27, 2022, and participants may register for either date.

“The Federal Contract Minimum Wage Executive Order is good for the economy and makes progress towards reversing decades of income inequality,” said Acting Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman. “This rule increases federal contracting efficiency through a boost in worker productivity, reduces turnover and absenteeism, and decreases training and supervisory costs. The increased earnings growth resulting from this Executive Order will help essential federal contract workers now and in the future.  

Seminar attendance is free. Register for the seminar.

For more information on Executive Order 14026, the Davis-Bacon Act, the Service Contract Act, and other federal wage laws related to government contracts administered by the division, please call the department’s toll-free helpline at 1-866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) or visit the Wage and Hour Division.