DOL Publishes Final Regulation on New Minimum Wage for Certain Federal Contractors

Last week, the Federal Register published the final regulation by the Department of Labor implementing Executive Order 14026, raising on January 30, 2022 the minimum wage applicable to many, but not all, federal contractors to $15/hour with automatic annual increases.   Like other Executive Orders, this only applies to new contracts, renewals and extensions, but agencies have been “strongly encouraged” since April to include this requirement in new contract solicitations, contracts and extensions.  It also only applies to certain types of federal contracts, including McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act of 1965 covered contracts, concessions contracts, contracts related to federal property and “a procurement contract or contract-like instrument for services or construction” if those employees are also subject to the Service Contract Act, the Davis-Bacon Act or the Fair Labor Standards Act and only for hours worked on or in connection with a federal contract.   The regulation gradually phases out all tip credits by 2024 and revokes some prior exemptions granted by the prior Administration.  The DOL has also created a new poster to be displayed or distributed by covered employers.

Sections 23.30(d) and 23.40 specifically exclude coverage to certain types of federal contracts and workers: (i) “contracts for the manufacturing or furnishing of materials, supplies, articles, or equipment to the Federal Government, including those that are subject to the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act, 41 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.” (ii) grants, (iii) agreements with Indian Tribes, (iv) construction procurement contracts not covered by the Davis-Bacon Act, (v) certain contracts specifically excluded from the Service Contract Act, (vi) with certain exceptions, employees exempt under the FLSA, (vii), FLSA-covered employees who perform less than 20% of their time in connection with (rather than directly for) a covered contract and (viii) contracts resulting from a solicitation issued before January 30, 2022, but entered into on or between January 30, 2022 and March 30, 2022. 

The definition section of the regulation describes the covered “workers” as follows:

any person engaged in performing work on or in connection with a contract covered by the Executive Order, and whose wages under such contract are governed by the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Service Contract Act, or the Davis-Bacon Act, other than individuals employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity, as those terms are defined in 29 CFR part 541, regardless of the contractual relationship alleged to exist between the individual and the employer. The term worker includes workers performing on or in connection with a covered contract whose wages are calculated pursuant to special certificates issued under 29 U.S.C. 214(c), as well as any person working on or in connection with a covered contract and individually registered in a bona fide apprenticeship or training program registered with the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration, Office of Apprenticeship, or with a State Apprenticeship Agency recognized by the Office of Apprenticeship. A worker performs “on” a contract if the worker directly performs the specific services called for by the contract. A worker Start Printed Page 67227 performs “in connection with” a contract if the worker's work activities are necessary to the performance of a contract but are not the specific services called for by the contract.

Except when covered by FAR, applicable federal agencies, contractors and subcontractors are required to include a new clause in their covered contracts:

(b) Flow-down requirement. The contractor and any subcontractors shall include in any covered subcontracts the Executive Order minimum wage contract clause referred to in § 23.110(a) and shall require, as a condition of payment, that the subcontractor include the minimum wage contract clause in any lower-tier subcontracts. The prime contractor and any upper-tier contractor shall be responsible for the compliance by any subcontractor or lower-tier subcontractor with the Executive Order minimum wage requirements, whether or not the contract clause was included in the subcontract.

The new, lengthy clause reads as follows: 

(a) Executive Order 14026. This contract is subject to Executive Order 14026, the Start Printed Page 67234 regulations issued by the Secretary of Labor in 29 CFR part 23 pursuant to the Executive Order, and the following provisions.

(b) Minimum wages. (1) Each worker (as defined in 29 CFR 23.20) engaged in the performance of this contract by the prime contractor or any subcontractor, regardless of any contractual relationship which may be alleged to exist between the contractor and worker, shall be paid not less than the applicable minimum wage under Executive Order 14026.

(2) The minimum wage required to be paid to each worker performing work on or in connection with this contract between January 30, 2022 and December 31, 2022, shall be $15.00 per hour. The minimum wage shall be adjusted each time the Secretary of Labor's annual determination of the applicable minimum wage under section 2(a)(ii) of Executive Order 14026 results in a higher minimum wage. Adjustments to the Executive Order minimum wage under section 2(a)(ii) of Executive Order 14026 will be effective for all workers subject to the Executive Order beginning January 1 of the following year. If appropriate, the contracting officer, or other agency official overseeing this contract shall ensure the contractor is compensated only for the increase in labor costs resulting from the annual inflation increases in the Executive Order 14026 minimum wage beginning on January 1, 2023. The Secretary of Labor will publish annual determinations in the Federal Register no later than 90 days before such new wage is to take effect. The Secretary will also publish the applicable minimum wage on https://alpha.sam.gov/​content/​wage-determinations (or any successor website). The applicable published minimum wage is incorporated by reference into this contract.

(3) The contractor shall pay unconditionally to each worker all wages due free and clear and without subsequent deduction (except as otherwise provided by 29 CFR 23.230), rebate, or kickback on any account. Such payments shall be made no later than one pay period following the end of the regular pay period in which such wages were earned or accrued. A pay period under this Executive Order may not be of any duration longer than semi-monthly.

(4) The prime contractor and any upper-tier subcontractor shall be responsible for the compliance by any subcontractor or lower-tier subcontractor with the Executive Order minimum wage requirements. In the event of any violation of the minimum wage obligation of this clause, the contractor and any subcontractor(s) responsible therefore shall be liable for the unpaid wages.

(5) If the commensurate wage rate paid to a worker performing work on or in connection with a covered contract whose wages are calculated pursuant to a special certificate issued under 29 U.S.C. 214(c), whether hourly or piece rate, is less than the Executive Order minimum wage, the contractor must pay the Executive Order minimum wage rate to achieve compliance with the Order. If the commensurate wage due under the certificate is greater than the Executive Order minimum wage, the contractor must pay the worker the greater commensurate wage.

(c) Withholding. The agency head shall upon its own action or upon written request of an authorized representative of the Department of Labor withhold or cause to be withheld from the prime contractor under this or any other Federal contract with the same prime contractor, so much of the accrued payments or advances as may be considered necessary to pay workers the full amount of wages required by Executive Order 14026.

(d) Contract suspension/Contract termination/Contractor debarment. In the event of a failure to pay any worker all or part of the wages due under Executive Order 14026 or 29 CFR part 23, or a failure to comply with any other term or condition of Executive Order 14026 or 29 CFR part 23, the contracting agency may on its own action or after authorization or by direction of the Department of Labor and written notification to the contractor, take action to cause suspension of any further payment, advance or guarantee of funds until such violations have ceased. Additionally, any failure to comply with the requirements of this clause may be grounds for termination of the right to proceed with the contract work. In such event, the Government may enter into other contracts or arrangements for completion of the work, charging the contractor in default with any additional cost. A breach of the contract clause may be grounds for debarment as a contractor and subcontractor as provided in 29 CFR 23.520.

(e) Workers who receive fringe benefits. The contractor may not discharge any part of its minimum wage obligation under Executive Order 14026 by furnishing fringe benefits or, with respect to workers whose wages are governed by the Service Contract Act, the cash equivalent thereof.

(f) Relation to other laws. Nothing herein shall relieve the contractor of any other obligation under Federal, state or local law, or under contract, for the payment of a higher wage to any worker, nor shall a lower prevailing wage under any such Federal, State, or local law, or under contract, entitle a contractor to pay less than $15.00 (or the minimum wage as established each January thereafter) to any worker.

(g) Payroll records. (1) The contractor shall make and maintain for three years records containing the information specified in paragraphs (g)(1)(i) through (vi) of this section for each worker and shall make the records available for inspection and transcription by authorized representatives of the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor:

(i) Name, address, and social security number;

(ii) The worker's occupation(s) or classification(s);

(iii) The rate or rates of wages paid;

(iv) The number of daily and weekly hours worked by each worker;

(v) Any deductions made; and

(vi) Total wages paid.

(2) The contractor shall also make available a copy of the contract, as applicable, for inspection or transcription by authorized representatives of the Wage and Hour Division.

(3) Failure to make and maintain or to make available such records for inspection and transcription shall be a violation of 29 CFR part 23 and this contract, and in the case of failure to produce such records, the contracting officer, upon direction of an authorized representative of the Department of Labor, or under its own action, shall take such action as may be necessary to cause suspension of any further payment or advance of funds until such time as the violations are discontinued.

(4) The contractor shall permit authorized representatives of the Wage and Hour Division to conduct investigations, including interviewing workers at the worksite during normal working hours.

(5) Nothing in this clause limits or otherwise modifies the contractor's payroll and recordkeeping obligations, if any, under the Davis-Bacon Act, as amended, and its implementing regulations; the Service Contract Act, as amended, and its implementing regulations; the Fair Labor Standards Act, as amended, and its implementing regulations; or any other applicable law.

(h) Flow-down requirement. The contractor (as defined in 29 CFR 23.20) shall insert this clause in all of its covered subcontracts and shall require its subcontractors to include this clause in any covered lower-tier subcontracts. Executive Order 14026 does not apply to subcontracts for the manufacturing or furnishing of materials, supplies, articles, or equipment, and this clause is not required to be inserted in such subcontracts. The prime contractor and any upper-tier subcontractor shall be responsible for the compliance by any subcontractor or lower-tier subcontractor with this contract clause.

(i) Certification of eligibility. (1) By entering into this contract, the contractor (and officials thereof) certifies that neither it (nor he or she) nor any person or firm who has an interest in the contractor's firm is a person or firm ineligible to be awarded Government contracts by virtue of the sanctions imposed pursuant to section 5 of the Service Contract Act, section 3(a) of the Davis-Bacon Act, or 29 CFR 5.12(a)(1).

(2) No part of this contract shall be subcontracted to any person or firm whose name appears on the list of persons or firms ineligible to receive Federal contracts.

(3) The penalty for making false statements is prescribed in the U.S. Criminal Code, 18 U.S.C. 1001.

(j) Tipped employees. In paying wages to a tipped employee as defined in section 3(t) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. 203(t), the contractor may take a partial credit against the wage payment obligation (tip credit) to the extent permitted under section 3(a) of Executive Order 14026. In order to take such a tip credit, the employee must receive an amount of tips at least equal to the amount of the credit taken; where the tipped employee does not receive sufficient tips to equal the amount of the tip credit the contractor must increase the cash wage paid for the workweek so that the amount of cash wage paid and the tips received by the employee equal the applicable minimum wage under Executive Order 14026. To utilize this proviso:

(1) The employer must inform the tipped employee in advance of the use of the tip credit; Start Printed Page 67235

(2) The employer must inform the tipped employee of the amount of cash wage that will be paid and the additional amount by which the employee's wages will be considered increased on account of the tip credit;

(3) The employees must be allowed to retain all tips (individually or through a pooling arrangement and regardless of whether the employer elects to take a credit for tips received); and

(4) The employer must be able to show by records that the tipped employee receives at least the applicable Executive Order minimum wage through the combination of direct wages and tip credit.

(k) Antiretaliation. It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any worker because such worker has filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to Executive Order 14026 or 29 CFR part 23, or has testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding.

(l) Disputes concerning labor standards. Disputes related to the application of Executive Order 14026 to this contract shall not be subject to the general disputes clause of the contract. Such disputes shall be resolved in accordance with the procedures of the Department of Labor set forth in 29 CFR part 23. Disputes within the meaning of this contract clause include disputes between the contractor (or any of its subcontractors) and the contracting agency, the U.S. Department of Labor, or the workers or their representatives.

(m) Notice. The contractor must notify all workers performing work on or in connection with a covered contract of the applicable minimum wage rate under the Executive Order. With respect to service employees on contracts covered by the Service Contract Act and laborers and mechanics on contracts covered by the Davis-Bacon Act, the contractor may meet this requirement by posting, in a prominent and accessible place at the worksite, the applicable wage determination under those statutes. With respect to workers performing work on or in connection with a covered contract whose wages are governed by the FLSA, the contractor must post a notice provided by the Department of Labor in a prominent and accessible place at the worksite so it may be readily seen by workers. Contractors that customarily post notices to workers electronically may post the notice electronically provided such electronic posting is displayed prominently on any website that is maintained by the contractor, whether external or internal, and customarily used for notices to workers about terms and conditions of employment.

NOTICE: This summary is designed merely to inform and alert you of recent legal developments. It does not constitute legal advice and does not apply to any particular situation because different facts could lead to different results. Information here can change or be amended without notice. Readers should not act upon this information without legal advice. If you have any questions about anything you have read, you should consult with or retain an employment attorney.

EO 13706 Mandates Paid Leave for Federal Contractor Employees in 2017

On Labor Day, President Obama issued Executive Order 13706 (which was published in the Federal Register a few days later) mandating that federal contractors provide paid leave to employees.  Regulations are to be published by the end of the September 2016 and will apply to contractors and subcontractors who receive new federal contracts in 2017.  While employees may accrue one hour of paid leave for every 30 worked (up to 56 hours per year), they may carry over those accrued hours year to year and may reinstate their leave bank upon being rehired within 12 months, but may not be paid out on termination for their accrued leave.   While the leave is entitled “sick” leave, it is actually much broader: the paid leave may cover their own illness, that of their parents, spouses, children and those “or any other individual related by blood or affinity whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship,” and may also use it for diagnostic or preventive medical care, and “domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking” if the employee needs time off from work in order to seek counseling, relocation, legal action, or assistance from a victim services organization.

The EO prohibits covered employers from taking certain actions:

·        Employees cannot be required to recruit their own replacement;

·        Limiting the amount of paid leave that may be accrued to less than 56 hours per year;

·        Take credits against prevailing wage obligations for this paid leave;

·        Disclosing information from certifications about the employee’s need for medical, family or domestic violence/stalking leave unless required by law or with the employee’s consent; and

·        Discriminating against or interfering with an employee’s right to take paid leave, in asserting paid leave rights or assisting another employee asserting rights under this EO.

Employers will not be required to pay the employee for accrued paid leave upon termination, but is permitted to do so.   The employer’s existing sick leave policy may satisfy the obligations of this EO if it meets all of its terms, applies to all employees, and exceeds any applicable requirements of the Davis-Bacon and Service Contract Acts.  The EO says nothing about any qualifications periods that may be imposed on employees before they may begin accruing paid leave.

The EO does not apply to federal grants or independent agencies (which are only strongly encouraged to comply).

Like the FMLA, employees will have certain obligations:

·        Must make an oral or written request for leave “that includes the expected duration of the leave and is made at least 7 calendar days in advance where the need for the leave is foreseeable, and in other cases as soon as is practicable.”

·        Must provide written certification within 30 days of the employer’s request if the absence is greater than 3 consecutive days.  This certification may be about medical causes or domestic violence/stalking and need only convey the “minimum necessary information” to confirm the reason for the leave.

NOTICE: This summary is designed merely to inform and alert you of recent legal developments. It does not constitute legal advice and does not apply to any particular situation because different facts could lead to different results. Information here can be changed or amended without notice. Readers should not act upon this information without legal advice. If you have any questions about anything you have read, you should consult with or retain an employment attorney.

 

OFCCP Amends Executive Order 11246 Regulations by Issuing Final Pay Transparency Regulations Under EO 13665

Earlier this month, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued its final regulation implementing the Pay Transparency obligations for federal contractors under Executive Order 13665, which amends EO 11246 (i.e., the affirmative action rules for women and minorities).    It will apply to contracts and subcontracts in excess of $10,000 (in a single contract or combination of contracts in a 12-month period)  issued or modified after the regulation’s January 11, 2016 effective date, as well as to financial institutions that serve as depositories for federal funds.   The rule precludes covered employers from requiring employees to keep confidential their own compensation or from asking other employees about their compensation (or from discussing the compensation of other employees unless the speaker’s essential job duties involve accessing payroll information or personnel files).

Among its notable requirements:

·        Employees cannot be retaliated against for discussing their own pay or asking co-workers about their compensation.  With certain exceptions (involving government investigations or other legal obligations), employees whose essential job duties involve accessing compensation data or working with confidential personnel files (such as but not limited to human resources and benefits) may be disciplined for disclosing pay data about other employees.

·        Employees and applicants are not required to disclose their own compensation to other employees, etc.  and employers are not required to disclose information about the compensation of employees.

·        The Equal Opportunity clause mandated by 41 C.F.R. § 60-1.4 to be included in federal contracts and subcontracts has been amended to include the following new paragraph:

(3) The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because such employee or applicant has inquired about, discussed, or disclosed the compensation of the employee or applicant or another employee or applicant. This provision shall not apply to instances in which an employee who has access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of such employee’s essential job functions discloses the compensation of such other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to such information, unless such disclosure is in response to a formal complaint or charge, in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or is consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information.             

·        In addition to including this subsection (3) in their subcontracts, employers must also include a version of this rule (as summarized by the OFFCCP) in their employee handbooks and disseminate it to applicants and employees by posting a copy in a conspicuous location or electronically.   Employers are required to use the exact language proscribed by the OFCCP in its summary.  While contractors are required to inform their employees of the new rules, they are not required to provide new management training on the issue.

·        The only real defense available to employers is that the adverse employment action which the employee alleges was retaliatory was really based on another issue.   Employers are allowed to raise any defense, except one that is based on any rule, practice, agreement policy or other instrument which prohibits employees or applicants from disclosing or discussing their own compensation or the compensation of other employees or applicants (with the obvious exception for employees whose essential job functions involve access to compensation information about other employees).

Aside from the new paragraph in the EO clause and a few new definitions, the new regulation is relatively brief (for a government regulation):

§ 60–1.35 Contractor obligations and defenses to violation of the nondiscrimination requirement for compensation disclosures.

(a) General defenses. A contractor may pursue a defense to an alleged violation of paragraph (3) of the equal opportunity clauses listed in § 60–1.4(a) and (b) as long as the defense is not based on a rule, policy,  practice, agreement, or other instrument that prohibits employees or applicants from discussing or disclosing their compensation or the compensation of other employees or applicants, subject to paragraph (3) of the equal opportunity clause. Contractors may pursue this defense by demonstrating, for example, that it disciplined the employee for violation of a consistently and uniformly applied company policy, and that this policy does not prohibit, or tend to prohibit, employees or applicants from discussing or disclosing their compensation or the compensation of other employees or applicants.

(b) Essential job functions defense.

Actions taken by a contractor which adversely affect an employee will not be deemed to be discriminatory if the employee has access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as part of such employee’s essential job functions and disclosed the compensation of such other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to such information, and the disclosure was not in response to a formal complaint or charge, in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the contractor, or is consistent with the information.

(c) Dissemination of nondiscrimination provision. 

The contractor or subcontractor shall disseminate the nondiscrimination provision, using the language as prescribed by the Director of OFCCP, to employees and applicants:

 1) The nondiscrimination provision shall be incorporated into existing employee manuals or handbooks; and 

(2) The nondiscrimination provision shall be disseminated to employees and applicants. Dissemination of the provision shall be executed by electronic posting or by posting a copy of the provision in conspicuous places available to employees and applicants for employment.

OFCCP has also published a supplement to its official "EEO is the Law" poster which most contractors utilize and which refers to the Pay Transparency rules (as well as to other recently published regulations).  The OFFCP official summary of the Pay Transparency regulation which covered employers are required to post in their employee handbooks, etc. provides as follows: 

PAY TRANSPARENCY POLICY STATEMENT

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information.

 

NOTICE: This summary is designed merely to inform and alert you of recent legal developments. It does not constitute legal advice and does not apply to any particular situation because different facts could lead to different results. Information here can be changed or amended without notice. Readers should not act upon this information without legal advice. If you have any questions about anything you have read, you should consult with or retain an employment attorney.

DOL Publishes Final Rule for EO 13658 Raising Minimum Wage for Certain Federal Contractors to $10.10/hour in 2015

Today, the Department of Labor published the final rule implementing Executive Order 13658, which raises the minimum wage for certain employees of certain federal construction and service contractors to $10.10/hour with new and replacement government contracts issued after January 1, 2015.  Interestingly, the EO and final regulation exclude certain employers (including those located outside the U.S.) and employees (such as students, individuals exempt from minimum wages under the FLSA, and those who work less than 20% on covered contracts). It also does not mandate application of the rule to independent agencies, such as the FDIC: 

The Executive Order strongly encourages, but does not compel, ‘‘[i]ndependent agencies’’ to comply with its requirements. 79 FR 9853. The Department interpreted this provision, in light of the Executive Order’s broad goal of adequately  compensating workers on contracts with the Federal Government, as a narrow exemption from coverage. See 79 FR 9851. As discussed above, the proposed rule interpreted independent agencies to mean any independent regulatory agency within the meaning of 44 U.S.C. 3502(5). This interpretation is consistent with provisions in other Executive Orders. See, e.g., Executive Order 13636, 78 FR 11739 (Feb. 12, 2013); Executive Order 12861, 58 FR 48255 (Sept. 11, 1993). Thus, under the proposed rule, the Executive Order would cover executive departments and agencies but would not cover any independent regulatory agency within the meaning of 44 U.S.C. 3502(5).

Accordingly, federal contractors would be prudent to examine whether their contract fits within the coverage for this Executive Order.

NOTICE: This summary is designed merely to inform and alert you of recent legal developments. It does not constitute legal advice and does not apply to any particular situation because different facts could lead to different results. Information here can change or be amended without notice. Readers should not act upon this information without legal advice. If you have any questions about anything you have read, you should consult with or retain an employment attorney.

President Obama Issues Executive Order Barring Large Federal Contractors from Using Certain Pre-Dispute Arbitration Agreements and Requiring Reporting of Employment and Labor Violations

This morning, President Obama signed a new Executive Order which applies only to federal contractors with contracts in excess of $500,000.   Where the value of the goods or services being procured are expected to exceed $500,000, the contractor will be required to disclose any arbitration, court or agency awards, judgments or determinations concerning violations of, for instance, the FMLA, E.O. 11246 (aka affirmative actions requirements for women and minorities), the NLRA, the FLSA, OSHA, the FMLA, the Rehabilitation Act, Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA, Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Act and equivalent state laws.  These contractors will be required to update this information every six months and require their subcontractors to do likewise.  The DOL has been tasked with developing regulations about defining and creating consequences for repeated and serious violations.  

In addition, where the value of goods or services being procured exceeds $1M, the contractor is prohibited from using pre-dispute arbitration agreements with employees or contractors to govern disputes arising under Title VII or concerning or “any tort related to or arising out of sexual assault or harassment.” This requirement will not apply to collective bargaining agreements, pre-existing agreements, or where the employer provides commercially available off-the-shelf items.

Finally, the Executive Order requires the provision of pay stub information to the contractors with contracts in excess of $500,000:

Paycheck Transparency.  (a)  Agencies shall ensure that, for contracts subject to section 2 of this order, provisions in solicitations and clauses in contracts shall provide that, in each pay period, contractors provide all individuals performing work under the contract for whom they are required to maintain wage records under the Fair Labor Standards Act; 40 U.S.C. chapter 31, subchapter IV (also known as the Davis-Bacon Act); 41 U.S.C. chapter 67 (also known as the Service Contract Act); or equivalent State laws, with a document with information concerning that individual's hours worked, overtime hours, pay, and any additions made to or deductions made from pay.  Agencies shall also require that contractors incorporate this same requirement into subcontracts covered by section 2 of this order.  The document provided to individuals exempt from the overtime compensation requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act need not include a record of hours worked if the contractor informs the individuals of their overtime exempt status.  These requirements shall be deemed to be fulfilled if the contractor is complying with State or local requirements that the Secretary of Labor has determined are substantially similar to those required by this subsection.

NOTICE: This summary is designed merely to inform and alert you of recent legal developments. It does not constitute legal advice and does not apply to any particular situation because different facts could lead to different results. Information here can change or be amended without notice. Readers should not act upon this information without legal advice. If you have any questions about anything you have read, you should consult with or retain an employment attorney.