It is the last day of an eventful year. I thought I would try my hand at predicting what happens in the government contract world in 2026.
Read MoreDOL completed part of its deregulatory efforts yesterday when it fully revoked the regulations issued by former President Biden’s Administration on so-called nondisplacement of workers. The new DOL action involved the rescission of regulations published by the previous administration in 2023 requiring contractors and subcontractors to give qualified employees the right of first refusal of employment with a successor contract.
Read MoreIn the usual course of events, any SCA price adjustment proposed must be grounded in the contractor’s actual incurred costs, not the costs the contractor proposed that it would incur when it agreed to the contract.
Read MoreI have looked at the FAR Part 22 labor and employment provision changes in the proposed Revolutionary FAR Overhaul. To my eyes they don’t seem so “revolutionary.” Mostly, what they do is move the interpretive regulations to the new FAR Companion or other resources. That may reduce their importance. And that may make it easier to evade compliance. But that isn’t likely to change much for the prevailing wage field since the FAR regulations were simply a restatement of the Department of Labor’s (“DOL’s”) Part 4 and 5 regulations found in 29 Code of Federal Regulation. Those DOL regulations have been around for a long time. Taking provisions out of the regulatory book (yet leaving DOL’s regulatory scheme in place) and leaving existing statutory provisions on the books, does NOT constitute a “revolution.”
Read MoreDue to the shutdown, furlough, and perhaps policy confusion, DOL has yet to announce the new federal Contractor Minimum Wage to be effective January 1, 2026.
Read MoreEmergency pay is not one of the items excluded from the regular rate of pay and, therefore, as DOL opined, it must be included in the overtime formula and thus acts to boost up the amount of overtime premium pay due the worker.
Read MoreThe Wage and Hour Division recently opined that a restaurant can claim a tip credit for oyster shuckers who work “front-of-house” at an oyster bar because they are among the kinds of employees who regularly and customarily receive tips.
Read MoreGovernment service contractors need to exercise restraint and avoid bidding on work involving unionized contractors with insolvent union pension plans. They are a trap for the unwary.
Read More“Freddy’s back!” Is it an nightmare on Elm Street? Once again DOL has instituted a PAID program for voluntary self-audit and payment of FLSA and FMLA errors. But think carefully before you dive in.
Read MoreThis back-to-basics blog just touches on a few of the many possible issues that come up under the SCA section 4(c) successor contractor rule. That rule can require successor contractor to pay not less than the wages and fringes set forth in the predecessor’s collective bargaining agreement. It is a very complex area of the law, and it is one place where the engagement of competent SCA counsel may aid in dealing with disputes.
Read MoreDOL is issuing so-called non-standard Service Contract Act (“SCA”) wage determinations (“WDs”) using a numbering scheme which deceives contractors and results in inadvertent violations of the rules regarding furnishing of health & welfare (“H&W”) benefits.
Read MoreAre workers who perform testing, adjusting and balancing (“TAB “) work on heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (“HVAC”) systems “laborers or mechanics” to whom Davis-Bacon requirements may be applicable? Under what circumstances is TAB work on HVAC systems part of the construction, alteration, and/or repair on a DBA-covered project, and hence subject to DBA labor standards?
Read MoreMy candidate for the most important law enacted by Congress is the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). This law had perhaps the greatest economic impact upon the most Americans of any legislation. And its legacy endures even today, as it makes an appearance in the so-called One Big Beautiful Tax Bill as the instrument to partially deliver Trump’s promised no tax on overtime.
Read MoreThis blog goes back-to-basics explains the origin of and requirements to set up a so-called “Belo plan” for overtime compensation. Belo plans are a form of guaranteed overtime compensation. Failed Belo plans, which don’t meet the legal requirements, are still guaranteed fixed salaries for the scheduled hour paid, and thus may be eligible for half-time coefficient premium treatment.
Read MoreHow often employers must run their payroll for federal government contract work is dependent on the contract terms and where you are performing the work. The requirement usually varies from weekly to monthly, but employers need to review both your contract and state and local wage laws and regulations. The answer is that “it depends.”
Read MoreThe Trump Administration announced on June 25, 2025, that investigators of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) no longer will be authorized to seek the payment of liquidated damages for Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) violations during the course of prelitigation investigations. This policy is the latest development in the Administration’s roll-back of wage and hour policies implemented by the Biden Administration.
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The Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act (“PCA”) is perhaps the least known and understood of the wage and hour laws. This blog examines the lives of the two legislative sponsors for which the Act is eponymously named — Senator David I. Walsh and Representative Arthur D. Healey.
Read MoreThe Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is relaunching its opinion letter program. While these opinion letters are aimed at the broader private sector, they’re particularly valuable for government contractors because compliance with basic wage and hour law is a cornerstone for fulfilling their prevailing wage obligations.
Read MoreHere is a summary of the requirements of the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act (“PCA”), the federal wage law which covers supply and manufacturing contractors. Basically, the PCA only requires the FLSA minimum wage be paid, but still imposes child labor, overtime, health and welfare, posting, and recordkeeping requirements. In the conclusion, I tell two recent WHPCA-related war stories about cases I had involving hybrid contracts.
Read MoreThe Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division’s newsfeed dried up when the Trump administration came into office. Could the newsfeed drought be over? Possibly - WHD just announced two recent enforcement actions, one of which concerns the potential for bonus payments to require the payment of boosted overtime rates.
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