Federal Contractor Minimum Wage to Increase Jan. 30, 2022

WASHINGTON (Nov. 22, 2021) — The United States Department of Labor has finalized regulations to implement Executive Order 14026, “Increasing the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors,” which was signed by President Biden on April 27, 2021.

The rule will raise the federal contractor minimum wage from $10.95 to $15 an hour. The rule will go into effect on Jan. 30, 2022. The new rate does not apply to eligible federal contracts entered into before Jan. 30, 2022, but will apply to extensions of such contracts finalized after the deadline.

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) released the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division’s final rule increasing the minimum wage on federal contracts from $10.95 to $15 per hour beginning in early 2022, superseding a scheduled increase to $11.25 that will occur on Jan. 1.

“Most of ABC’s federal contractor members already pay the vast majority of their workers at wage rates higher than the $15 per hour minimum established in this rule,” said Ben Brubeck, ABC vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs. “However, ABC is concerned with the Biden administration’s decision to ignore Congress’s authority and not establish a market-driven approach to wage determination. This rulemaking will create unnecessary confusion and needlessly increase the compliance burden on ABC member contractors that build America’s infrastructure and perform other federal or federally assisted work.”

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