Final Rule Sets Federal Contractor Worker Salary at $15 an Hour

Federal contract workers will receive US$15 an hour starting January 30, 2022, under a final rule, Executive Order 14026, announced this week by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The rule—effective in all 50 states; Washington, D.C.; and specified U.S. territories—will:

• Increase the hourly minimum wage for workers performing work on or in connection with covered federal contracts to $15 
• Index the federal contract minimum wage in future years to inflation
• Eliminate the tipped minimum wage for federal contract employees by 2024 
• Ensure 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 workers helped by Executive Order 14026 and [the] final rule do essential work on our nation’s behalf. They build and repair the federal infrastructure, clean and maintain our national parks, monuments and other federal facilities, care for our veterans, and ensure federal workers and military service members are provided with safe and nutritious food,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh. “Implementing this Executive Order improves the economic security of these workers and their families, many of whom are women and people of color.” 

Executive Order 14026 applies to new contracts, and renewals and extensions of existing contracts, beginning January 30, 2022.

Walsh stood with federal contract workers— including a janitor at Maxwell Air Force base in Montgomery, Alabama and a floor technician at Fort Benning, Georgia—to announce the department’s final rule that implements Executive Order 14026.