News
Federal Announcements and Updates
As changes are made to the employment requirements under federal contracts by actions of the administration or congress, Pillar updates its material in a timely fashion. The changes (or possible changes being considered) for the current year are reflected below with some commentary on each. A full discussion of each subject is contained in Pillar’s Employment Requirements of Federal Contractors and Subcontractors.
Vaccine Mandate
On September 9, 2021 EO 14042 established a requirement for federal agencies beginning October 15, 2021 to only enter into Service and Construction contracts with contractors that “provide adequate COVID – 19 safeguards for their workforce” that works on or in connection with a federal contract, and directed the White House’s Safer Federal Worker Task Force to issue Guidance describing the necessary “safeguards,” which it did on September 24.
2022 Executive Order Minimum Wage Rates
2021 SCA H&W Benefit Rate / Reduced Rate for Contracts with Paid Sick Leave
VEVRAA Hiring benchmark changed to 5.6%
Effective March 31, 2021, the national hiring benchmark (which is equal to the BLS’ calculation of veterans nationally in the civilian workforce for the previous year), is 5.6%.
Increased Statutory Acquisition Thresholds
On July 2, 2020, the acquisition councils published a final rule incorporating into the FAR the statutory changes (by the NDAAs for 2018, 2019) for the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT) and Micro-Purchase Threshold (MPT).