I think sometime between 2007 through 2009, both my Dad and I decided that it would be feasible for us to become federal contractors. For me, it was the next logical step because I’d already been mediating for the Federal Equal Employment Commission. For my Dad…well, he just thought it was a good way to expand his business. As many of you may know, signing up to be a contractor is not the most difficult process (though it is a bit bureaucratic). The process of competing for these government contracts can be a bit daunting and time consuming though. And, even if you can demonstrate your ability to fulfill the job requirements outlined in the Request For Proposal (RFPs), unless your company fulfills certain criteria, you won’t have ‘a snowball’s chance in hell’ of winning the contract (even if you have the lowest bid).
Well, recently, the Obama administration has decided to use the federal contracting process as a means of advancing its agenda on workers’ rights. This, of course, means many contractors will have to jump through even more hurdles if they want to secure a successful bid. I personally believe that the government, in its capacity as purchaser, has the right to demand certain things from its vendors so I don’t have a problem with this.
However, if you are interested in becoming a federal contractor, you should know that so far this year, the president has issued executive orders that:
1. Required federal contractors to pay their employees at least $10.10 per hour
2. Barred federal contractors from discriminating against gay, lesbian and transgender workers.
Well, according to Shear and Greenhouse, just last week, the Obama administration added a third executive order to this lot that would:
3. Have procurement officials steer clear of federal contractors who have “pervasive, repeated, willful or serious…violations of minimum wage and overtime laws, job safety laws, laws against discrimination by race, religion or sex, and laws allowing workers to form unions.”
o This order will also “forbid companies with contracts of $1 million or more from requiring employees to enter into mandatory arbitration agreements for disputes arising out of charges of sexual discrimination, harassment or assault.” This is because, according to many legal experts, these arbitrations tend to work against the employees.
The goal here is to give an advantage to federal contractors that prioritize their workers. This is a marked change from the past where, as recently as 2010, the Government Accountability Office found that nearly two-thirds of the 50 largest violators of wage and hour laws went on to receive new federal contracts.” The good thing is a lot of these companies were large corporations like Imperial Sugar and Tyson Foods.
Because procurement officers will have to proactively track violations and exclude companies that do not comply with the law, this can give a leg up to many small business owners who no longer have to “compete with contractors who offer lowball bids — based on savings from skirting the law.”
This, of course, also means that you have even more incentive to keep on the right side of the law.
