Urgent – HR Alert – January 2013 – Contract Workers

by Judith E. Kramer An Executive Order issued nearly four years ago dealing with employees of federal contractors is set to take effect on January 18. President Barack Obama signed Executive Order 13495—Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts—on January 30, 2009. The order requires that contractors and subcontractors acquiring contracts that succeed contracts for the performance of the same or similar services at the same location must offer the predecessor contractor’s employees a right of first refusal of employment. Authority to enforce the order lies with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), which issued its final regulations on August 29, 2011. The order is just now taking effect because the effective date was postponed until the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council issued its regulations. Both sets of regulations take effect on January 18, meaning that contracting agencies must include the new requirements in solicitations, new contracts, and contract modifications. Contractors’ obligations do not begin until the new requirements are included in the relevant contracting document by the contracting agency. DOL regulations require successor contractors and subcontractors to offer qualified service employees who worked for the previous contractor jobs under the new contract. Typically, those employees will be presumed to be qualified for positions they held with the previous contractor unless the new contractor or subcontractor has credible written information that an employee failed to perform satisfactorily under the previous contract. Contact your Holman HR representative for further guidance and information.