Compliance Stuff

Deregulatory action fully revokes requirements of Biden Executive Order 14055 WASHINGTON  – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the  rescission of regulations   published by the previous administration in 2023 requiring contractors and subcontractors to give qualified employees the right of first refusal of employment with a successor contract.  On Jan. 20, President Trump issued  Executive Order 14148, “ Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions ” which revoked, among other items, Executive Order 14055. Today’s action fully implements Executive Order 14148 and revokes Executive Order 14055. Workers and employers can call the  Wage and Hour Division  with questions and requests for  compliance assistance  at its toll-free helpline, 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Employers are encouraged to use the agency’s industry-specific  compliance assistance toolkits  to learn about their responsibilities under the laws enf...

  Among the first actions taken by the incoming administration was to rescind   Executive Order (EO) 14055 . Titled “Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts,” EO 14055 required certain federal contractors to offer jobs to their predecessor’s employees. The EO had proven controversial among the business community and was widely expected to be rescinded. Now that it has, federal contractors will not have to offer jobs to their predecessor’s employees before hiring new workers. What was EO 14055? In 2009, the Obama administration issued  EO 13495 , which would have applied to federal contractors covered by the  Service Contract Act . Under the EO, any covered contractor who won new work from the government would have had to give a “right of first refusal” to certain employees of its predecessor. That order, however, was rescinded by the first Trump administration. Then, in 2021, the Biden administration issued EO 14055. That EO effectively revived...

In one of numerous Executive Orders signed on January 20, 2025, President Trump issued an order entitled, “ Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions .” The Executive Order revokes a long list of Executive Orders and actions by his predecessor, President Joe Biden. As expected, many Biden Executive Orders revoked by President Trump were those in furtherance of diversity and inclusion efforts but included others, including those on pay transparency and COVID-19 protections that had not yet been rescinded by President Biden. Some highlights of the rescinded Executive Orders include: Executive Order 13988, Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation (see our previous blog post,  President Biden Issues Executive Order Addressing Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Discrimination ) Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government (see our post on t...