Compliance Stuff

Zoe Waldman, Intern, contributed to this client alert. What Changed and Why? The FAR Council Issues a Rule to Amend FAR Thresholds for Inflation Every Five Years Pursuant to a Statute. Effective October 1, 2025, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council issued a final rule to amend FAR thresholds applied in federal procurements . By statute, these thresholds are required to be updated for inflation every five years,  using the Consumer Price Index . The threshold changes do not apply to the Construction Wage Rate Requirements statute, the Service Contract Labor Standards statute, performance and payment bonds, and trade agreements thresholds . What Are the Key  Changes ?  1. Micro-Purchase Threshold (MPT):  The MPT is the threshold below which government purchases can be made without soliciting competitive bids, simplifying procurement procedures to expedite small transactions. Standard MPT : Increased from $10,000 → $15,000 Contingency Operations :  U.S...

  Changes align construction industry with general industry standards WASHINGTON -  The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration has finalized a revision to the personal protective equipment standard for construction. The  final rule explicitly requires the equipment to properly fit  any construction worker who needs it, improving protections from hazardous conditions. “I’ve talked to workers in construction, particularly women, who have spoken of personal protective equipment that didn’t fit or was simply unavailable at the jobsite in their size,” said Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker. “PPE must fit properly to work. I’m proud of the broad support from both employers and unions for OSHA’s efforts to make clear that employers must provide the right PPE for each worker who needs it.” The revision to the standard adds specific language requiring that employers provide PPE that properly f...

  It’s often a long road from identifying an issue, creating a consensus and then designing a solution. That seems to be the case with the philosophy called  total worker health ( TWH). It was created in 2006 by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to “expand the science, education and training around a more holistic approach to worker well-being.” “TWH is defined as policies, programs and practices that integrate protection from work-related safety and health hazards with promotion of injury and illness prevention efforts to advance worker well-being,” according to  Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Work, Health & Well-Being,  one of the 10 centers of excellence created by NIOSH to implement this doctrine. Since its creation, many companies have adopted this expanded vision of safety and created programs to address it. By 2023, 58% of small firms and 94% of large companies in the U.S. had a wellness program. I...