March 27, 2017

PSC Applauds President’s Signature Overturning Fair Pay Regulation  

 

Arlington, Va. – The Professional Services Council (PSC) today welcomed President Trump’s signing of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution disapproving the August 25, 2016 “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) rule, often referred to as the “blacklisting” regulation. 

While PSC supports specific labor laws requiring government contractor compliance, the association strongly objected to this rule because it failed to provide due process protections and it imposed on contractors overly burdensome compliance costs and requirements.

“With the signing of the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces CRA, President Trump has restored fairness to the government contracting community and removed an onerous and unfair burden,” said PSC President and CEO David Berteau. “The regulation would not have helped the Labor Department’s existing labor law enforcement, and it would have further slowed the acquisition process, elevated unsubstantiated allegations to the same status as convictions, and imposed new and unnecessary requirements on contracting officers and contractors.” 

The Department of Labor currently has oversight capabilities and accountability mechanisms to ensure that contractors abide by federal labor laws. If there are problems within that process, PSC continues to believe that the government should devote the necessary resources to fix them, rather than establish a parallel and duplicative process.

Note: The final rule never took effect because a federal court enjoined nationwide implementation of the rule, except for a small portion relating to pay transparency, in October 2016. Passage of the CRA not only ensures that this rule does not take effect as is, but that it may not be reissued in substantially the same form in the future.
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About PSC: PSC is the voice of the government technology and professional services industry. PSC’s more than 400 member companies represent small, medium and large businesses that provide federal agencies with services of all kinds, including information technology, engineering, logistics, facilities management, operations and maintenance, consulting, international development, scientific, social, environmental services, and more. Together, the trade association’s members employ hundreds of thousands of Americans in all 50 states. Follow PSC on Twitter @PSCSpeaks.


Contact:
Jeremy Madson
Director, Public Policy
Professional Services Council
Email:  madson@pscouncil.org
Direct:  703-875-8392
Office:  703-875-8059