New Department of Labor Rule Will Protect Employees of Government Contractors

The Department of Labor issued a final rule implementing Executive Order 13495, Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts. The Executive Order establishes a general policy of the federal government concerning service contracts and solicitations for service contracts for performance of the same or similar services at the same location. This policy mandates the inclusion of a contract clause requiring the successor contractor and its subcontractors to offer those employees employed under the predecessor contract, whose employment will be otherwise terminated as a result of the award of the successor contract, a right of first refusal of employment under the successor contract in positions for which they are qualified. The effective date for this final rule is pending, and the Department will publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing the effective date once it is determined. –David J. Sullivan