The Biden Administration has withdrawn its proposed federal contractor pay transparency regulations. The regulations would have prohibited federal contractors from considering job applicants’ compensation history and would have required contractors to disclose the compensation for work on federal contracts in their job advertisements.
The Biden Administration has also withdrawn the government-wide procurement policy, adopted in response to Executive Order 14069, on which the proposed regulations were based.
A Federal Register notice ascribed the withdrawals to the need to focus on more pressing matters such as directives in recent National Defense Authorization Acts.
The withdrawal of the proposed regulations and policy means that no federal rule or policy expressly addresses pay history or transparency in job advertisements and hiring for federal contracts. While Title VII requirements continue to apply, in view of the priorities of the incoming Trump Administration, the focus on new pay transparency rules will likely remain with the states for the next few years.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, can read more here.