President Biden has issued Executive Order 14126, which will require designated federal agencies to consider an employer’s labor and employment practices when awarding federal financial assistance under several recent laws.
The E.O. applies to the selection of projects by “implementing agencies” for entities receiving “federal financial assistance” from the “Investing in America agenda.” By limiting coverage to grants, loans, and rebates, the E.O. does not appear to cover federal government contracting.
The E.O. defines “implementing agencies” as the following agencies: the Agriculture Department; the Commerce Department; the Education Department; the Energy Department; the Homeland Security Department; the Housing and Urban Development Department; the Interior Department; the Labor Department; the Transportation Department; and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The E.O. applies only to projects funded under four laws enacted during the Biden Administration: the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021; the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) Act of 2022; and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, can read more here.