New contractor minimum wage set for 2015
President Obama has made good on his pledge to raise the minimum wage where he can, signing an executive order that applies to new federal contracts or contract replacements beginning next year.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was originally published by FCW.com.
President Obama made good on his State of the Union vow to raise the minimum wage for federal contract workers, signing an executive order pushing the rate from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour beginning Jan. 1, 2015.
In a Feb. 12 signing ceremony for the executive order authorizing the raise, the president also prodded Congress to enact a similar boost for workers nationally.
The order will raise the minimum wage for thousands of contractors providing maintenance and other services at federal facilities. It will apply only to new federal contracts or contract replacements beginning next year, according to a White House fact sheet, to give contractors time to prepare and price bids accordingly.
According to the White House, there are "hundreds of thousands of people working under contracts with the federal government to provide services or construction who are currently making less than $10.10 an hour." It said examples of federal contractors who would be affected by the new wage rules include nursing assistants in veterans’ nursing homes, concession workers in national parks, people serving food to troops and maintenance workers on military bases.
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