“… For federal contractors, much will change under a Biden administration. Some changes will return the familiar. Some wags are already calling the next presidency a third Obama term. That may or may not be accurate, much less fair to Biden.”
“One thing is certain, the government won’t retreat one dollar from its $500 billion-a-year contracting appetite. Beyond that, the pH of the procurement waters will change.”
“The agency to watch, if you’re a contractor, and by extension a contracting officer, is the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. This Labor Department unit is the source of many policies that apply to contractors, starting with ensuring contractors follow what used to be called employment standards. Mainly that contractors don’t, in their own employment practices, violate equal opportunity laws and regulations.”
“Administrations use it as one of the levers of power the general public doesn’t see, unlike, say, the Environmental Protection Agency or Justice Department. Its policies apply to contracts and contractors.”
“For example, OFCCP last month put out a request for information on diversity training that might include racial or sex stereotyping. This is related to the Trump administration’s order, applying both to agencies and contractors, to cease and desist from conducting such training. You can expect the incoming Biden crew to undo that order PDQ, if not requiring contractors to affirmatively have some sort of training in place.”
“During the Obama administration, OFCCP added requirements on contractors for equal pay for men and women, although the administration eventually lost a lawsuit against Oracle Corporation for pay discrimination. The case was decided by a Labor Department administrative law judge. But expect wage-related, as well as a different gender/race/opportunity issues to figure into the compact a Biden administration will seek with contractors…” Read the full article here.
Source: What a Biden administration will mean for contractors – By Tom Temin, November 10, 2020. Federal News Network.
