On March 27, 2017, the implementing regulations issued pursuant to President Obama’s Executive Order (EO) 13673, Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces-commonly referred to as “Blacklisting”-were rescinded by President Trump signing a Congressional joint resolution of disapproval (H.J. Res. 37) under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). In addition, President Trump signed a new Executive Order revoking EO 13673 in its entirety. The new EO directs agencies to “consider promptly rescinding any orders, rules, regulations, guidance, guidelines, or policies implementing or enforcing” EO 13673, which would include the U.S. Department of Labor’s companion guidance to the now-rescinded Blacklisting regulations.

Trump’s actions are the coup de grace to the embattled Blacklisting executive order and implementing regulations which, most notably, would have required contractors and subcontractors to self-disclose a wide range of alleged violations of labor and employment laws when seeking to do business with the federal government. Although a Texas federal court issued a nationwide injunction last fall staying EO 13673’s requirements for self-reporting of violations and restricting pre-dispute arbitration agreements, contractors still were required to comply with the rule’s “paycheck transparency” provisions that become effective on January 1, 2017.

Importantly, in addition to the rescission of all the current Blacklisting regulations, the CRA nullification bars agencies in the future from reissuing rules in “substantially the same form” and promulgating new rules that are “substantially the same,” absent specific authorization by a law.

Contact your FortneyScott attorney for additional information about the impact of these changes on your company’s federal contracts and related compliance matters.