Today’s News & Commentary—January 18, 2022

A federal contractor minimum wage increase to $15 an hour is slated to go into effect Jan. 30. In April 2021, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14026 increasing the minimum pay of federal contractors. The purpose of the Order, in an announcement made by the Labor Department, is to enhance “worker productivity, generate higher-quality work by bolstering employee health, morale, and effort” as well as improve economic security of these workers and their families, many of whom are women and people of color. The Order contains provisions that require the minimum wage in future years to be indexed against inflation. Notably, the Order also eliminated the tipped minimum wage for contract employees and ensures at least $15 an hour for workers with disabilities. The increase will apply to new federal contracts as well as renewals and extensions of existing contracts. Over 320,000 federal contract employees will benefit from the new increase.