For the Obama administration, there may have never been a more apropos time than Labor Day to extend paid sick leave to federal contractors. At very least, it ensured that Tuesday’s discussion of the newest executive order would be anything but leisurely.
Obama used a Monday speech in Boston to unveil the order, requiring contractors to offer up to seven days of paid leave to employees, accrued by hour for every 30 hours worked.
“The fundamental structure of work has not kept pace with the changing American family, and many families are struggling to balance obligations at home and on the job,” a White House-prepared statement announcing the executive order said.
The order in another in a series of steps made by the president to extend paid benefits to workers. In the absence of legislation in Congress, the White House has used the executive order to affect change, at least when it comes to federal contractors.
In August, the Professional Services Council joined with three other contractor trade associations to pen a letter asking the White House to stop its growing use of executive orders when it comes to contracting regulation.
“At a time when government budgets are under siege, cost efficiency is essential, and there is a broad agreement about the need for the government to open its aperture to enable access to the full marketplace of capabilities, this rapid growth in compliance requirements is becoming untenable,” the letter said.
The Aug. 11 letter was written in anticipation of Monday’s order, asserting that as a result of the executive orders, an estimated 30 cents of every federal contracting dollar was spent on compliance costs.
PSC CEO Stan Soloway said in a statement that the association was still reviewing the new executive order, but again expressed its wariness of the administration’s expanded contracting regulatory stance.
“Among other things, we are concerned that the executive order might run directly counter to the ways in which some of the most progressive companies in the country are today addressing leave and benefits overall,” he said. “But once again, despite our strong admonition that this never-ending spate of [executive order]s is adding substantial costs to the government and contractors alike, often with little or no actual benefit, the White House has gone forward with yet another contractor-unique executive order that is really a proxy for its broader policy objectives.”
The executive order will apply to federal contracts starting in 2017. The Obama administration has also set aside $2 billion in its 2016 budget to encourage guaranteed paid sick leave on a state level.
