On April 1, ABC submitted comments opposing the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council’s proposed rule, Pay Equity and Transparency in Federal Contracting. The proposal would prohibit federal contractors and subcontractors from requesting or considering information about a job applicant’s salary history during hiring for certain positions and would also require them to publicly disclose the salary for certain positions as part of any advertisements for the job opening.

Companies would be required to comply with these provisions for any position that will perform work on or in connection with a federal contract. The rule also establishes a complaint process for job applicants to report contractor noncompliance to the contracting agency.

ABC’s comments highlighted several concerning issues regarding the proposed rule, including:

• Violation of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act by inhibiting “economical and efficient government procurement”
• Conflicts with existing regulations requiring evaluation of employee compensation
• Impractical and overly broad salary range requirements
• Lack of clarity and due process for contractors in the complaint process

ABC will continue to monitor this regulation and provide additional information as the FAR Council moves towards a final rule.