Executive Actions Continue To Complicate Contractor Compliance

Following through on a promise made in his State of the Union Address, President Obama has undertaken a series of unilateral measures this year creating new labor requirements for federal contractors. The third quarter was no different, with two new Executive Orders and new rules governing the implementation of existing Orders.

• On July 21, President Obama signed Executive Order 13,672, "Further Amendments to Executive Order 11,478, Equal Employment Opportunity in the Federal Government, and Executive Order 11,246, Equal Employment Opportunity," extending nondiscrimination requirements to also prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, and charging the Secretary of Labor with responsibility to propose implementing regulations. One month later, the Office of Federal Contracting Compliance Programs ("OFCCP") issued a directive explaining that discrimination on the basis of gender identity or transgender status constitutes sex