Monday, January 25, 2021
In his first three days in office, President Biden moved quickly to issue a number of executive orders (EO) impacting labor and employment policies. This GT Alert provides some of the key takeaways for employers and government contractors.
Requiring Mask-Wearing for Federal Workforce
An EO issued Jan. 20 requires federal employees and contractors to wear masks, maintain physical distance, and adhere to other public health measures on federal property, as provided in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines. The EO further encourages mask-wearing across the country on non-governmental property.
Prohibition of Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation
To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog:
On January 20, 2021, the first day of the Biden Administration, the President took several executive actions that affect government contractors. The President is expected to sign an additional Executive Order (EO) today that addresses several federal worker issues.
First, the President rescinded several Executive Orders (EOs) issued by the prior administration that either directly affected contractors or the regulatory process as a whole.
Section 10 of the Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government rescinds Executive Order 13950, Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping. EO 13950 had prohibited certain types of training programs by contractors and federal grantees and imposed serious sanctions for contractors or grantees who ran afoul of the EOs limitations. Section 10 also instructs agencies to consider actions to suspend agency actions arising fr
Summary
As one of his first official acts as the President of the United States, President Biden issued an
Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government (the Executive Order). It set in stone the social justice policies underpinning the Biden administration and repealed two Executive Orders issued by former President Trump: 1) Executive Order 13950 on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping and 2) Executive Order 13958 on Establishing the President’s Advisory 1776 Commission.
The Upshot
Specifically, Sections 10(a) and (c) of the Executive Order repealed EO 13950 and EO 13958, respectively, and Section 10(b) directed: “The heads of agencies covered by Executive Order 13950 shall review and identify proposed and existing agency actions related to or arising from Executive Order 13950. The head of each agency shall, within 60 days of the date of this order, consider suspending, revising, or rescinding any such act
Joe Biden makes a victory speech from the Chase Center after the media declares him the winner of the 2020 presidential election against President Donald Trump on November 07, 2020, in Wilmington, Delaware. | Win McNamee/Getty Images
Christopher F. Rufo, a director at the Discovery Institute, who said his research inspired former President Donald Trump’s decision to abolish critical race theory training at federal agencies last year, announced a legal coalition to fight back after President Joe Biden reversed the move.
“Today, President Biden doubled-down on critical race theory in the federal government. In response, I am announcing a new coalition of legal foundations and private attorneys that will wage relentless legal warfare against race theory in America s institutions. The fight is on,” Rufo said in a statement.
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Policy. Equal opportunity is the bedrock of American democracy, and our diversity is one of our country’s greatest strengths. But for too many, the American Dream remains out of reach. Entrenched disparities in our laws and public policies, and in our public and private institutions, have often denied that equal opportunity to individuals and communities. Our country faces converging economic, health, and climate crises that have exposed and exacerbated inequities, while a historic movement for justice has highlighted the unbearable human costs of systemic racism. Our Nation deserves an ambitious whole-of-government equity agenda that matches the scale of the opportunities and challenges that we face.