9 employment-related executive orders that could disappear Jan. 20
When President-elect Donald J. Trump was campaigning, he repeatedly stated that he would immediately rescind every executive order issued by President Obama. In fact, he will have that authority as soon as he is sworn in on Jan. 20.
Here are some of the most significant employment-related executive orders that could be on the chopping block, most applying to the millions of employees who work for federal contractors and subcontractors:
Nondisplacement of qualified workers under service contracts
Gives employees working on federal contracts the right of first refusal of employment if another company takes over the contract. Executive Order 13495: Issued Jan. 30, 2009.
Notification of employee rights under federal labor laws
Requires all federal contractors and subcontractors to post notice of employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act. Executive Order 13496: Issued Jan. 30, 2009.
Use of project labor agreements for federal construction projects
Grants preference to union shops on federal construction projects. Executive order 13502: Issued Feb. 6, 2009.
Federal leadership on reducing text messaging while driving
Prohibits federal employees from sending or viewing text messages while driving government vehicles. Executive Order 13513: Issued Oct. 1, 2009.
Establishing a minimum wage for federal contractors
Requires federal contractors to pay a minimum wage of $10.10 per hour ($10.20 on Jan. 1, 2017). Executive Order 13658: Issued Feb. 12, 2014.
Nonretaliation for disclosure of compensation information
Bans retaliation against employees of federal contractors for discussing compensation. Executive Order 13665: Issued April 8, 2014.
Equal employment opportunity in the federal government
Prohibits federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Executive Order 13672: Issued July 21, 2014.
Fair pay and safe workplaces
Prohibits large federal contractors from requiring employees to sign mandatory arbitration agreements covering discrimination and harassment claims. Requires contractors to report any violation of labor laws or executive orders in the past three years. (That portion of the order has not yet been implemented, subjected to a temporary injunction granted in federal court.) Executive Order 13673: Issued July 31, 2014.
Paid sick leave for federal contractors
Requires federal contractors to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours employees work. Executive Order 13706: Issued Sept. 7, 2015.
What is an executive order?
Executive orders are official documents through which the president of the United States manages the operations of the federal government. They direct the heads of federal agencies how to run the federal government itself. Thus, most employment-related executive orders concern either the federal workforce or the federal contractor workforce.
No constitutional provision or statute explicitly permits executive orders, but they have been regularly issued by every president except William Henry Harrison, who served for just one month.
Thus far in his two terms, President Obama has issued 250 executive orders, fewer than any full-term president since Grover Cleveland.
