President Biden To Raise Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors to $15 per Hour

President Biden is expected to give an executive order on Tuesday that increases contract workers' hourly minimum wage to $15 in early 2022, up from the current $10.95.

Agencies will need to adopt the $15 minimum wage in new contract solicitations starting January 30th & to implement the threshold in new contracts by March 30th. Agencies must implement the higher wage in existing contracts when they are extended, which often happens annually.

According to President Biden, the wage will be adjusted yearly based on the changes in inflation.

The US President has pressed to raise the federal minimum wage nationally to $15 an hour, up from $7.25, where it was set in 2009. Biden included it in his $1.9 trillion covid-19 relief bill.

However, in late February the US Senate ruled that the relief bill did not meet the strict guidelines needed to move forward in the house's budget reconciliation process, which the Democrats used to pass the bill without Republican support.

The Tuesday order will help to provide a big pay rise to a wide range of workers, including cleaning professionals and maintenance workers, cafeteria and other food service workers, laborers who build and repair federal infrastructure, and nursing assistants who care for veterans.