
The Wall Street Journal: Minimum wage to be raised to $15 an hour for federal contractors
Federal contractors, including janitors, security guards, child-care workers who provide services to the government, will soon be paid a $15-an-hour minimum wage, the Labor Department said Monday.
Starting Jan. 30, all new contracts or contract extensions will require the higher minimum wage, which will be indexed to inflation, the department said in announcing it had finalized a rule President Biden called for earlier this year. The rule would raise the minimum wage for contractors from $10.95 an hour. Most federal contracts last three to five years, according to the department.
Labor Department officials say about 327,000 contractors could see higher wages under the rule. The government employs a total of around five million contractors, according to Paul Light, a professor at New York University.
“Federal contract workers are essential workers and are critical to the federal government,” said Labor Secretary Marty Walsh. “It’s a step in the right direction and it also ensures the federal government leads by example.”
An expanded version of this story appears on WSJ.com.
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