Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 22 / Wednesday, February 4, 2009 / Presidential Documents 6107 

Executive Order 13496 of January 30, 2009 

Notification of Employee Rights Under Federal Labor Laws 

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the 

laws of the United States of America, including the Federal Property and 

Administrative Services Act, 40 U.S.C. 101 et seq., and in order to ensure 

the economical and efficient administration and completion of Government 

contracts, it is hereby ordered that: 

Section 1. Policy. This order is designed to promote economy and efficiency 

in Government procurement. When the Federal Government contracts for 

goods or services, it has a proprietary interest in ensuring that those contracts 

will be performed by contractors whose work will not be interrupted by 

labor unrest. The attainment of industrial peace is most easily achieved 

and workers’ productivity is enhanced when workers are well informed 

of their rights under Federal labor laws, including the National Labor Relations Act (Act), 29 U.S.C. 151 et seq. As the Act recognizes, ‘‘encouraging 

the practice and procedure of collective bargaining and . . . protecting 

the exercise by workers of full freedom of association, self-organization, 

and designation of representatives of their own choosing, for the purpose 

of negotiating the terms and conditions of their employment or other mutual 

aid or protection’’ will ‘‘eliminate the causes of certain substantial obstructions to the free flow of commerce’’ and ‘‘mitigate and eliminate these 

obstructions when they have occurred.’’ 29 U.S.C. 151. Relying on contractors 

whose employees are informed of such rights under Federal labor laws 

facilitates the efficient and economical completion of the Federal Government’s contracts. 

Sec. 2. Contract Clause. Except in contracts exempted in accordance with 

section 3 of this order, all Government contracting departments and agencies 

shall, to the extent consistent with law, include the following provisions 

in every Government contract, other than collective bargaining agreements 

as defined in 5 U.S.C. 7103(a)(8) and purchases under the simplified acquisition threshold as defined in the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act, 

41 U.S.C. 403. 

‘‘1. During the term of this contract, the contractor agrees to post a notice, 

of such size and in such form, and containing such content as the Secretary 

of Labor shall prescribe, in conspicuous places in and about its plants 

and offices where employees covered by the National Labor Relations Act 

engage in activities relating to the performance of the contract, including 

all places where notices to employees are customarily posted both physically 

and electronically. The notice shall include the information contained in 

the notice published by the Secretary of Labor in the Federal Register (Secretary’s Notice). 

‘‘2. The contractor will comply with all provisions of the Secretary’s 

Notice, and related rules, regulations, and orders of the Secretary of Labor. 

‘‘3. In the event that the contractor does not comply with any of the 

requirements set forth in paragraphs (1) or (2) above, this contract may 

be cancelled, terminated, or suspended in whole or in part, and the contractor 

may be declared ineligible for further Government contracts in accordance 

with procedures authorized in or adopted pursuant to Executive Order [number as provided by the Federal Register] of [insert new date]. Such other 

sanctions or remedies may be imposed as are provided in Executive Order 

[number as provided by the Federal Register] of [insert new date], or by 

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rule, regulation, or order of the Secretary of Labor, or as are otherwise 

provided by law. 

‘‘4. The contractor will include the provisions of paragraphs (1) through 

(3) above in every subcontract entered into in connection with this contract 

(unless exempted by rules, regulations, or orders of the Secretary of Labor 

issued pursuant to section 3 of Executive Order [number as provided by 

the Federal Register] of [insert new date]) so that such provisions will 

be binding upon each subcontractor. The contractor will take such action 

with respect to any such subcontract as may be directed by the Secretary 

of Labor as a means of enforcing such provisions, including the imposition 

of sanctions for non-compliance: Provided, however, that if the contractor 

becomes involved in litigation with a subcontractor, or is threatened with 

such involvement, as a result of such direction, the contractor may request 

the United States to enter into such litigation to protect the interests of 

the United States.’’ 

Sec. 3. Administration. 

(a) The Secretary of Labor (Secretary) shall be responsible for the administration and enforcement of this order. The Secretary shall adopt such rules 

and regulations and issue such orders as are necessary and appropriate 

to achieve the purposes of this order. 

(b) Within 120 days of the effective date of this order, the Secretary 

shall initiate a rulemaking to prescribe the size, form, and content of the 

notice to be posted by a contractor under paragraph 1 of the contract clause 

described in section 2 of this order. Such notice shall describe the rights 

of employees under Federal labor laws, consistent with the policy set forth 

in section 1 of this order. 

(c) Whenever the Secretary finds that an act of Congress, clarification 

of existing law by the courts or the National Labor Relations Board, or 

other circumstances make modification of the contractual provisions set 

out in subsection (a) of this section necessary to achieve the purposes 

of this order, the Secretary promptly shall issue such rules, regulations, 

or orders as are needed to cause the substitution or addition of appropriate 

contractual provisions in Government contracts thereafter entered into. 

Sec. 4. Exemptions. (a) If the Secretary finds that the application of any 

of the requirements of this order would not serve the purposes of this 

order or would impair the ability of the Government to procure goods 

or services on an economical and efficient basis, the Secretary may exempt 

a contracting department or agency or group of departments or agencies 

from the requirements of any or all of the provisions of this order with 

respect to a particular contract or subcontract or any class of contracts 

or subcontracts. 

(b) The Secretary may, if the Secretary finds that special circumstances 

require an exemption in order to serve the national interest, exempt a 

contracting department or agency from the requirements of any or all of 

the provisions of section 2 of this order with respect to a particular contract 

or subcontract or class of contracts or subcontracts. 

Sec. 5. Investigation. 

(a) The Secretary may investigate any Government contractor, subcontractor, or vendor to determine whether the contractual provisions required 

by section 2 of this order have been violated. 

Such investigations shall be conducted in accordance with procedures 

established by the Secretary. 

(b) The Secretary shall receive and investigate complaints by employees 

of a Government contractor or subcontractor, where such complaints allege 

a failure to perform or a violation of the contractual provisions required 

by section 2 of this order. 

Sec. 6. Compliance. 

(a) The Secretary, or any agency or officer in the executive branch lawfully 

designated by rule, regulation, or order of the Secretary, may hold such 

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hearings, public or private, regarding compliance with this order as the 

Secretary may deem advisable. 

(b) The Secretary may hold hearings, or cause hearings to be held, in 

accordance with subsection (a) of this section, prior to imposing, ordering, 

or recommending the imposition of sanctions under this order. Neither 

an order for cancellation, termination, or suspension of any contract or 

debarment of any contractor from further Government contracts under section 

7(b) of this order nor the inclusion of a contractor on a published list 

of noncomplying contractors under section 7(c) of this order shall be carried 

out without affording the contractor an opportunity for a hearing. 

Sec. 7. Remedies. In accordance with such rules, regulations, or orders 

as the Secretary may issue or adopt, the Secretary may: 

(a) after consulting with the contracting department or agency, direct 

that department or agency to cancel, terminate, suspend, or cause to be 

cancelled, terminated, or suspended, any contract, or any portion or portions 

thereof, for failure of the contractor to comply with the contractual provisions 

required by section 2 of this order; contracts may be cancelled, terminated, 

or suspended absolutely, or continuance of contracts may be conditioned 

upon future compliance: Provided, that before issuing a directive under 

this subsection, the Secretary shall provide the head of the contracting 

department or agency an opportunity to offer written objections to the 

issuance of such a directive, which objections shall include a complete 

statement of reasons for the objections, among which reasons shall be a 

finding that completion of the contract is essential to the agency’s mission: 

And provided further, that no directive shall be issued by the Secretary 

under this subsection so long as the head of the contracting department 

or agency, or his or her designee, continues to object to the issuance of 

such directive; 

(b) after consulting with each affected contracting department or agency, 

provide that one or more contracting departments or agencies shall refrain 

from entering into further contracts, or extensions or other modifications 

of existing contracts, with any noncomplying contractor, until such contractor 

has satisfied the Secretary that such contractor has complied with and 

will carry out the provisions of this order: Provided, that before issuing 

a directive under this subsection, the Secretary shall provide the head of 

each contracting department or agency an opportunity to offer written objections to the issuance of such a directive, which objections shall include 

a complete statement of reasons for the objections, among which reasons 

shall be a finding that further contracts or extensions or other modifications 

of existing contracts with the noncomplying contractor are essential to the 

agency’s mission: And provided further, that no directive shall be issued 

by the Secretary under this subsection so long as the head of a contracting 

department or agency, or his or her designee, continues to object to the 

issuance of such directive; and 

(c) publish, or cause to be published, the names of contractors that have, 

in the judgment of the Secretary, failed to comply with the provisions 

of this order or of related rules, regulations, and orders of the Secretary. 

Sec. 8. Reports. Whenever the Secretary invokes section 7(a) or 7(b) of 

this order, the contracting department or agency shall report to the Secretary 

the results of the action it has taken within such time as the Secretary 

shall specify. 

Sec. 9. Cooperation. Each contracting department and agency shall cooperate 

with the Secretary and provide such information and assistance as the 

Secretary may require in the performance of the Secretary’s functions under 

this order. 

Sec. 10. Sufficiency of Remedies. If the Secretary finds that the authority 

vested in the Secretary by sections 5 through 9 of this order is not sufficient 

to effectuate the purposes of this order, the Secretary shall develop recommendations on how better to effectuate those purposes. 

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Sec. 11. Delegation. The Secretary may, in accordance with law, delegate 

any function or duty of the Secretary under this order to any officer in 

the Department of Labor or to any other officer in the executive branch 

of the Government, with the consent of the head of the department or 

agency in which that officer serves. 

Sec. 12. Implementation. To the extent permitted by law, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (FAR Council) shall take whatever action is required 

to implement in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) the provisions 

of this order and any related rules, regulations, or orders issued by the 

Secretary under this order and shall amend the FAR to require each solicitation of offers for a contract to include a provision that implements section 

2 of this order. 

Sec. 13. Revocation of Prior Order and Actions. Executive Order 13201 

of February 17, 2001, is revoked. The heads of executive departments and 

agencies shall, to the extent permitted by law, revoke expeditiously any 

orders, rules, regulations, guidelines, or policies implementing or enforcing 

Executive Order 13201. 

Sec. 14. Severability. If any provision of this order, or the application of 

such provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the 

remainder of this order and the application of the provisions of such to 

any person or circumstances shall not be affected thereby. 

Sec. 15. General Provisions. 

(a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: 

(i) authority granted by law to a department, agency, or the head thereof; 

or 

(ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. 

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and 

subject to the availability of appropriations. 

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, 

substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party 

against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, 

employees, or agents, or any other person. 

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Sec. 16. Effective Date. This order shall become effective immediately, and 

shall apply to contracts resulting from solicitations issued on or after the 

effective date of the rule promulgated by the Secretary pursuant to section 

3(b) of this order. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, 

January 30, 2009. 

[FR Doc. E9–2485 

Filed 2–3–09; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3195–W9–P 


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