Non-Retaliation for Disclosure of Compensation Information
Signed April 8, 2014·Barack Obama·79 FR 20749
Source
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Plain-language summary
Amends Executive Order 11246 to add a new nondiscrimination provision barring federal contractors from firing or otherwise discriminating against employees or job applicants because they inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or that of others. The protection does not extend to employees whose job duties give them access to others' compensation data if they disclose it to people who lack such access, unless the disclosure comes in response to a complaint, investigation, or legal proceeding, or is required by the contractor's legal duties. It directs the Secretary of Labor to propose implementing regulations within 160 days. The order is meant to promote economy and efficiency in federal procurement by making pay discrimination easier to detect, and it applies to contracts entered into after the Department of Labor's rules take effect. It does not create new enforceable legal rights for individuals against the government.
Not written or reviewed by a person. Read the full order below for anything you intend to rely on.
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Claimed authority
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 take further steps to promote economy and efficiency in Federal Government procurement, it is hereby ordered
Quoted from the order as written. Many orders cite nothing more specific than “the Constitution and the laws”; this reproduces what the order claims, not an assessment of whether it holds.
The order, in full
Executive Order 13665 of April 8, 2014
Non-Retaliation for Disclosure of Compensation
Information
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 take further steps to promote economy and
efficiency in Federal Government procurement, it is
hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. This order is designed to promote
economy and efficiency in Federal Government
procurement. It is the policy of the executive branch
to enforce vigorously the civil rights laws of the
United States, including those laws that prohibit
discriminatory practices with respect to compensation.
Federal contractors that employ such practices are
subject to enforcement action, increasing the risk of
disruption, delay, and increased expense in Federal
contracting. Compensation discrimination also can lead
to labor disputes that are burdensome and costly.
When employees are prohibited from inquiring about,
disclosing, or discussing their compensation with
fellow workers, compensation discrimination is much
more difficult to discover and remediate, and more
likely to persist. Such prohibitions (either express or
tacit) also restrict the amount of information
available to participants in the Federal contracting
labor pool, which tends to diminish market efficiency
and decrease the likelihood that the most qualified and
productive workers are hired at the market efficient
price. Ensuring that employees of Federal contractors
may discuss their compensation without fear of adverse
action will enhance the ability of Federal contractors
and their employees to detect and remediate unlawful
discriminatory practices, which will contribute to a
more efficient market in Federal contracting.
Sec. 2. Amending Executive Order 11246. Section 202 of
Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 1965, as
amended, is hereby further amended as follows:
(a) Paragraphs (3) through (7) are redesignated as
paragraphs (4) through (8).
(b) A new paragraph (3) is added to read as
follows:
“The contractor will not discharge or in any other
manner discriminate against any employee or applicant
for employment because such employee or applicant has
inquired about, discussed, or disclosed the
compensation of the employee or applicant or another
employee or applicant. This provision shall not apply
to instances in which an employee who has access to the
compensation information of other employees or
applicants as a part of such employee's essential job
functions discloses the compensation of such other
employees or applicants to individuals who do not
otherwise have access to such information, unless such
disclosure is in response to a formal complaint or
charge, in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding,
hearing, or action, including an investigation
conducted by the employer, or is consistent with the
contractor's legal duty to furnish information.”
Sec. 3. Regulations. Within 160 days of the date of
this order, the Secretary of Labor shall propose
regulations to implement the requirements of this
order.
Sec. 4. Severability. If any provision of this order,
or the application of such provision or amendment 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. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
shall be construed to limit the rights of an employee
or applicant for employment provided under any
provision of law. It also shall not be construed to
prevent a Federal contractor covered by this order from
pursuing a defense, as long as the defense is not based
on a rule, policy, practice, agreement, or other
instrument that prohibits employees or applicants from
discussing or disclosing their compensation or the
compensation of other employees or applicants, subject
to paragraph (3) of section 202 of Executive Order
11246, as added by this order.
(b) Nothing in this order shall be construed to
impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to a department, agency, or the head
thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(c) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
(d) 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.
Sec. 6. Effective Date. This order shall become
effective immediately, and shall apply to contracts
entered into on or after the effective date of rules
promulgated by the Department of Labor under section 3
of this order.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
April 8, 2014.Reproduced from the Federal Register plain-text record, signed April 8, 2014. Typesetting artifacts are removed; no wording is changed.