Federal Contractor COVID-19 Executive Order Moving Quickly Towards Implementation

ACEC News / Advocacy

October 15, 2021

Federal Contractor COVID-19 Executive Order Moving Quickly Towards Implementation

This week, several agencies began informing their federal contracting partners that they are moving ahead with implementing Executive Order 14042: “Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors.”

Two key members of the FAR Council, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the General Services Administration (GSA), who are also key participants on the Safer Federal Workforce Taskforce, held information sessions for the thousands of stakeholders that will be impacted by this order.

As noted in GSA’s presentation, which can be found here, “agencies are ‘strongly encouraged’ to apply the [E.O. 14042] requirements to contracts not called on in the order.” This could mean contracts below the Simplified Acquisition Threshold. Many firms have begun receiving contract modifications, as GSA has taken to using Bots to automatically notify covered contractors about modifications related to implementing the executive order.

ACEC continues to watch closely as the EO takes effect and is in ongoing communication with our member firms and other stakeholder groups exploring avenues for relief for federal contractors.

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