The Labor Department today put out the “final rescission” announcement for a George W. Bush administration regulation intended to streamline pay discrimination cases. The Bush regulation, adopted in 2006, rescinded an earlier regulation that required nonconstruction federal contractors to file an survey with the Labor Department on whether they were taking “affirmative action to ensure … that employees are treated (fairly) … without regard to their race, color, sex or national origin.”
The Bush Labor Department did surveys that determined the law added little value and was a burdensome regulation for both employers and the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.
The Obama Labor Department saw it differently:
“Today, we are lifting arbitrary barriers that have prevented our investigators from finding and combating illegal pay discrimination,” said OFCCP Director Patricia A. Shiu, a member of the President’s National Equal Pay Task Force. “At the same time, we are providing clear guidance for contractors to facilitate their success when it comes to providing equal opportunity to all of their workers.”
