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The U.S. Department of Labor will raise the minimum hourly wage for federal contractors to $14.05 and the tipped minimum wage to $9.85 an hour, according to a notice to be published in the Federal Register on Thursday.
The new rates will take effect 90 days after the notice is published and will apply to certain types of contracts entered into between January 1, 2015 and January 29, 2022, which were not renewed or extended on or after January 30, 2022, according to the notice.
The hourly minimum wage for federal contractors is currently $13.65, and the tipped minimum wage is $9.55 an hour, both of which went into effect on May 11.
As administrations have changed, so has the minimum wage for federal contractors.
President Barack Obama signed Executive Order 13658 on February 12, 2014, which set the minimum wage for federal contractors at $10.10 per hour effective January 1, 2015, and included annual adjustments.
President Donald Trump signed another EO on May 25, 2018, which amended Obama’s order to exclude federal contractors involved in “seasonal recreational services or rental of seasonal recreational equipment to the general public on federal lands.”
In turn, President Joe Biden signed an EO that set the minimum wage at $15 an hour effective January 30, 2022, called for adjustments based on inflation and reversed Trump’s earlier order. Biden’s order (EO 14026) replaced Obama’s order and applied to contracts entered into on or after January 30, 2022, or renewed or extended on or after January 30, 2022.
Trump revoked Biden’s order on March 14, 2025.
“As a result, at this time Executive Order 13658 remains in effect,” according to the new notice. “Although the number of contracts subject to Executive Order 13658 has decreased significantly over the past few years and continues to decrease, the Department anticipates that there will be some existing contracts with the federal government that would not have qualified as a covered ‘new contract’ for purposes of Executive Order 14026 and will remain subject to the minimum wage requirements of the Executive Order.”
